the Niagara Escarpment, coal mined in Appalachia, iron ore mined from the Canadian Shield and export markets through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system made Hamilton an important iron and steel producing city. Other industrial ventures conducted in the Ambitious City (a phrase adopted by ‘’The Spectator" from detractors in Toronto) and Birmingham of Canada included manufactured tobacco, beer and other consumer products. It also became a centre for the textile industry, which did not die out completely until the 1950s. Long before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in 1876, there were proposals for military colleges in Canada. Staffed by British Regulars, adult male students underwent a 3-month-long military course from 1865 at the School of Military Instruction in Hamilton. Established by Militia General Order in 1865, the school enabled Officers of Militia or Candidates for Commission or promotion in the Militia to learn Military duties, drill and discipline, to command a Company at Battalion Drill, to Drill a Company at Company Drill, the internal economy of a Company and the duties of a Company's Officer. The school was not retained at Confederation, in 1867. 1867–1892 When the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867, Hamilton was an enthusiastic partner in the bold new political enterprise and preached the joys of the British Empire. The city was represented in the House of Commons by one seat for the city proper and two for the remainder of the county (Wentworth South and Wentworth North). Growing commercial and industrial prosperity prompted large scale emigration from the British Isles. Many Irish immigrants created a Corktown in the general vicinity of John and Hunter Streets. Patriotic Britons and native born Canadians of British stock erected many public monuments downtown to honour John A. Macdonald, Queen Victoria and the United Empire Loyalists. More people meant more demand for services and information. In 1874, the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) began offering horse-drawn public transportation. Robert Smiley, the founding publisher of The Spectator, sold the newspaper to William Southam in 1877 as the first link in the Southam newspaper chain. A unified and paid Hamilton Fire Department, replaced the numerous volunteer fire companies in 1879, led by fire chief Alexander Aitchison. The Hamilton area was also intimately connected with the early history of the telephone. While staying at his parents’ Brantford home in neighbouring Brant County, Alexander Graham Bell conceived of the idea of the