ROYAL TOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 August 1939, Page 11

ROYAL TOUR

* RECENT VISIT TO CANADA. “SHOOTING” BEARS WITH ’ CAMERA. OTTAWA. i Following their Majesties’ departure from Canada, many intimate little stories have been published in the press of Canada, all illustrating the kindly feeling entertained by the King and the Queen and the affection of their subjects in the Dominion. Possibly for the first time in history, a knighthood was conferred in a railway train, travelling at a speed, when the Hon A. S. Redfern, secretary to Canada’s Governor-General knelt on the carpet of the royal train while his Majesty tapped him on the shoulder with a sword. The occasion was not only the first time a knighthood had been conferred in a moving train, but the first time such an honour had been conferred personally by a reigning sovereign in the New World. A mother bear and her small cub as well as several mule deer were ‘shot" by King George during the stay of their Majesties at Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The King and Queen were greatly entertained by the antics of the cub. peeking around a tree at them near the Royal cabin. After the’cub had obtained a good look, the mother bear chased it up a tree. All of v the action was recorded by King George on his camera. War veterans at Calgary decided that they not only would wear the berets issued to them but that they should also wear a special tie displaying the colours of the Canadian Legion. A rush order for 300 ties was sent to Montreal where the silk had to be woven specially. The order was completed in one day and within another 24 hours the ties had been delivered in Calgary by air express.

Every pupil at the Ontario School for the Blind received a separate letter in Braille conveying greetings from their Majesties. The message read in part: 'Their Majesties send their best wishes to you and hope that it will be possible to put this in Braille so that you may read it and keep this memento of their Majesties’ stay in Brantford.”