It may have helped that the people in Kinkora had a bit of a home advantage. The dance hall was in fact built for holding concerts. The floor at the back of the hall had a gentle slope towards the stage, and those familiar with the slope would make sure they danced close to the stage where the floor was flat.

Kathleen loved to dance, and attended every one she could. It was at . I - g ' 1 one of those dances that of ’ T M" M Kathleen met the love of her life. She had first met Bill Murphy at the Kinkora school, where she was completing grade 10. He was from Emerald and took the train to and from Kinkora each day to attend grade 11 classes, since the school in Emerald offered classes only up the tenth grade. Bill and his friends regularly attended the dances in Kinkora, and used a . ”v novel means of getting to ,1. JV them. They would remove l“ $43; the railroads pump trolley

‘ from where it was stored [(4‘th K949 “"dBillePhy (find 1949) beside the Emerald station,

manoeuvre it on to the

railway tracks, and pump their way for the 15 minute trip to Kinkora. It was an eXtremely dangerous practice, given the Island’s often irregular train schedule. Taking the trolley off the tracks, they would head for the dance. After the dance, they would put the trolley back on the tracks and make the return trip to Emerald, where they put it back from where it had been taken. If the station agent noticed that it was being used by the local lads to go to the dances in Kinkora, he never mentioned it.

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72 KATHLEEN MURPHY, MAITRIARC