PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

increasing business from the beginning.‘ Mr. Birch is a gentleman with many fine personal qualities and is popular with the people gen- erally. On November 21, 1901, he married Miss Isabella Currie, a daughter of George Currie, of Elmsdale, this Island.

In further detail of the career of this esti- mable citizen and productive force for the good of the Island and its people, it should be stated that early in life he took an active part in the work of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, the Independent Order of Good Templars, and debating societies, and soon became a strong factor for the side to which he gave his support. He has always been forward in advocating the best interests of his community; and as early as 1869 he publicly worked for the plan of filling the streets with stones, thus making permanent roadways for all traffic, in place of tunnels. His plan has many supporters today, as it would not be nearly so expensive as the tunnel plan. In 1869 and 1870 he was a sincere advocate of the construction of the Prince Edward Island Railway, and in con- sequence a great admirer of the late Hon. John C. Pope. then leader of the Conserva- tive party in the Island. In the election of that time. in which he cast his first vote. he declared in favor of the railway candidate against the wishes of his employer, a very unusual thing in those days; but he has al- ways been a sincere Conservative, and in several contests has taken issue with the men who employed him, and manfully stood up for what he believed to be right. The next great question was the Confederation, vhich he consistently opposed, taking the ground that the terms offered were not suffi- tiently liberal to justify the Island in ac- (epting them; and time has since proven the (orrectness of his opinions.

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' Since moving to Alberton, as a member of the new Pioneer Division, Sons of Tem— perance, and as secretary of a branch of the Temperance Alliance, he has taken an active part in the suppression of the liquor traffic For years also he has been an advocate of an act of incorporation for the village of Alberton. In addition he urgently sought to have a banking institution established in the village long before the present bank was organized. Moreover, he was among the first to work zealously for the founding of a cheese and butter factory. In 1893 he was first chosen as the Liberal-Conservative . candidate to contest the first district of Prince county in conjunction with Jeremiah Blanchard for legislative honors. This was the celebrated three-comered fight between Rogers, Mathewson and McLellan, in which the famous deal was made, whereby Mr. Birch was defeated and Rogers and Blan- chard were elected. He was again nomi- nated in 1897, and this time he was elected, defeating Hon. Benjamin Rogers. In 1900 he was once more selected to contest the dis- trict, but he was unsuccessful. having to con- tend against both the Federal and the local government and other potent influences. In the election of 1904 he declined to enter the race.

Mr. Birch has always taken a lively and fruitful interest in advanced horse breeding, and in the year 1887 was instrumental in having the first standard bred trotting horse, Old Administration, No. 357, brought into the Island, and to Alberton, where he se- cured some twenty patrons. This was the first real forward step in breeding the trotter in these parts, a beginning which has been So potent in good results right up to the present day. Mr. Birch himself having reared and sold some fine, well bred animals, and being