THE TRIP THROUGH CANADA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 27

THE TRIP THROUGH CANADA.

(Fsom Oub. Own Correspondent.! REGINA, May 12

Caleary (altitude 3428 ft) has a popuation~of 22..500. It is one of the rising cities of the prairie. The irrigation canal of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company taps the. Bow River at Calgary, and. after pursuing a course of 16 or 17 miles, itd waters are ' distributed to the prairie lands in the. neighbourhood. At the time of the " carrying out of tins great work the seasons had been abnormally dry, but since then, we were informed, there had npt been the- same necessity for irrigation.. The works are the largest in either the TTnited States or Canada. At Calgary we have the usual generous hospitality extended to us. We are first taken foi' "an automobile drive to the point on the Bow Rivev whei-e the water is taken for the irrigation canal, and afterwards to a goint ftf land where a splendid view

of . the city is . obtained.. After lunch, which was given by the Calgary Canadian Club, a speech of welcome was made by the president of the club, Mr Bennett, and most cordially endorsed and applauded by the Calgary residents present. The Australian and New Zealand delegates who responded to the toast were Mr H. Berkeley, of Newcastle, New South Wales, and Mr M. Cohen, of Dunedin, and both gentlemen did justice to the task allotted to them. 'In the afternoon a reception -was given to the ladies of the party by Mrs Lougheed, wife of Senator Lougheed, one of the leading lawyers of Calgary. This was attended by a large number of ladies, and the attractions of Mrs Lougheed's beautiful home and the unremitting courtesies of the hostess were thoroughly appreciated. A dinner was given to the ladies and gentlemen of the party by the Mayor and aldermen of the city and about 50 guests sat down to an excellent spread. The Mayor, Mr Jamieeon, .in an excellent practical speech, expressed the pleasure it gave the civic authorities to extend their hospitality to their visitors from the far-away lands in the South Pacific, which, with Cnnada, had shown their devotion to the Motherland. In appreciatory speeches the Hon. C. E. Davies, of Hobart, and Mr George Fen'wick, of Dunedin, acknowledged in cox'dial terms the generous hospitality that had been extended to the party by the people of Calgary. Interesting particulars were given by both speakers of the portions of the Empire from which the,y respectively came. After honour had been done to Colonel Steel, whe-se services in the Boer war as leader of the Canadian forces in that memorable combat, and a suitable acknowledgment made by him, in the course of which he eulogised the fine spirit and the courage displayed by the N-ew Zealand contingents, with whom the Canadians had been associated, the whole party visited the theatre on the invitation of Mrs Lougheed, and a variety entertainment of an enjoyable character was witnessed.

Thereafter we all found our way to "Lorraine," our C.P.R. carriage home, and, after a comfortable night in the sleeper, in the course of which we crossed nearly 200 miles of ths prairie, we were awakened about 8 a.m. to find ourselves at Medicine Hat, a town of 6GOO inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of the South Saskatchewan, and is the centre of a ranching and mixed farming district. But it is moi'9 than tliis ; it has the good fortune to be right in the heart of vast -subterranean" deposits of natural ga«s. The light, "heat, and power of ' the district is derived entirely from this gas, which is sold for manufacturing purposes at fiv-e cents (2£d) " per 1000 ft, and for domestic purposes at 2J5 cents (6£d) per 1000 ft: The temperature of these regions goes down to 4Odeg below zero in the winter months. At Bang last winter the thermometer registered a minimum of 47deg below zero. • At Maple Creek, 64 miles from Medicine Hat, or a few miles south of it, Sitting Bull, the Sioux chief, was captured by a Canadian mounted police officer after the massacre of Custer and his American cavalrymen. We pass many other interesting places until wo reach, in time for dinner, Regina, the capital of the Province of Saskatchewan. It has a population of 10,000, and its altitude is 1875 ft above sea lev-el, &o ire have descended gome 1550 ft since leaving Calgary. Near the city stands the Lieutenant-Governor's residence, and the Provincial Government buildings are in course of construction at a cost of £5500,000. On our arrival at Regina we .vere met at the station by the president of the Canadain Club, Commksioner Perry, who is in charge of a large body of mounted police in the two Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The delegates were entertained at dinner^ by the club, and the ladies of the party^ received similar hospitality at the hands of the ladies of Regina, and~ were afterwards guests at a theatre party. At the banquet the chair was occupied by Commissioner Perry, and the toast of " Australia was proposed by Mr J. A. Allan, a prominent citizen, and was responded to by Mr Thomas Temperly, representing the Bathurst Daily Argus." "The toast of-" New Zealand" was i>rcposed separately by the Rev. Mr Hill, Rural. Dean of Regina, in an excellent and vigorous speech, in which he showed an intelligent knowledge of many of New Zealand's lawws. Mr Gresley Lukin responded to the toast in a speech of con-.si-derable length, in which he dsalt largely with Australian matters. He, however, contrasted the State-owned railways of Xew Zealand roth the great line owned by the C.P.R. Company, and paid a deserved tribute to tluit great corporation. Mr Lukin closed hi.s speech with a plea for closer relations between Canada and the Commonwealth and Xew Zealand. To-day the press delegates leave Regina for Winnipeg.