Montreal, October 15, 1941
Dear Mom, Dad and All:-
Am still here Wednesday morning but am all
packed ready to leave. Yesterday morning twenty of the boys were
told to be ready to leave at three o'clock. They went down to the
bank and drew their travel pay and after dinner there was a little ceremony
at which they received each a copy of the New Testament and a large certificate
of membership in the CTC. They left at two thirty. At three
o'clock there was another call for assembly and twenty more were called
to leave at 7:30. Some of them weren't there so Huff and I were told
to pack up. We did so and just had everything stowed away when we
were told the others had returned and we wouldn't have to go. The
second bunch went down to get their travel pay and we had supper while
they were still away. When they came back they found an order had
just come through cancelling the works so the whole outfit is still here,
except of course, the first twenty. There are just an even hundred
men here now. The Scotchman and the fellow from Ohio whom I wrote
about went with that draft (as it is called here).
Bye for now
Bob
We never know just when we will leave until
a couple of hours before, even the captain doesn't know: it's all depending
on the boats coming in and the accomodations available.
It's a beautiful fall day here today, only
the second day since I've been here that it hasn't rained.
I went to see "Blossoms in the Dust" Monday
night. It was one picture of a double feature, the other being John
Barrymore In "World Premier". In addition there was an amateur "Hunt
for Talent" night, March of Time, Newsreel and cartoon, all for 40 cents.
Stopped at a place called "Dinty Moores" afterward and had a toasted fresh
crab meat sandwich, which was very tasty. Only 25 cents for the sandwich.
Went down town again last night for a little while but have been afraid
to stay away from headquarters very long at a time because of the calls
to go. George has completely recovered from his illness and eats
like a horse. I'm all 100% as usual, have neither lost nor gained
any weight, am just 138 Ibs.
I just got your letter and right surprised
to get an answer so quick to mine.
As far as any danger crossing the ocean
is concerned it's practically nil. In the last war over 600,000 Canadians
were taken across without the loss of a single man and all have gotten
there safely'so far in this one. The draft which left the Monday
before I got here cabled that they had all arrived safely. There
were forty in that group.
We had our turkey dinner with all the trimmings
Tuesday noon and it was really good. Cranberry sauce, dressing, turnips,
mashed potatoes, pumpkin Pie, baking powder bisquits (my pen is getting
ahead of me), and coffee composed the menu.
I've managed to get most of the items I
had forgotten at home, or didn't have to take along: a metal mirror, aspirins,
and the like. Think I'm pretty much complete now. They say
soap is rather scarce in England so took in a Rexall 1 cent sale and stocked
up.
Yesterday morning after roll call George,
Dee, and I hired a taxi for $1.00 each and were taken on a two hour sight-seeing
tour of the city. It was a good deal better than a sight seeing bus
and actually cheaper. Our driver was a French-Canadian and his English
was just about half French. We really saw the town, the rich residential
sections, all the high points which gave panoramic views of the city, Chinatown,
the churches and shrines and public buildings. One thing we saw which would
interest Bug [George] was a large clock about eight feet in diameter growing
in a park. Yes, growing, for it was composed of flowers and foliage
with colored leaves. The hands were of metal troughs in which flowers
were growing and it told the correct time, which is Eastern Daylight Saving
time, two hours different from St. Paul time. It was run by an electrical
motor buried under it in the ground. It was located on a bank at
an angle of about 30 degrees with the sidewalk. There are about three
or four Catholic colleges here as well as a few endowed and non-sectarian
ones. There are over 300 Italian prisoners of war quartered on an
island in the river in the heart of the shipping docks of the St. Lawrence.
We sure got our money's worth on that ride.
I don't know what to happened that letter
I wrote. It was on a folding card with a picture of this house on
it. I'll send another so you can see what kind of a place I'm living
in. I mailed it Friday morning via Air Mail.
Well it's just about dinner time so I'11
sign off for now. Will wire when I leave here or from Halifax if
I go by rail. It takes 27 hours to get there from here, meaning another
overnight train ride and then some.