[Sir Ralph Cusack:  cusack.jpg]

When he was elected to the office of Chairman, Sir Ralph, it is said, accepted the position on the understanding that he should have autocratic power.  In the task he undertook this was very likely desirable, and once acquired he was not the man to let such power slip from his grasp.  His strong hands would firmly retain whatever they wished to hold.

In 1865 no less than 15 directors adorned the Midland Great Western Board, twice too many no doubt the chairman thought for a railway of 344 miles.  In 1867 they were reduced to 8; in 1877 to 7; since when they have never numbered more.  During the long period of Sir Ralph’s occupancy of the chair no deputy chairman existed.  The chairman reigned alone.  That he was an autocratic chairman, his brother directors, were they now living, would I am sure attest.  But though a strong, it was a beneficent sway that he exercised.  He could be hard at times, but his nature was essentially kind and generous and his friendships numerous and lasting.  He prided himself on his knowledge of the railway staff, down to the humblest member.  He had strong likes and dislikes, and those who came under his displeasure had sometimes cause to fear him; but they were amongst the few, and the many remember him with nothing but the kindest feelings.  To me he was always a warm and sincere friend, and between us existed, without interruption, the greatest frankness and confidence.

How wonderfully adaptable a creature is man.  I had not been a fortnight in my new position when I felt myself quite at home, as though Dublin and the West of Ireland had been my natural habitat.  Belfast and the County Down receded into the past; and shall I confess it? much as I had liked the north, much as I admired the industry, manliness and energy of its people, much as I had enjoyed my life there, and highly as I esteemed the friends I had made, something I found in my new surroundings—­easier manners, more of gaiety, and an admixture of pleasure with work—­that added to life a charm I had hitherto missed, not only in the North of Ireland but in Glasgow and Derby as well.

The Secretary of the Midland Great Western Railway, George William Greene, and Martin Atock, the locomotive engineer, were good fellows, and warm friends of each other.  I became and remained the sincere friend of both until death took them hence.  My principal assistant, called Assistant Manager, was John P. Hornsby, now in his 85th year and living in New Zealand.  Robert Morrison, whom I stole for his good sense, manly worth, and excellent railway ability, from the Belfast and Northern Counties in October, 1891, succeeded Hornsby as my assistant.  Afterwards he became goods manager at the time Thomas Elliot was appointed superintendent of the line, two appointments which relieved me of much detailed work.