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     Gramma and Grampa took over the exchange office in Perdue in 1921.  Their bid was accepted from 30 received in 1920 but the official date for the first telephone call recorded was at 7 AM, August 1, 1921. This was a long distance call placed by Gramma to her very good friend, Mrs Norman (Fleeta) Scharf, to let her know that little Vera had been asleep when they passed their place so they had continued on to Perdue.  It had originally been intended that Vera would stay there until the move had been completed.  Gramma placed the last call, just before the area was switched into the Community Dial Telephone System, at 9 AM, February 14, 1962 to Fleeta completing nearly 41 years as agents for the Perdue Rural Telephone Company.

     Grampa took over as the area linesman after 2 or 3 years in the office.  He continued in this capacity, until 1956 when he retired from this segment of the job and Dad took over until his retirement in August of 1975.  Dad had been working as his assistant for many years prior to this.

     Early life was not easy for the settlers that came west from Europe in those early years of the 20th century.  The Warin family came west in 1904 or 1905...this is a little vague.  The journey to Winnipeg after clearing immigration was arduous and dangerous.  It had to be completed in 2 steps because the railroad had not been completed.  The western portion was short of the eastern portion by a mere few hundred yards so this entailed getting off one train and walking over to the other and completing the journey.  As related to me all was not perfect and tragedy struck the the group in that journey.  there were so many settlers headed west that 2 trains were used to transport everyone.  Those with last names beginning with the letter A to N were on the first train and those from M to Z were on the second train.  As the 2 trains continued around Lake Superior and into that bleak stretch of Canada from Sioux St Marie to what is now Thunder Bay, the first train derailed and fell into a gorge, killing all but one small girl and one elderly man.  After a lengthy delay, the journey continued but that memory stayed with Gramma and one she rarely mentioned or talked about.

     What was interesting and exciting was the trip after Winnipeg.  Only the male adults were to go on to the settlements to be followed much later by their families.  This was not what they all came through hardships  for.  But the CN police were relentless in their pursuit of stowaways.  Not many of the settlers were deterred but most eventually had  to proceed alone.  Gramma was determined in her youthful vigour to go with her father and she managed to elude capture by the dreaded CN Police and arrived in Battleford, Saskatchewan no worse for wear.  The rest of the family soon joined them there for the final step via the prairie schooner to the homestead located near Wilkie.  The first day of this leg saw them  less than a mile from where they had started.  They had to cross the Battle River and then climb a very long and steep embankment.  This was accomplished by ropes and teams hauling each individual wagon up until all were across.  But the journey again took an unexpected twist.  Indians raided the wagon train, stealing several ox and other items essential to survival in that hostile environment.  John had to go back with his family to Battleford and find work in order to purchase another animal to pull his wagon.  Another Ox was to expensive, so he purchased a horse and they joined the next group headed out, arriving more or less in tact at the allotted homestead.......and to nothing but barren plains.  Everyone pitched in and soon sod houses were appearing although sometimes miles separated them..  Winter was fast approaching and winters on the prairies are harsh and bitterly cold.  That first year, they could not live in their new sod house and so they returned again to Battleford and remained there until the next spring.  This time, they finished the house and settled in to establish their life as new Canadians.  A life not easy to envision now and one not many of us would succeed at.

     Gramma recalls one particularly frightening time on that homestead.  Smoke.  A huge cloud of smoke which soon showed itself as a raging prairie fire and headed directly at their home.  You can imaging the terror since  fire services obviously were not in existence then.  It had to be fought by whomever it ran across and it was their turn now.  As Gramma recalls, they found all the rags, rakes, anything they could and formed a V in the path of the fire.  As it threatened to engulf them, they beat  a path and moved the fire around the home literally with their hands.  The plan worked and the fire split and then reformed as it passed the other side of the house...All that remained was blackened prairie encircling the house but they were safe.  However, in the aftermath, this fire eventually caused  the split up of the family.  Her mother took her sister, Dorothy, and returned to England.  The life was just to much for her to endure.  She never returned to Canada.