The West Australian, Friday 27 January 1933
(Perth, Western Australia)

MR. J. T. SHORT DEAD
Former Commissioner of Railways
Mr. John T. Short, a former Commissioner of Railways in Western Australia, died yesterday morning at his home in Altona-street, West Perth, at the age of 74. After holding high office in the Western Australian railways for more than 22 years, Mr. Short retired in 1919, and since then had lived in West Perth.
Born at St. Ives, Cornwall, in 1858, Mr. Short ran away to sea at an early age, and came to South Australia in 1878. He joined the Government railways there, and gained rapid promotion. After serving as station master at the important junction of Peterborough, he came to this State in 1889 in the employ of a company which then owned the Great Southern railway, from Beverley to Albany. When the line was purchased by the Government in 1896, Mr. Short accepted the position of Chief Traffic Manager of the State railways.
At that time, only about 190 miles of line were owned by the State, but, by 1904, the Government railway mileage had increased to 1,516.
When the post of Commissioner of Railways fell vacant in 1907, Mr. Short became Acting-Commissioner of Railways, and in the following year, his appointment to the position was confirmed for another five years. On the expiration of this period, he was made permanent commissioner in 1912, and he remained at the head of the Railway Department until his retirement in 1919.
Mr. Scaddan’s Tribute
The Minister for Railways (Mr. J. Scaddan) yesterday expressed regret on learning of the death of Mr. Short, with whom he had been in close touch during a considerable period of his commissionership. Mr. Short was a man who knew his job and who never spared himself in discharging the onerous duties attaching to it, said Mr. Scaddan. Nearly 14 years ago he retired for a well-earned rest and, in private life, he had been as highly esteemed as in his official capacity.

The Western Argus, Tuesday 14 March 1933
(Kalgoorlie, Western Australia)

WILL OF LATE J. T. SHORT
Perth, March 9.
By the will of the late Mr. John Tregerthen Short, ex-Commissioner of Railways, who died in West Perth on January 26 last at the age of 73 years, a treatise of navigation and the diary of an itinerary through France as a prisoner of war in 1804-1814, compiled by his grandfather, John Tregerthen Short, is bequeathed to deceased’s eldest daughter, to be passed on to his other daughters in turn after the death of the possessor of the documents.
The statement of the assets and liabilities in connection with the estate has not yet been completed. Mr. Short directed that his furniture, plate, pictures, etc., should be given to his daughters Mary Millicent and Grace Short, and that £60,000 be placed on trust to provide an annuity of £266 for his wife, the residue to be divided between his two unmarried daughters. He bequeathed property in Murray-street to his daughter, Mrs. May Gardham, subject to a charge of £13 per year to his widow, the residue of his estate is to be divided equally between Mary Millicent Short and Grace Short.

Contributed by Bob Bolitho