This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXIX PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. PORTRAITS. FRIENDS. G. T. BLACKSTOCK'S APPRECIATION. A S has so often been stated in the preceding pages, Van Home was blessed with a rare phys JL JL ical endowment. He was tall and massively built, and carried himself with the native dignity of a courteous, high-bred gentleman. His head was of noble proportions; his eye clear and penetrating; his features refined, mobile, and expressive of his moods. In conversation his face was constantly lighted up with a merry twinkling smile. His laugh was hearty and jovial. At work with his secretary, dictating letters to the four corners of the globe, he seemed the embodiment of energy, blowing smoke like a factory as he sought in his mind for a word--the most precise--and winding up a letter with a sentence or a phrase like a shot from a cannon. In a business interview he faced his caller, straddling his chair, leaning his arms upon the back, and alternately puffing smoke and flicking the ash from his cigar upon the carpet. His attitude in repose was frequently one of the most rapt absorption. This he would maintain for several minutes as he stood, for instance, before one of his pictures. It conveyed the impression that he saw through and beyond the obvious features of the painting, and was apt to be disconcerting to a less enthusiastic companion. Equally disconcerting were the occasions on which he would apparently ignore a question and delay replying so long that when the answer came, the questioner had forgotten the subject of his enquiry and wondered what Van Horne was talking about. At Covenhoven when, with his two pet collies bounding after him, he took a guest for a walk, he would stop here and there and apparently lose himself for a long interval in...

Excerpt from The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne Much of this volume, then, is frankly based on Miss Hughes's material, and wherever it has been possible I have used and adapted her rough narrative. If, there fore, these pages be deemed to have any merit, a large share of it must be credited to Miss Hughes. For their demerits I am alone to blame. Per contra, any writer who has had to rely to a large extent on material selected by another will appreciate one of the difficulties under which this book has been written. I wished to include some account of Van Horne's im pressions of his earlier visits to England and the great art centres of Europe, but no records are available. A man who travels forty or fifty thousand miles ayear and enjoys unlimited franking privileges over cable and telegraph lines is not apt to devote much time to letter writing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Winner of the 2005 Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction , the 2005 University of British Columbia Award for Best Canadian Biography, and the Canadian Railroad Historical Association Award for Best Railway Book of the Year. William Van Horne was one of North America’s most accomplished men. Born in Illinois in 1843, he became a prominent railway figure in the United States before coming to Canada in 1881 to become general manager of the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway. Van Horne pushed through construction of the CPR’s transcontinental line and went on to become company president. He also became one of Canada’s foremost financiers and art collectors, capping his career by opening Cuba’s interior with a railway.

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