“HIT OF THE SHOW”

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1935, Page 6

“HIT OF THE SHOW”

CANADA’S MOUNTED POLICE. NEW YORK SHOWS ENTHUSIASM. “The greatest spectacle seen in. living memory in Madison Square Garden,” was the description given by one writer of the performance of a squadron of 36 members of the famous North-West Mounted Police, for whose appearance special permission was given by the Prime Minister of Canada. It is recalled that thousands of Americans had applied for admission to the Canadian force when two of its members were sent for temporary duty on the occasion of the opening of the Canadian Legation at Washington seven years ago, says the New Zealand Herald’s New York correspondent. The visit aroused New York to such an extent that feature writers resurrected adjectives that had lain buried since the Armistice to express their delight. A writer in the World-Telegram said: “Admitting the unique effect of the males in the boxes, ‘Millionaire Row,’ all of whom wore stove-pipe hats, as if mourning for a departed Tammany leader, and the gentlemen who wrapped their expensive bodies in butcher aprons as they drove those little toy buggies around the ring, the hit of the show was the Canadian ‘Mounties.’ “To the strains of ‘The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,’ which did not seem altogether flattering to the ‘Mounties’ or their mounts, spirited horses carried their scarlet-coated masters through a series of intricate drill manoeuvres that was nothing short of breath-taking. The ‘Mounties’ do everything the Roxyettes do on the stage, and do it on horseback. At that, I was slightly disappointed in the finale when the horses did not stand on their hind-quarters at attention when the band played ‘God Save the King.’ “No longer is it a mystery why the ‘Mounties’ always get their man. It must be a pleasure to surrender to those gallant fellows. Before the week is over I venture to say they will have BabyFace Nelson and Dutch Schultz (America’s No. 1 and No. 2 public ehemies at that time) on their knees begging to be sent to the electric chair.” The visit recalls to residents of Chicago the unparalleled scenes they witnessed five years ago when two “Mounties” from Vancouver trailed their man across the continent, and arrested him at Chicago. On that evening, they were guests of the heads of Chicago police at a well-known cabaret. At mid-night, when opera-goers had arrived, a spotlight was thrown on J. table occupied by the visitors and their hosts while a loud-speaker proclaimed: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us to-night two members of the famous Canadian Mounted Police, and we’re glad to tell you that they’ve got their man—right here in Chicago.” A thousand diners rose to their feet and cheered. “It was the most embarrassing moment in our lives,” said the sergeant.