Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE YUKON ADVENTURE 197And it's better than this by a damsiteSo me for the Yukon once more.There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting;It's luring me on as of old;Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting,So much as just finding the gold.It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,It's the forests where silence has lease;It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,It's the stillness that fills me with peace.In 1901 was completed the last building erected by thebank in Dawson. Permission was obtained from the Governmentto build on the waterfront, which had been reservedalmost entirely for docks and their warehouses. The exteriorof the building presents a most modern appearance and theinterior is well finished and equipped. The cost was about$50,000. The staff had grown to twenty in number when theymoved into the new building, the erection of which seemed tomark the end of what may be termed the "pioneer" days.After 1901 or 1902, under the more civilized conditions whichprevailed, the business of the branch was conducted alongmuch the same lines as at any other branch in a settled community.The management of the branch was considerablymore exacting and onerous, and there was less of that novel andbeguiling atmosphere which had given such charm to the earlydays that the members of the original staff were reluctant toaccept transfer to the "outside," even for promotion. Onthe whole, there is much reason to envy the "originals"1andthe early reinforcements of the Dawson staff their variedexperiences in opening the branch and "roughing" it in thel The original members of the Dawson staff were: H. T. Wills, manager; ThomasMcMullen, assistant manager; Percy C. Stevenson and Charles G. K. Nourse;Alexander Ross and Thomas Comloquoy, messengers. Messrs. Stevenson, Nourseand Comloquoy are still in the service of the bank; Mr. Stevenson is manager atOttawa, Mr. Nourse, manager at Winnipeg, and Thomas Comloquoy, senior messengerat the head office.