Across the Prairie in a Motor Caravan: A 3,000 Mile Tour by Two Englishwomen on Behalf of Religious EducationHasell, Frances Hatton Eva
Religion
Across the Prairie in a Motor Caravan: A 3,000 Mile Tour by Two Englishwomen on Behalf of Religious Education
Hasell, Frances Hatton Eva
Missions -- Canada
We discovered that there were several outlying missions which had been
worked from Youngstown, so we decided to visit the nearer ones, and take
the others on our way back to Regina. On the Monday we went to Ryson and
looked up the children at the farms and got them to join the Sunday
School by Post. At one farm we were thankful to take shelter as a
thunderstorm was raging. The farmer's wife was away, but he and two of
his brothers were at home. The farmer was a great student of the Bible,
so he and I had a theological discussion under cover of the piano where
Winifred and the brothers made music.
After another day or two's visiting we started for Cereal, but lost our
way and did not arrive until 10 p.m. Here, also, we took the names of
several children for the Sunday School by Post. The next day we went to
Stimson, over a very bad trail. We addressed the children in the
afternoon, had supper at a farm, and then held a service in the school,
with prayers, hymns, and address. The latter was given under
difficulties. Several small children came with their parents, and
several dogs accompanied their masters. Presently one baby fell down and
began to cry, whereupon all the other babies howled in sympathy and all
the dogs began to bark. I tried to make my voice heard above the din,
but Winifred came to the rescue by collecting children and dogs and
taking them all outside. Afterwards we discussed the best way to start a
Sunday School, and took names for the Sunday School by Post in case it
proved impossible.
We started about 8 a.m. next morning for Alsask and Kindersley. We meant
to go over a hundred miles that day. The trails were awful, however, and
presently we came to a graded place which was all loose earth, and the
car skidded badly, running off the grade and sticking at an angle of 45
degrees. We unloaded, and when I got in again to drive it I had to hold
fast to the wheel in order to keep my seat, the slope was so great. But
I managed to get back to the trail. We reached Alsask about 2 p.m. and
found Mr. H. there, who wanted to be taken on to Kindersley. After five
miles the car stopped dead. On examination I found that the hub of a
back wheel was broken in half. Just then two men came along in a car and
said they were going to Alsask, so they took me and the wheel. While it
was being mended I bought some food to take back with me to the others,
but had to wait an hour or so till the men were ready to return. They
took me back to the caravan, and I put the wheel on again and we started
once more. But the car still went badly. Then we came to a steep hill
newly graded, which we could hardly get up. At last I found that I must
put in new sparking plugs, a difficult job in the dark. Whilst I was
doing this Winifred had a splendid view of a distant electrical storm.
It was a magnificent sight to see the lightning flashes playing on a
vast expanse of sky.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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