Chapter 8

“All Aboard!”

Roxy had set her alarm clock for 5:00 am sharp, and when it went off, she jumped out of bed with excitement. The same couldn’t be said for her brother, however, who was still sleeping like a log after the alarm. Roxy called for Jasper to help her out. Jasper grabbed the sheet and wool blanket on Ray’s bed and dragged them to the floor. He jumped up on the bed and started licking both Ray’s ears. That did it; Ray was in the shower in minutes. By 5:45 they had paid the two-dollar hotel bill and walked across the street to the train station.

By the time the twins arrived, most of the passengers had already boarded the black steam train. The conductor was calling, “All aboard. Last call for passengers on the southbound train to Calgary!” Within minutes, the train was rolling out of the station.

Roxy and Ray were lucky to find two seats together in the second-class section of the train. Between the spectators and soldiers heading home from the celebration, and those travelling and participating in the Calgary Exhibition and parade, the train was full.

After an hour of sitting still, the twins got bored and decided to explore all the railcars. They started with the one that was the farthest back. The two railcars in front of the caboose were the smelly livestock cars. They contained no less than 30 head of cattle as well as two dozen horses that belonged to the mounted regiment on board the train.

The next car was the third-class passenger car. These passengers had only paid 10 cents for their ticket. It wasn’t hard to see why they got such a good deal; the smell of the livestock was so strong that you would swear the cows and horses were sitting on the passengers’ laps. The railcar contained mostly buckaroos that worked as ranch hands on farms in the Edmonton area, and who were off to see their first exhibition. There were also many young men going to Calgary to enlist in the 50th Regiment to fight overseas. Ray talked to a couple of the buckaroos about his love of bull riding and also showed off his sharp-looking, brand-new cowboy hat that he had caught the day before.

The twins and Jasper off to Calgary.

The twins proceeded to the next railcar, which contained the soldiers returning home from the 10th anniversary celebration. As luck would have it, the soldiers from the 50th Regiment and 103rd Calgary Rifles Regiment were about to compete in the 1915 Alberta Regiments Arm Wrestling Championship finals. The finals should have taken place in Edmonton at the Prince of Wales Armouries the day before. But James Bailey, the official referee, had ruptured his appendix and had to have emergency surgery at the Edmonton General Hospital, which was opened by the Grey Nun Sisters in 1895. The competition had to be postponed.

Referee Bailey’s replacement, Chris Leeson, boarded the train in Lacombe and asked the troops if they wanted to wait until they got to Calgary or if they would like to compete right there on the train. The soldiers voted unanimously to do battle on the train and proceeded to clear an area so that most of the soldiers could see the action.

Representing the 50th Regiment was Private Henry Pattison, a lean 16-year-old soldier with red hair and freckles. He was coached by his dad, Private John George Pattison. The two were up against Corporal McKilty, a huge six-foot-eight Scottish weightlifter in a black T-shirt, and his coach, Sergeant “Fearless Fernandez” , from the 103rd Calgary Rifles.

“Hey Ray,” Roxy said, “McKilty is as big as the largest Stampeder or Eskimo football player, and the young soldier doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Arm wrestling is all in the technique. I’ve beaten guys twice my size!” Ray said.

The referee shouted, “Okay soldiers, here are the rules: it’s the best two out of three rounds and the winning regiment receives the big silver 1915 Arm Wrestling trophy. The winner gets to carry the flag for his regiment in the Calgary Exhibition parade this afternoon. Any questions? On your mark, get set, go!”

The first round was finished in seconds and ended with a loud thump as Corporal McKilty hammered Private Henry’s arm onto the table. The soldiers from McKilty’s regiment yelled and cheered for their guy. The ref shouted, “Round one goes to the 103rd team. Round two commences in three minutes.”

Ray went up to the frustrated private and his coach, introduced himself, and told them he was an experienced arm wrestler. He then showed them several excellent arm wrestling moves that they could use to help defeat the huge corporal in the next round. The Pattisons thanked Ray for his tips, and Private Henry returned to do battle.

In the meantime, the soldiers of the 103rd were so confident their guy was going to win that they started singing, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Fortunately, things turned out differently in the second round, thanks to Ray’s advice.

Private Henry managed to beat the corporal in a gruelling seven-minute seesaw battle. The soldiers of the 50th jumped up with excitement after their underdog contestant won. The soldiers of the 103rd shook their heads in disbelief.

After winning the round, however, there was bad news for the 50th regiment. Private Henry told the referee that he had to give the match to Corporal McKilty, because he had just dislocated his right thumb and could no longer compete.

The ref shouted out, “Could I have your attention, men? It looks like the soldier from the 50th can’t arm wrestle again because of an injured thumb. According to page nine of the official Alberta Arm Wrestling Rulebook, a player’s coach can take his place, if and when an injury occurs.”

Private Henry said that he actually had two coaches, his dad and Family Day Ray. He wanted Ray to take his place.

The announcement caught Ray off guard but he was up to the daunting task, even though there was a good chance he was going to get his butt kicked by the refrigerator-sized corporal. The man’s biceps were the size of car tire inner tubes. Ray swallowed his nerves, took a deep breath, and made his way through the rowdy soldiers to the arm wrestling table.

As Ray settled into his spot, the steely-eyed corporal was shouting to his fellow soldiers that he was going to take down the skinny kid in three seconds flat. He then grasped Ray’s much smaller hand and waited for the ref to start the countdown.

“On your mark, get set, go!” The final round was under way, and McKilty wasted no time in trying to polish off Ray. Within seconds, the corporal had his arm on the offensive and was within two inches of declaring a victory. Ray, however, wouldn’t give up that easily and courageously fought to reverse the direction of the battle. In the meantime, soldiers on both sides of the railcar cheered wildly, while the big Scotsman’s face got redder by the moment.

Family Day Ray taking down the Corporal.

Ray got a lucky break when he felt a sneeze coming on. His sneeze was so loud that it caught McKilty off guard. Ray took advantage of this and, with all his strength, applied his one-of-a-kind hammer move to defeat the cocky corporal. Henry, his father, and the entire 50th regiment were ecstatic; they jumped for joy and celebrated by opening the railcar windows and firing their loaded rifles up into the blue Alberta sky!

Before the twins left the railcar, Ray was presented with a 50th regimental gold pin by Lieutenant Colonel Mason and was made Honorary Officer for the Day.

Roxy told her brother that Private John George Pattison would receive the prestigious Victoria Cross, the highest medal awarded for bravery in World War I. The reason he had joined was to watch over his son, Henry.

The next railcar, called “the Nettie Annabel Express,” was the one that Senator Lougheed used to transport the Rosicians entertainment troupe from show to show. They were a friendly group of performers who enjoyed hearing both Ray and Roxy sing. They were especially impressed when Ray sang Elvis Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes” while shaking his hips like the King of Rock and Roll. Ray asked the performers if they liked rock and roll. When they said, “Rock and what?” it occurred to him that he had just put his foot in his mouth, because rock and roll wouldn’t be invented for at least another 25 years!

Thumbs up after the big win!

The next railcar was Roxy’s favourite; it was occupied by the Edmonton Commercial Grads basketball team. They had started playing in 1914. This car was also the coolest, because it was once used to transport giraffes to a zoo and had a 16- foot high ceiling. A small hardwood basketball court had been added. The railcar was loaned to the Grads so that they could practice on the way to the World Championship game in Calgary.

Roxy introduced herself to the coach, Percy Page; the players sitting next to him who happened to be sisters, Daisy and Dot Johnson; and the team’s captain, Connie Smith. Roxy then told them she was a huge fan of the Grads and loved playing basketball herself. The coach told Roxy that she was certainly tall enough for the sport and would love to see her take a few shots at the net. Roxy was thrilled to be given the opportunity. She proceeded to sink three baskets in a row from the 15-foot line.

The coach was so impressed with her shots that he invited the first-year rookie player Hattie Hopkins to compete against her. The rules were simple: the player who sank the greatest number of baskets in a row would win the contest. Roxy said she would be up to the challenge, but first she wanted to change into her basketball shoes. She reached down into her knapsack and pulled out the sharp-looking Nikes that she had worn when her high school team won the Alberta Provincial Championship. While she was putting them on, the entire team gathered around and wondered where she had bought the strange shoes.

The coach had the girls flip a coin to see who would throw first and then asked them what they wanted to compete for. Hattie wanted Roxy’s “one of a kind shoes.” Roxy was a little unsure because those shoes were her favourite possession, next to her dog Jasper of course. Nevertheless, she agreed to give them up if she lost, providing Hattie would give up her official Grad’s sweater if she lost. The rookie nodded her consent. Hattie won the coin toss and decided to shoot first. She proceeded to the 20-foot line.

Hattie and Roxy took turns shooting and they both sank five successful baskets in a row. Whenever the Grad player scored, her entire team would cheer her on. Roxy’s supporters consisted only of her brother and dog.

After the first five baskets, the girls were instructed to move back another 10 feet and shoot from the 30-foot line. Again, both players sank their five baskets. Roxy hit the rim three times before the ball went in and she was starting to get nervous about having to kiss her Nikes goodbye. At this distance, though, the team began to cheer her great shots, along with Hattie’s.

The coach went up to the two competitors and told them to follow him. He led them to the back of the railcar, which was close to 50 feet away from the hoop, and told them to give it a try. It was Roxy’s turn to go first and, to her chagrin, she missed the shot by two feet. If Hattie were to sink the basket, Roxy would have to give up her favourite shoes. Just in the nick of time, she had a brilliant idea. As Hattie was about to make the shot, Roxy pulled down on her right earlobe. This was the signal for Jasper to start barking, a trick she had taught him when he was just a pup. Sure enough, the dog barked on cue and distracted Hattie enough for her to miss her shot.

The team captain came up to the competitors and declared a tie. She also suggested that, following the World Championship game, it would be a nice gesture if Hattie could give Roxy her team sweater and Roxy could give Hattie her Nike shoes. With some hesitation, both girls agreed and shook hands. After all, Roxy thought, a team sweater from a player on the Edmonton Grads team that won 502 out of 522 games (and won in all four Olympics they attended) would make a great souvenir of her trip to 1915!

Roxy thanked the coach for the opportunity to demonstrate her basketball skills and told him how much she was looking forward to watching the team in action at the upcoming World Championship game. The last words the coach said to Roxy before she and Ray continued their tour of the train, were the words he repeated hundreds of time during his 25 years as coach of the Grads: “You must play basketball, think basketball, and dream basketball.”

As they walked away, Roxy told Ray that after 25 years of coaching, Percy Page became an elected politician and was the lieutenant-governor of Alberta between 1959 and 1966.