Volume III - ElectricCanadian.com

1VEEN 101JOHN NiBLOCK, the genialand accomodating assistant superintendentof the C.P.R., atMedicine Hat, Assiniboia, was bornDecember 2ist, 1849, ^ n York County,Ont. His parents were James andHannah (Webster) Niblock. His fatherwas a native of Ireland, and hismother was of English descent, butborn in Canada. Mr. Niblock attendedthe public schools in Scarboro Township,York County, Out., and workedat farming until he was seventeenyears of age. He then worked forthree years at the shoemaking trade,and subsequently took up railroadingon the G.T.R., and roseto the rank of conductor.Afterwards he entered theemploy of the C.P.R., andafter rising from conductorto train master, was appointedassistant superintendentof the Western Division, in1883. He has had such apractical experience, startingat the bottom of the ladder,and being naturally anable man,it is no wonderthat he is considered one ofthe best railroad men in thecountry. He is also a publicspirited man, and to himbelongs the credit of foundingand promoting the GeneralHospital at MedicineHat, which is unquestionablyone of the finest in theDominion. He contributedlargely of his own time andmeans, and was instrumental,in securing the sympathyand financial aid ofmany noted persons inCanada, Great Britain andthe United States. Thewhole institution, from thebasement to the top story,presents an air of home-like comfortand cheer, not always found in similarinstitutions. Much might be said ofthe eminent staff of nurses employed,of which Miss Miller is the accomplishedmatron, but space will not permit.Mr. Niblock is a Methodist inreligion, and a Conservative in politics.He has been married twice :first, onMarch yth, 1872, to Miss IsabellaSlater, of Middlesex County, Ont., bywhom he has two sons and one daughterliving; and second, to Miss Clare, seconddaughter of Col. P. H. Attwood,on March 3Oth, 1892. Mr. Niblock isan active temperance worker.