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June, 1950
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Fleet-Footed Foursome Finishes First
Left to right: A. "Tony" Cardamone Head Baggage Porter,
John Halley, Jack Dewhirst, Ken Murray, Jack Matheson, all Vancouver station red-caps, and Wm.
"Bill" Barwise Station-Master, pictured with the trophy won by the Vancouver
red-caps in a recent relay race at Olympia, Washington. The Vancouver quartet of bag-hustlers
capped first place from a field of six teams competing from Seattle, Olympia, and Aberdeen, Washington. They were the
only Canadian entry in the event.
Next time you're in Vancouver Station and you want your
hand-baggage rushed down to the train platform, keep in mind John Halley, Jack Dewhirst, Ken Murray, and
Jack Matheson. They're station red-caps, and they're speedballs.
The foursome recently won first-place honors in a unique relay race, one of the annual field events staged
by St. Martin's College, Olympia, Washington.
The race was a second annual event for hotel bell-hops, and the Vancouver quartet was the only team of
railway baggage porters competing, and was the only Canadian entry in the event. Winning time was 28.1 seconds over a
220-yard course. Last year's winning time was 21.7 over a course of 160 yards, and the CPR team placed
second.
Object of the relay race is to despatch a 25-lb. suitcase over the course in the shortest possible time.
Last year, under the supervision of "Bill" Barwise, Vancouver Station-Master, and
"Tony" Cardamone, Head Baggage Porter, the team went into training, lugging a satchel filled with 40 pounds
of sand.
At Seattle, en route to the games at Olympia, two members of the team became enthusiastically carried away with a
shopping expedition, and a resulting delay in departure put the team in Olympia just in time to enter the competition.
Without checking with race officials, 40 pounds of sand was hurriedly dumped into the competitive suitcase and the race
was on. After placing second in competition with a half dozen other teams, the CPR contingent learned that only 25
pounds of "ballast" was required to be toted over the track.
They made no mistakes this year, however, and it will be noted that the company team bettered last year's winning time
over a course longer by 60 yards.
Mayor of Olympia, Hon. Ernst C. Mallory presented the boys with the winner's trophy, and remarking on their
fleet-footedness, said, "you Canadians up there must use deer to pace you in your
training".
This Canadian Pacific Spanner article
is copyright 1950 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their
permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Company.
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