Sounds from Faraway Schenectady

organized a team of doctors and nurses and a cavalcade of cars to go to Halifax. All the Island roads were blocked with snow. Undeterred, they drove the cars along the railroad tracks. When he arrived at the stricken city, Grandfather went straight to our home, stuck his head in at the door and called out, “Is everyone alive and well?” Satisfied we were, he left at once for the Red Cross Headquarters.

Those people with friends or relatives elsewhere who could take them in were evacuated from the city. Mother, Marianne and I were sent home along with many others on the Borden train. When we landed at the station in Charlottetown, men walked ahead of us on the platform calling to the crowds, “Make way for the Halifax refugees!” We remained on the Island for the duration of the war.

The train from the ferry at Borden was fondly called “The Borden Train Circa 1910.

Dad was released from active service on February 1, 1919. He had gained a great deal of experience and knowledge during his five years in the army, and the dream of radio and its potential was stronger than ever in him.

Philosophically, Dad saw radio as a means of closing gaps in people’s lives. Through the airwaves each part of the world could give to the

17