Westward with the Prince of WalesNewton, W. Douglas (Wilfrid Douglas)
History
Westward with the Prince of Wales
Newton, W. Douglas (Wilfrid Douglas)
Canada -- Description and travel; Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972
This club, set in the vividly blue waters of the great lake, is a
little gem of beauty with its smooth lawns, pretty buildings and fine
trees. It is even something more, for every handful of loam on which
the lawns and trees grow was transported from the mainland to make
fruitful the arid sand of the spit. The Prince had tea on the lawn,
while he watched the scores of brisk little boats that had followed him
out and hung about awaiting his return like a genial guard of honour.
There was always dancing in honour of the Prince, and always a great
deal of expectation as to who would be the lucky partners. His
partners, as I have said, had their photographs published in the papers
the next day. Even those who were not so lucky urged their cavaliers
to keep as close to him as possible on the ball-room floor, so every
inflexion of the Prince could be watched, though not all were so far
gone as an adoring young thing in one town (NOT Toronto), who hung on
every movement, and who cried to her partner in accents of awe:
"I've heard him speak! I've heard him speak! He says 'Yes' just like
an ordinary man. Isn't it wonderful!"
On Tuesday, the 25th, the Yacht Club was the scene of one of the
brightest of dances, following a very happy reunion between the Prince
and his comrades of the war. Some hundreds of officers of all grades
were gathered together by General Gunn, the C.O. of the District, from
the many thousands in Ontario, and these entertained the Prince at
dinner at the Club. It was a gathering both significant and
impressive. Every one of the officers wore not merely the medals of
Overseas service, but every one wore a distinction gained on the field.
It was an epitome of Canada's effort in the war. It was a collection
of virile young men drawn from the lawyer's office and the farm, from
the desk indoors and avocations in the open, from the very law schools
and even the University campus. In the big dining-hall, hung with
scores of boards in German lettering, trench-signs, directing posts to
billets, drinking water and the like, that had been captured by the
very men who were then dining, one got a sense of the vivid capacity
and alertness that made Canada's contribution to the Empire fighting
forces so notable, and more, that will make Canada's contribution to
the future of the world so notable.
There was no doubt, too, that, though these self-assured young men are
perfectly competent to stand on their own feet in all circumstances,
their visit to the Old Country--or, as even the Canadian-born call it,
"Home"--has, even apart from the lessons of fighting, been useful to
them, and, through them, will be useful to Canada.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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