FEATURES OF PRINCE'S TOUR

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 252, 23 October 1919, Page 9

FEATURES OF PRINCE'S TOUR

PICTURESQUE INCIDENTS. DID NOT MISS A DANCE {Special to "Star.") VANCOUVER, October 3. The'tour of the British Empire's future nUer teemed with picturesque incidents, especially when the Prince of Wales was nearing the Pacific Coast. 'While watching the large blackboards wSth their hundreds of .ever-changing figures, and listening to the bedlam oi the many trailers endeavouring to sell on the 'Winnipeg grain exchange, tho Prince of 'Wales purchased ot),000 buehela of October oats at 88 £ cents. Immediately the deal was cio.-ed the market fell off one-eighth cant to P3| cente; October delivery eventually ■closing at SSJj} cents, making a drop o! ■f cents after the Prince made his speculation, which resulted in a temporary loss to himself of .'J7S dot. The broker who sold to II.RjH. promised him a profit of at least 2,000 do'l. on his return from the 'Fur West. While travelling through the Province of Alberta inside 24 hours tho Prince of Wales took active part in functions ■which illustrated three distinct phases of Canadian life. On one occasion the 'Prince was riding a "'fiery" mustang through a her.l of cattle on the ranges near 'High River, coached by cowpur.vhers who had found in him a man instead of a bliwe courtier. Later the Prince was found participating in what was probably the biggest military ball Arberta ever has held. Following this the Prince next morning stood in the midst of an Indian pow-wow attired in fealhorod lieail-dress to receive the rank of chief of all the iStoney Crees i.i Alberta. One hundred and fifty Indians of both sexes and all ages hailed their debonair prince as "Chief Morning Star" with their lustiest yell and de.ifcning tom-tom. The stoical Redskins rapidly warmed up under the genial eye of their new prince, and matij were the expressions of goodwill which re-oundevl through the great hills of the National Park. tHVKS PARTY "THE riUIY' At that beautiful 'Rocky Mountain resort of Revelstoke, in British Columbia, a rather amusing incident is vouched for by members, of the crew of the Hoyal train. After a six-mile tramji over n mountain trail the Prince returned to his train, entering his coaoh on the platform side, and quickly passing to the t>ther truck through the opposite door, giving his party "the slip." Swinging | around the end of the train unobserved he went down the main street at Revelstoke until he came to a moving p'.cture theatre Seeing someone lounging in the doorway, 'H.R.H. asked if there vvas a show in progress. "No: everyone -n this town is away seeing , the Prince," answered tho man. who happened to be the manager of the house. "Well, they will have a difficult time seeing him," retorted the other, laughing, "for I.c U right here, and wishes to see a show." The manager, according to the story, rose to the occasion, invited the Prince to the best seat in the house, and started the show. Presently Colonel Henderson, who is attached to the Prince's party, came along breathlessly, informed 'His Highness that he waa delaying the train, as it was then behind schedule time for pulling out of the! station. "Go ahead with your old! train. I can follow on the next train i that leaves the town." Colonel Henderson was informed. However, at the completion of the reel the Prince leluctiintly left tiie chow that had been specially staged for him, and joined his train. SPEAKS WELSH. It has already been chronicled that the Prince' in the East >p.)ku in faultless French to the French-Canadians, but when in Vancouver he displayed further I ability as a linguist when he actually j plunged into the intricacies of the difficulties of the Welsh >nguagp. In thet Hotel Vancouver a specially trained Welsh choir sung a number of selections of Welsh tunes, which greatly interested the Prince. 'He sent tor the conductor j and congratulated him on the singing ol' the choir, saying that he was very fond I i of ■Welsh singing. He especially cn.jove.lj the singing of "Hen <Wlad iy Nhadau") ("Land of My Fathers"). The Prince also' addressed the choir, saving he Was I pleased to Rnd so many 'WeU.h men anA| women in Viincouvcr. lie elceed his remarks by saying that his message to them was "(..'y-mrii am Byth."' which ie I "Wales .forever." In addition to nearly 20(1,0(10 Canai dians witnessing the arrival of the I Prince in Vancouver were 15,000 Ameri- | cans who had made the journey from 1 as far as San Francisco and Los Angeles I in 'California. The battery of cameras was enormous, and it is estimated that at one 'moment the Prince of Wales came into the focus of .'',ooo cameras jivhen he j was in the heart of the Western metroI polis. Some kodak fineds who were unable to get into the • front ranks of the crowd adopted the expedient of holding their cameras over their heads and i upside down as they snapped the Royal j visitor. The jnovie camera men smiled I,delightfully when cine of the veterans in j the rear rank pulled out a photograph of the Prince, which the soldier had brought with him from England, aud asked the Roya|l original to fJlco.sc append his autograph. The Prince immediately took out hie fountain pen and smilingly complied, while envious and admiring glances were cast on the fortunate possessor o.t the autographed photo from all over the throng. STREXUOUS DAXCEK. At the great civic ball given in his honour in Vancouver the Prince was the centre of attraction upon the dancing ! floor, and the centre of tW crowd, about whom revolved the other dancers in a complex mass, numbering over a thousand. ' So interested were the other dancers in His Royal Highness that he could be located by simply looking at, the centre of the slowly moving crowd of dancers, who wore being watched by a gallery of 0000 prominent and "otherwise" Westerners. The Arena rink was transformed into a veritable fairyland for the occasion for the scene of the largest and most brilliant historic military ball in the city's annals. Never before in the city's three decades has a royal prince so honoured Vancouver belles by choosing th*em as his partners for ultra-modern dances. The Prince lived up to his reputation of not only being a royal good fellow, but also proved a "royal good dancer," as one of his delighted partners afterwards expressed it. After seeing the hearty, whole-souled manner in which the heir to the Empire's throne entered into the spirit of the dance, it was easy to understand why he had so strongly suggested that he would prefer that a ball should be one of the items of his reception in the Western metropolis. No ■knight in the olden days ever danced

more gracefully or put 50 much youthful, almost boyish enthusiasm into every bar of the exquisite dance music which, reverberated through the big structure as did the royal scion in whose honour this record-breaking function was given. The Prince also proved that dancing is another of the many accomplishments which he has thoroughly mastered. After leading off with the Mayoress of Vancouver, the Prince danced the next eleven consecutive dances with varioiis young ladies who were all naturally tielighted at the honour conferred upon them. By this time it was getting along in the wee sma' houre, and bearing in mind the fact that His Royal Highness had another etrenuous day ahead of him, the members of his suite eventually, by dint of gentle hints, prevailed upon the royal merrymaker to retire. The Prince was plainly reluctant to quit the gay scene, for, despite the eleven dances without a break, he did not appear in the least fatigued, and as he told some of'his partners, he was having "a ripping good time. - ' SURPRISED BY PRINCE. Admiral Rodman, of the American Navy, came to Vancouver with his flagship, the electrically-driven New Mexico, and a couple of Yankee destroyers, and in connection with the Admiral's visit a pretty incident occurred in which the Prince played a ccntiai part, resulting in an officer on the U.S.S. New Mexico winning a box of candies through a bet he made at the Arena Hall Ball, with Miss Hazel Lyons, of Edmonton. Alberta. "Bet you the Prince dances wjwl you." he said banteringly to Miss Lyons as they danced. '"I'll take the bet." replied, tho fair Canadian partner, feeling quite comfortably certain that she stood to win a box of chocolates. But the American officer won. He admitted later that he hod noticed some glances thrown the way of his partner from the Royal guest of honour. At the conclusion of the dance, an aide approached, asked her name and intimated that His Royal Highncse would like to dance with her. "And it was his favourite <"ance tune that the orchestra wns playing while we danced—"Johnny's in Town.' We got five encore?, and no dancer on tiie floor joined in the hand-clapping more enthusiastically than d'trf tiie Prince,' , said Miss Lyons the next day, in recounting her experiences. "'While we danced he talked along and the principal topic of hik conversation was his grout admiration for Vancouver and the .surrounding water and mountains. But he said he had a great*fondness for our B;lmonton golf links. He made no secret of it that he was sorry he could not stay longer in Vancouver! for he said he was having a really fine time." "I never dreamed I would dance with lira," concluded Mies Lyons, "for when 1 went there I did not know a soul in the city with the exception of Mr. MeXair, who accompanied mc." PRINCE AND WXLSOW. American photographers who came to Vancouver to "shoot" H.R.H. the Prince of Wales informed local newspaper men that the arrangements for getting close to the Prince were ideal. "He was ten times ac easy to get as President Wilson wan in Seattle the other day," one of them explained. "There were twelve secret service men surrounding the President all the time and their one duty seemed to be to keep photographers away. There was none of that with the Prince. , ' It was the democratic manner of the Prince that captivated the populace as he thoroughly despised any attempt nt high ceremonial for his reception anywhere on his tour. This waa especially 50 ttlien he visited New Westminster, a thriving city near Vancouver, to open an industrial exhibition. High t-ilk hats and cutaway coats and the facial expression commonly associated with these high-

brow appendages were conspicuous by their absence when the Prince declared the Provincial Exhibition open. It seems that Senator J. D. Taylor had journeyed from Xevr Westminster to Ottawa when the PriiJct- was in the national capital and he had inquired whether it was the -wish of the Prince to be formally received at the Royal city. "I want," said the Prince in reply, "to meet the people of your city and district in just the same manner that any other visitor would. Personally, I feel more at ease in uniform or business suit than eny other garb. There is nothing I abominate more than top hate and frock coat 3," proceeded the Prince, "andi as a matter of fact, I did not bring mine to Canada." PRINCE OF WALES PRIZE. The Prince has alwaye shown a keen interest in aeronautics, and when in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, after an official dinner at Government I House, the Prince was informed of a 50,000 dollar prize which Xorinan A. Yarrow, of Victoria and England, is offering for the first non-stop airship flight across the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver Island to Japan. H.R.H., on being requested, immediately signified his desire to be associated with the proposal, and the offer of Mr. Yarrow—the wellk'nown English shipbuilder—is now known as "the Prince of Wales prize."