JAMES SMITH.
 


	James Smith, who has been ably discharging the duties of postmaster
in Moose Jaw since 1907, was born in Norfolk county, Ontario, on the
10th of February, 1861, and is a son of Lewis and Isabella (McIntosh)
Smith. His parents were both natives of Scotland, the father being born
in Aberdeenshire and the mother in Banffshire, and they came to Canada
in 1860, after their marriage. The father had previously been in Amer-
ica, as he had made the long trip out to California in the '50s. There he
dug some gold but made his living mostly by following his trade as a
shoemaker, which he had learned in his native land. Lewis Smith was an
active man to the very end of his life and was elected county councillor
on the day on which he died. In politics he was a Conservative, and fra-
ternally he was a Mason, while he and his wife, true to their Scotch up-
bringing, were active members of the Presbyterian church.  James is
the oldest of their five children and one of the two surviving members
of the family.
	James Smith was educated in the public schools of Simcoe, Ontario,
and after he had completed the high school course he began to teach
the age of seventeen. When he reached his majority he celebrated
leaving the educational field to enter the mercantile business as clerk
Kenora, Ontario, where he remained for thirteen years. He was -
connected with the Hudson's Bay Company for four years in a similar
capacity.
	It was in 1902 that Mr. Smith first came to Moose Jaw. Here he
engaged in the real estate, life and accident insurance business for five
years, leaving this work in 1907, when he was appointed postmaster on
the 29th of April. His long term of office in this position is a sufficient
evidence of Mr. Smith's ability and the satisfaction he has given in the
management of this office.  In the seventeen years that he has been
postmaster, he has witnessed an enormous growth in the volume of mail
passing through his office and has had to revise the machinery for han-
dling the increased amount of letters and packages from time to time to
meet the altered situation.  In every case he has demonstrated his re-
sourcefulness by producing efficiency in every department and has shown
himself to be a capable executive. About a year before he became post-
master, in March, 1906, Mr. Smith received his appointment by the
lieutenant governor as Commissioner of Oaths for Moose Jaw, and thus
holds this public position in addition to his other office.
	Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Alicia Patti Hickie on
January 27, 1910. Mrs. Smith was born in Uxbridge, Ontario, and edu-
cated there, coming west to Portage La Prairie as a young girl. Mr. and
Mrs. Smith have three children: James Allan, Marion and Clifford
Hickie. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith belong to the Minto Avenue Presby~
terian church, the former serving on the board and the latter being active
in the Ladies' Aid Society. For thirty-one years Mr. Smith has belonged
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he also holds membership
in the Moose Jaw Canadian Club. Formerly he played baseball and he
enjoys all kinds of sports, but personally he gets most of his recreation
and exercise from walking and working in his garden. His support has
always been given to those things that make for the benefit and develop-
ment of the city and he is rightly accounted one of the substantial citi-
zens and able public officials of Moose Jaw.


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