PRAIRIE TRAVEL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 May 1939, Page 7

PRAIRIE TRAVEL

ROYAL PROGRESS ACROSS CANADA MANY WAYSIDE WELCOMES. TRAPPERS & INDIANS MET. By Telegraph-—Press Association—Copyright. FORT WILLIAM (Ontario). May 23. The progress of the Royal train from Toronto to Winnipeg today was marked by several unscheduled appearances on the observation platform at the rear of the car by the King and Queen to acknowledge the cheers from crowds which had travelled unbelievable distances to get. a glimpse of them. At every Hudson Bay Company post there were groups of trappers, lumbermen, and Indians'. The spirit of the north-west was typified by one isolated trapper who, with a tiny Union Jack fluttering above his log hut, stood stiffly holding a Winchester rifle at the “present” as the Royal train passed. It was snowing when the train reached White River, the coldest spot in Canada where the mercury has sometimes stood at 72 degrees below zero. Nevertheless, their Majesties . left the train and chatted with the crew. The Queen also chatted with an Indian’ woman with a papoose on her back, who told her she had paddled 80 miles. The King was obviously touched when two bearded trappers told him they had come 400 miles on the offchance of seeing the train pass through. The sun was turning the waters of Lake Superior to sparkling blue when the Royal party reached Fort William, the district of the Thunder God and the traditional birthplace of Hiawatha. They received a welcome from representatives of all the tribes in the backwoods.

At Fort William and Port Arthur, 1500 miles from the ocean, they drove through the world’s greatest grain ports, and saw giant elevators, with a capacity of 93,000,000 bushels.

EMBASSY PARTY GUESTS IN WASHINGTON. SOME FAMOUS AMERICANS. WASHINGTON, May 23. Lady Lindsay, wife of the British Ambassador, has published a list of Americans who have been invited to meet the King and Queen at the Embassy garden party on June 16. The list includes Mr John L. Lewis, Labour and trade union leader; Mr Henry Ford, motor-car magnate; Mr J. P. Morgan, famous banker; Colonel Lindbergh, Mr John D. Rockfeller, Junr., son of the late oil magnate; Mr Herbert Hoover, Republican President of the United States before Mr Roosevelt; Mr La Guardia, Mayor of New York, and General Pershing, commander of the United States armies in Europe in the Great War. In addition to these guests and their wives, all widows of former Presidents of the United States have been invited.

DRIVE THROUGH RAIN

QUEEN ORDERS CAR HOOD TO BE LOWERED ON ARRIVAL AT WINNIPEG. REFUSAL TO DISAPPOINT PEOPLE. (Received This Day, 9 a.m.) WINNIPEG, May 24. The Australian Associated Press special correspondent on the Royal train says that on arriving at Winnipeg in the rain, the Queen ordered the hood of the car. to be lowered for the drive from the station. The equerries demurred, but her Majesty was insistent and the King’s naval cape was hastily secured. The Queen had no umbrella, but a bystander handed her one. Mr Mackenzie King commented: “You are very brave,” to which the Queen replied: “We don’t want to disappoint the people.” \ Winnipeg’s population, swollen to 400,000 by 150,000 Canadian and 50,000 American visitors, gave a tremendous reception when they saw the Queen driving through steady rain, in a light beige ensemble, holding up an umbrella.