Josiah O. Apps was born at Tara, Ontario in 1877. He joined Canadian Pacific in 1897 as a stenographer in Montreal. In 1907 he became assistant general baggage agent and in 1909 general baggage agent. In 1916 he was put in charge of government mail traffic and in 1922 both baggage and mail in the ocean service was placed under his supervision. In 1925 he was made general executive assistant which he remained until his death in 1941.