JOHN MCALLISTER.  

	John McAllister has been the Collector of Customs and Excise at
Moose Jaw for a period of a little more than ten years, during which
he has had charge of a large district and a number of dependent offices.
Prior to his appointment to this office Mr. McAllister was for years con-
nected with the Canadian Pacific Railroad and was well known in this
city, which has been his home since 1897. He was born in Magheramorne,
County Antrim, Ireland, on the 20th of October, 1872, and is the oldest
of a family of ten children. His parents, Alex and Jane (McClure) Mc-
Allister, came to Canada in 1886 and settled at Pakenham, Ontario, where
the father engaged in agricultural work for a time. Later they moved
to Carleton Place, Ontario, to enable Alex McAllister to accept a position
in the railroad shops there. Carleton Place is still their home, but Mr.
McAllister is retired on a pension and now lives a quiet life. He is a
Conservative in politics and an Orangeman, while both he and his wife
are members of the Presbyterian church. John is the only one of the
children living in the west.
	John McAllister was educated in the schools of Ireland and Canada
and after he had put his textbooks aside he went to work in a woolen
factory as a picker boy, remaining there for a year. At the end of this
time he began his railroad career as a call boy for the Canadian Pacific
Railroad, with which he was to be connected for an uninterrupted period
of twenty-five years.  From call boy he was promoted to the post of
wiper, ~and from wiper to fireman, in the traditional order, until at last
he reached the coveted position of engineer. He held the latter situation
for fourteen years. In 1896 he was sent to Winnipeg, but after running
out of that city for about a year he was sent on to Moose Jaw, which re-
mained his headquarters as long as he was in the railroad business. He
took his passenger train out of Moose Jaw on its regular run for seven
years, making an enviable record as a locomotive engineer that gave him
the confidence of the railroad company and the respect of his associates.
In 1913 Mr. McAllister was made Collector of Customs and Excise for
this district, which extends to Montana on the south, from Craven to
Alberta and from Broomhead to Craven. There are nine branch offices
and a large staff of employes under him, which gives one some idea of
the volume of work to be done in his department.
	On the 7th of June, 1899, Mr. McAllister was married to Miss Sarah
Robinson.  Mrs. McAllister was born in Grantley, Ontario, where she
was reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. McAllister have one daughter:
Jennie, who lives at home.
	Mr. McAllister belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
for thirty-one years and is very prominent in Masonic circles, having
taken degrees in both the York and Scottish Rites and being a Noble of
the Mystic Shrine. He is past master of his lodge, past preceptor and
registrar of the preceptory at the present time. Through his affiliation
with the Order of Locomotive Engineers he maintains some of his as-
sociations and interests of railroad days, and he is also identified with
the Moose Jaw Kiwanis Club. Through the activities of this organiza-
tion and in numerous other ways he has manifested his public-spirited-
ness and desire to help make the city a better place in which to live and
do business, striving on all occasions to express the beneficent spirit of
the fraternities with which he has so long been closely 
connected.



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