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
On this platform and in a setting of enthusiasm that cannot be
described adequately, he spoke and gave medals to what seemed an
endless stream of brave Canadians.
It was in the evening that he drove through the streets of the town,
and I believe I am right in saying that he gave up other more restful
engagements in order to undertake this ride that took several hours and
was not less than twenty miles in length.
Toronto is a city in which the civic ideal is very strong, and the
concern not merely of the municipality but of all the citizens. It
believes in beautiful and up-to-date town planning, and the elimination
of slums, of which it now has not a single example. On his ride the
Prince saw every facet of the city's activity.
He drove through the beautiful avenues of Rosedale, and through the not
so beautiful but more eclectic area of The Hill. He went through the
suburbs of charming, well-designed houses where the professional
classes have their homes, and into the big, comely residential areas
where the working people live. These areas are places of attractive
homes. The instinct for good building which is the gift of the whole
of America makes each house distinctive. There is never the hint of
slum ugliness or slum congestion about them. The houses merely differ
from the houses of the better-to-do in size, but, though they are
smaller, they have the same pleasant features, neat colonial-style
architecture, broad porches, unrailed lawns, and the rest. Inside they
have central heating, electric light (the Niagara hydro-power makes
lighting ridiculously cheap), baths, hardwood floors, and the other
labour-saving devices of modern construction. Most of the houses are
owned by the people who live in them, for the impulse towards purchase
by deferred payments is very strong in the Canadian.
One of the brightest of the suburbs was built up almost entirely
through the energy of the British emigrant. These men working in the
city did not mind the "long hike" out into the country, to an area
where the street cars were not known. From farming lots they built up
a charming district where, now that street cars are more reasonable,
the Canadian is also anxious to live--when he can find a householder
willing to sell.
The Prince's route also lay through the big shopping streets such as
Yonge ("street" is dropped in the West) and King. Here are the great
and brilliant stores, and here the thrusting, purposeful Canadian crowd
does its trading. There is a touch of determination in the Canadian on
the sidewalk which seems ruthlessness to the more easy-going Britisher,
yet it is not rudeness, and the Canadian is an extraordinarily orderly
person, with a discipline that springs from self rather than from
obedience to by-laws. It may be this that makes a Canadian crowd so
decorous, even at the moment when it seems defying the policemen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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