Tributes of respect and regard were paid to Mr. Ross by people in every station in life. The high and the low, the rich and the poor did him honor. The following letter was received by his son, Mr. James K. L. Ross:
“The engineers on the S. and L. were much surprised and deeply grieved when we heard that your father had passed away. Our deepest sympathy goes out to you in your sad bereavement. We all feel that we have lost a good and true friend. No other man we have worked for gave our men the feeling of security in their position that he did. We always were satisfied that if we did what was right no other influence could hurt us or our families. When some of us were unfortunate enough to err in judgment and our error cost the company quite a lot, in the usual course of railways the officials had nothing to do but severely discipline us. Your father used his own position not to discipline our men but to give them a good man’s advice, which has helped our men and also the company which he then presided over. Acts like these are never forgotten by railway men and there were many sincere expressions of sorrow heard when the news of his death flashed over our road. They have also instructed us to convey to your sorrowing mother our deepest sympathy in her trying hour.
“On behalf of the S. and L. engineers, we are sincerely yours (Signed) D. W. Macdonald, chairman; Parker Holmes, secretary and treasurer; Hugh MacPherson, chief engineer.
“Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Canada, September 20, 1913.”
Another well merited tribute being from Principal Peterson of McGill University, who said:
“The other day we were greatly gratified to learn that a member of the board of governors, the late James Ross, had remembered McGill University in his will to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Ross was one of our friends. His connection with the administration of the university had given him many opportunities of appreciating the difficulty of carrying on an institution whose needs in the very nature of things, are always outrunning its resources; and his kindly thought of us has touched a chord in our hearts that vibrates with gratitude and appreciation.
“It is a melancholy pleasure to record also our indebtedness to Mr. Ross for much help and advice given as a member of the governing body of the university, especially in the department of mechanical engineering. Besides being a great and experienced engineer, he was a patron also of the arts and sciences. He took an active interest also in the well-being of our hospitals, and as they are in a sense university institutions, his bequests to the Royal Victoria and Maternity Hospitals may be cited here as additional reasons for gratitude. He was a man of high artistic culture, one who ‘loved that beauty should go beautifully.’ Mere splendor without taste would always have been repellent to him. Perhaps his best memorial, apart from the magnificent collection of pictures which he got together with such care and discrimination, and which was the joy and pride of his wide circle of friends, will be the beautiful building on Sherbrooke Street to which he has contributed so largely as the permanent home of the Art Association. Such men lend valuable aid in the way of enabling a community to realize some aspects of its higher self.”