It was a frigid night in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, when the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, claiming the lives of over 1,500 people — including the namesake of the City of Melville.
Charles Melville Hays was one of 2,240 passengers on the White Star Line luxury steamship, along with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and secretary. He was coming back from London after attempting to secure money to support the expansion of the debt-plagued Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad (GTPR).
The GTPR president decided to return to Canada after learning that other daughters were having trouble with their pregnancies. He also wanted to be present for the opening of the prestigious Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa.
He would never see the hotel’s opening nor the birth of any grandchildren, as he was one of 1,503 people who died when an iceberg ruptured the Titanic’s hull and sent the supposedly unsinkable ship to the bottom of the ocean.
Luckily, his wife and daughter were among the 700 people who survived. Hays, 55, put his family in lifeboats — telling them that the Titanic would stay “afloat for at least 10 hours” — and they returned to Melville to continue his legacy.
Those were some interesting facts I learned about Charles Melville Hays after visiting the community recently to umpire in a massive minor baseball tournament. Actually, I’m ashamed to admit I probably knew those things about Hays because I lived and worked in Melville nearly a decade ago.
The businessman’s efforts contributed to the City of Melville’s history, particularly its connections to the railroad and how that industry shaped and continues to shape the community.
Besides a large Canadian National Railway trainyard, Melville also has a Railway Museum and a nationally recognized 1908-built Railway Station that dedicated volunteers have been slowly renovating.
The railway and this station laid the city’s foundations, shaped its early development, and helped the agricultural economy to flourish. The imposing station building’s design, unique in Saskatchewan and the only one of its kind in Canada, illustrates the quality of the GTPR’s transcontinental building program in the early 1900s.
The Railway Museum is in Melville’s Regional Park, which is also where the baseball tournament was held. So, in between games, I visited this former train station, which is one of only 40 still standing; there used to be 200 across the Prairies.
Within the museum’s walls, visitors can walk through different eras of the railroad to explore communication styles, the typical rail station set-up, and unique artifacts from 1927 onward. There is also a 1919-era steam locomotive engine, a flat car, a 1918-era caboose, and a hand car.
Hays’ history
Hays was born on May 16, 1856, in Rock Island, Illinois, and at age 17, he began working with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, while he became secretary to the general manager of the Missouri Pacific Railway in 1878.
In 1881, he married Clara Jennings Gregg, and they had four daughters. Six years later, he became the general manager of the Wabash Western, while in 1889, he was put in charge of the entire Wabash system.
On Jan. 1, 1896, Hays became the general manager of the GTPR in Canada and moved his family to Montreal. The family later moved to Melville in 1909, where Hays kicked off construction of the railway between Regina and Melville. He also played a major part in building the city hall Opera House because he believed it represented a growing community.
The Opera House opened on Nov. 5, 1913. It was supposed to cost $55,000, but it ended up costing $75,000.
Additionally, the businessman’s middle name became the basis for the city’s name because of his role in making the community a major railway hub.
Engine in motion
In the fall of 1969, eight men spent two weeks moving the 1919-era steam locomotive and train cars across Melville into the regional park. With 50 to 100 feet of temporary track laid down, they used a grader and loader to pull the train cars down Prince Edward Street, onto a school field and into the park.
They also installed brakes on the 125-ton, coal- and oil-burning train so it wouldn’t roll down the hill.
The engine was presented to the community as a memento reflecting the important role the “iron horse” played in the city’s history.
And there you have it. If you’re interested in trains or Saskatchewan’s early history, be sure to choo-choo your way up Highway 10 and visit Melville’s fascinating railway museums.
