E H.E.HSELL
STA f K
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
TORONTO, ONTARIO
SOURCE:
The Library of
Rev. Salem Goldsworth Bland,
B.A., D.D.
The John W. Graham Library
TRINITY COLLEGE
TORONTO
ACROSS THE PRAIRIE IN A
MOTOR CARAVAN
ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
LI A MOTOR CARAVAN
A 3,000 MILE TOUR BY TWO ENGLISHWOMEN
ON BEHALF OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
BY
F. H. EVA HASELL
IN COLLABORATION WITH J. F. S.
WITH 18 ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP
LONDON
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
NEW YORK AND TORONTO ; THE MACMILLAN CO.
IQ22
TO
AYLMER BOSANQUET
WHOSE SELF-SACRIFICE, DEEP SPIRITUALITY,
AND FAR-SEEING VISION INSPIRED THIS VENTURE,
THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED
FEB 2 1 20 03
PRINTED IN G);EAT BRITAIN
LETTER FROM
HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP
OF CANTERBURY.
LAMBETH PALACE,
LONDON, S.E.
DEAR Miss HASELL,
I happen to have read the proof sheets of the little
book which is to record the story of your work and Miss
Ticehurst s in the prairie tracts of Canada, and I should like
to tell you how glad I am that the account of these eventful
journeyings should be accessible to the public. People
realise too little what are the opportunities and responsi
bilities of pioneer days in those incomparable regions. The
perseverance, the indomitable energy, and the buoyant hope
which your pages record and inspire will have a place in
the annals of that vast seed plot and cradle of a great
nation that is to be.
I am,
Yours very truly,
RANDALL CANTUAR.
October $th, 1922.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 AGU
I. THE CALL OF THE PRAIRIE - I
II. PREPARATIONS AND DEPARTURE 7
III. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE U.S.A. AND CANADA IO
IV. LIFE IN A LITTLE PRAIRIE TOWN 17
V. IN REGINA - 22
VI. THE MOTOR CARAVAN - - 28
VII. THE PRAIRIE TRAILS - 33
VIII. FROM WINNIPEG TO REGINA - 36
IX. SANDSTORMS AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS - 42
X. ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES - 51
XI. SOME ASPECTS OF PRAIRIE LIFE 55
XII. MISSIONS AND MUD HOLES - 62
XIII. FURTHER PRAIRIE SKETCHES- 71
XIV. A CAMPING TRIP IN THE ROCKIES 78
XV. ON THE RETURN JOURNEY - 8 1
XVI. AMONG THE PRAIRIE FARMS - 86
XVII. BACK TO REGINA 93
XVIII. AN INDIAN RESERVE - 98
XIX. HEADED FOR HOME - - IOO
XX. SOME PRESENT-DAY NEEDS OF THE PRAIRIE - 104
APPENDIX - - - - - - - 112
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing page 28
MAP OF THE CANADIAN DOMINION IN DIOCESES Froiltispiea
THE CARAVAN AND HER CREW
THE INTERIOR OF THE VAN
TIDYING UP
A SHACK ON THE MOVE
DIGGING OUT THE WHEEL
THE TENT, AND MY ASSISTANTS AT LOREBURN
HOUSEHOLD TASKS
MR. M. AND HIS MOTOR-CYCLE ON THE RAIL
WAY TRACK
A PRAIRIE SCHOOL
A MAPLE-LEAF TEACHER AND HER PUPILS
PRAIRIE SCHOLARS
A YOUNG HERDSMAN
THE AVENUE AT BANFF, ALBERTA
LAKE LOUISE
LUMBER ON THE BOW RIVER
SLINGING HAY INTO THE BARN
THE CHURCH ON THE INDIAN RESERVE
80
vii
ACROSS THE PRAIRIE IN A
MOTOR CARAVAN
CHAPTER I
THE CALL OF THE PRAIRIE
THE diocese of Qu Appelle, in the province of Saskat
chewan, Western Canada, is so named from the Indian
story which tells of the maiden who lay dying, calling
piteously for her lover. He, far off in his canoe on the Sas
katchewan River, suddenly heard a voice, and answered :
" Qu Appelle." The voice came again, and then he knew it
for that of his beloved, and made all speed to her side. But,
alas ! when he reached her she was dead.
Qu Appelle is a suggestive title and indicative of the call
which so many have heard from the prairie provinces, a
twofold call, urging some to earthly and some to spiritual
husbandry. Some account of the Western Canada of to-day
may be useful here.
The exigencies of life on the prairie tend to make men
think rather of building greater barns than of that day when
their souls shall be required of them. When a man with
little capital takes up a prairie " section " he is gambling
with fortune, the welfare of his nearest and dearest being
at stake. At the same time it is a worthy venture, a
response to the age-old command to till the earth and subdue
it ; and it is often the only way whereby a man may become
his own master, a landowner, and one who, in developing
the treasures of the earth, adds materially to the well-being
of his fellows. For the wheat from the prairies of Western
Canada is the hardest and finest in the world.
The prospective settler buys a section (640 acres), a half
2 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
or a quarter section, as the case may be, and, helped by a
loan from the Government for the purchase of implements,
ploughs and sows the virgin soil, building a shack for him
self and his family. The first three years are touch and go.
Drought in early summer or torrential storms in harvest
will effectually ruin the crops, but when once a good crop is
raised the profit is very satisfactory. The perils of drought
and storm, however, always remain, though with increasing
capital the risk is lessened. The life is one long wrestling-
bout man s brain and muscle pitted against the forces of
nature ; but when he is victorious the reward is great.
It is a virile country peopled with virile men (for only the
strong can " make good " out there). But these men have
already realised that man cannot live by bread alone.
Close to nature, man feels the presence of God. The wide
sweep of the prairie, enamelled with a thousand flowers or
gilded with the ripened corn ; the vast dome of the sky ;
the glorious sunsets and awful storms all make men con
scious of the power and might and majesty of the Supreme
Being. So that beneath the feverish search for wealth there
is a deep, if unrealised, thirst for the things of God.
But many of these sheep have been for years without a
shepherd, and such knowledge of religion as they once pos
sessed has been choked by the cares of this world ; and
their children the men and women of the future on whom
so much depends are growing up in many places without
any religious teaching at all. One result of this state of
things is that there is no Christian public opinion on which
to start this new country. It is even said that it is not un
usual to hear men boast : " We cheat others before they
cheat us."
Another terrible result is that, unrestrained by spiritual
forces, the animal instincts have gained the upper hand and
immorality is rife. In the Bulletin of Social Service in
Saskatchewan for June i, 1920, under the heading: "Some
Measures Urgently Needed," No. [o runs : " Higher
standards in our laws regarding sex offences. Ours are the
lowest in the Empire, due to the Senate s repeated rejection
of amending measures."
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 3
A disintegrating factor in the religious and moral life of
Western Canada is no doubt to be found in the mixture of
races and the resultant intermarriages. Almost every race
and sect is represented. There are about eighty different
religions, including many eccentric and obscure sects such
as " Daniel s Band," " Doukhobors," and " Holy Rollers."
According to the census of 1916 the Christian churches in
Saskatchewan are numerically strong in the following
order : Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican,
Lutheran, Greek Church, Baptist. The proportion of
Anglicans has probably increased since then.
In 1910 the Archbishop of Rupertsland appealed to the
Archbishops of Canterbury and York to send out clergy to
attend to the needs of the numerous British settlers who
were pouring into the country. (Between 1900 and 1920 one
million two hundred and fifty thousand persons have emi
grated from Great Britain to Canada.) The Archbishops
Western Canada Fund was the answer to this appeal. The
cause interested me extremely, and I became one of the
collectors for the diocese of Carlisle. This diocese raised
^"3,000 and built St. Cuthbert s Hostel in Regina, and later
raised another ^"1,000 towards the ^"50,000 needed for the
endowment of the Western Canada missions.
Three missions were started by the Fund in Edmonton,
Southern Alberta, and Saskatchewan respectively, but we
are only concerned with the latter. In this province many
small towns had sprung up owing to the great influx of im
migrants (mostly British) and to the rapid railway con
struction, while the surrounding prairie was dotted with
isolated farms and hamlets. It was with the special needs
of these people that the Regina Railway Mission had to
deal. Accordingly, several clergy and laymen went out
from England, made the hostel at Regina their headquarters,
and visited the surrounding country. They lived in one-
roomed shacks, doing their own " chores," and often driving
about eighty miles on a Sunday in order to take four
services a day. They returned to the hostel once a quarter
for spiritual refreshment, rest, and discussion of their work
with the head of the Mission and with each other.
4 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
Meanwhile, a pioneer movement was on foot in the Old
Country. At St. Christopher s College, Blackheath, a
specialised training in the matter and method of religious
education had been inaugurated for women prepared to
undertake this branch of social service. I was asked to
become Diocesan Sunday School Organiser for the diocese
of Carlisle, and went to train at St. Christopher s in 1914.
There I met Miss Aylmer Bosanquet and Miss Nona
Clarke, and was naturally very interested to find that these
new acquaintances were anxious to go out to Regina and
do Sunday-school work in connection with the Railway
Mission. A firm friendship resulted from this common
interest.
Aylmer Bosanquet s plan was to go out with Nona Clarke
and live on the prairie, working amongst the children and
supplementing the work of the clergy in any other possible
way. She proposed to finance the expedition entirely her
self. At first the Secretary for the Archbishops Western
Canada Fund was very dubious about accepting her generous
offer, having been out in Canada himself, and knowing that
life in a prairie shack is exceedingly hard for gently nurtured
women. But Aylmer Bosanquet was so urgent that at last
she won the day, and she and Nona Clarke went out to
Regina in 1915. They established themselves at Kenaston,
where they lived in a three-roomed shack and did all their
own work, even to the grooming of the buggy horses.
The women missioners went up to Regina once a quarter,
when the clergy and laymen met to discuss their work.
They brought valuable contributions to the matter in hand.
They had found great ignorance amongst the children, some
of whom did not even know the Lord s Prayer. At their
first Christmas they found several children who had never
heard of the birth of Christ, All that the holy season meant
to them was contained in the nursery legend of Father
Christmas.
This ignorance is largely due to there being no Scripture
teaching in the public elementary schools, although there is
a clause in the Saskatchewan Education Act which says
that the last half-hour of every day may be given to
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 5
Scripture teaching if the trustees are agreed, Unfortun
ately, they seldom do agree in this matter, as they usually
belong to different religious bodies. Nor is there any
religious teaching in the collegiate schools (which correspond
with English high schools), even in Regina, the capital of
the province. The following answer was given by a col
legiate girl in a secular examination : " When William the
Conqueror went to England he found no code of laws, and
so he drew up the Ten Commandments."
After about four years of strenuous work, Aylmer
Bosanquet fell ill, and was obliged to go into a nursing
home at Toronto for a serious operation. In the quiet time
of convalescence her thoughts were busy with the work so
dear to her, and she began to consider the problem of the
many children in the enormous diocese of Qu Appelle, who
had no Sunday school, and who could not be reached by
rail or buggy from the existing centres. She felt that the
future of the Anglican Church in Canada depended upon the
religious training of these children, and an idea came to
her whereby these isolated places might be reached. Her
plan was that trained women should go out on to the prairie,
two and two, in caravans during the season when the trails
are passable. They would gather the children together and
start Sunday schools, training teachers to carry them on.
In the winter they would return to some central town,
whence they would keep in touch with the quite isolated
children by means of the Sunday School by post. They
would also lecture locally and give demonstration lessons.
Many of these trained women would be needed if all the
children on the prairie were to be reached. It would be
necessary at first to recruit from England, but later it might
be possible to develop a movement already started, but
which had had to be temporarily abandoned for lack of a
suitable head namely, a training college for the Dominion
of Canada on the lines of St, Christopher s, Blackheath.
Aylmer Bosanquet wrote to me describing her new plan.
She was very anxious to see it in operation, for the diocese
of Qu Appelle alone covers 92,000 square miles (about twice
the size of England), and two women, though with the best
6 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
will in the world, could do comparatively little in that
immense area.
The project of caravanning on the prairie in the interests
of religious education appealed to me very strongly, and as
Aylmer Bosanquet soon afterwards came home to England
to recuperate, we were able to discuss the matter together.
Her idea was to have a horse caravan which should be
moved on from place to place by the farmers. But as I
have lived all my life in an agricultural district, I knew the
difficulties consequent on wanting the use of farm horses in
seed-time and harvest the very seasons when the trails are
open and I also knew that horses could never cover the
necessary distances. In my own diocesan work, which took
me to little out-of-the-way villages among the fells of
Cumberland and Westmorland, I had found it necessary
to use a car, and I therefore felt it would be best to have a
motor caravan.
It would be worse than useless to take a motor-car on to
the rough prairie trails unless one had had long driving ex
perience and done a considerable amount of running repairs.
To learn to drive one year and to go out the next would
probably mean finding yourself in a tight corner. As I had
been allowed to use our cars throughout the War, in con
nection with my Sunday school work and a V.A.D. hospital,
I had fortunately gained a good deal of practical experience,
especially as it was necessary to drive in all weathers, day
and night, over the steep hills of the Lake District. When
these hills were covered in ice your car would run back
wards or skid and come down sideways, and these happen
ings were a useful preparation for the steep, sandy banks of
the trail, where the wheels could not grip. Then, too, as
our chauffeur was called up and mechanics were scarce, we
had to do our own repairs.
The diocese having consented to my being absent for six
months, I found a substitute to carry on my work, and
began my preparations for the prairie tour.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 7
CHAPTER II
PREPARATIONS AND DEPARTURE
THE first idea was to buy one of the Red Cross motor
ambulances then being sold off in London, but transport
difficulties made it impossible to take one across. Mean
while Aylmer Bosanquet, having returned to Canada, found
that the Saskatchewan Bible Society had a Ford caravan
in which a man could live and sleep, travelling about the
province with Bibles. Also, Archdeacon Burgett, the
Diocesan Missioner for Qu Appelle, was having a Ford
caravan built for two of his mission clergy. She sent me
details of these vans, and I asked her to order me a similar
one, the interior fittings to be decided upon when I came
out in the spring.
The next thing to do was to find a fellow- worker for the
tour ; and this was by no means easy, for she must not only
have been trained at St. Christopher s and be physically
strong, but she must be prepared to pay her own expenses,
there being as yet no fund to finance the venture. Fortu
nately, however, an experienced ex-student, Miss Winifred
Ticehurst, offered to go. She had trained at St. Christopher s
soon after its foundation, and had since had considerable
experience in Sunday-school and parish work.
Then came the difficulty of getting passages and p, js-
ports. These would never have been grant had v/e not
been able to prove that we were going out t ,ork. After
the trials consequent on a visit to Cook s age il the folio wir.g
incident in the current Punch seemed peculiarly apposite.
Scene : The office of a travel Bureau. Clerk (helping nervous-
looking lady to fill up form) : " And the address of the nearest
relation to whom the body -aay be sent if found dead ?"
I intended to travel via New York, in order to visit some
cousins. I had heard of the fame of the U.S.A. Sunday-
schools, and wished to see some of them. I also hoped to
meet Dr. Gardner, the Secretary of the Executive Com
mittee of the Department of Religious Education for the
American Episcopal Church. It was therefore necessary
8 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
to get my passport visaed at the American Consulate, and
on presenting the customary letter of recommendation from
a clergyman I was much amused when the clerk eyed me
suspiciously and remarked : " A letter from a clergyman is
nothing to go by. They are so easily taken in."
The question of equipment had taken considerable thought,
and the result seems worth setting down, in view of its
possible service to others. The chief items were : a
motorist s 1919 tent with bamboo poles, sleeping-bags, a
double Primus stove and a Tommy cooker, a ferrostate
flask and two thermos flasks, canvas buckets, clothes both
for winter and summer (land workers suits for driving the
caravan, which, unfortunately, the Canadians regarded as
displaying an undue amount of " limb"!). Then, for use in
the prairie schools, sets of Nelson s pictures and Sunday
School Institute models (given me by the Girls Diocesan
Association for Carlisle diocese), and a case of books of
graded lesson courses and a quantity of postcard pictures
of " The Hope of the World " and " The New Epiphany."
A tip from an experienced traveller proved most useful.
This was to fasten the packing-cases with bands of tin
nailed on, instead of with ropes, as the latter frequently
break when the cases are swung aboard ship, scattering the
contents on deck.
In February, 1920, we embarked at Liverpool for New
York. Winifred Ticehurst was to meet me at the boat,
and my feelings may be imagined as the time drew on, the
friends seeing me off had to leave, and still no fellow-
traveller appeared. At last, five minutes before they raised
the gangway, she ran up, breathless. Her passport had
not been dated in London, and they had sent her back from
the boat to get it dated at the American Consulate in Liver
pool. It was an ill-omened opening for her voyage, which
proved one of great discomfort, as she was more or less ill
for a week. She managed to write descriptive letters, all
the same, and the following extract is a vivid portrait of our
fellow-travellers (we went second-class to save expense).
" The young men and maidens ... sit about on one
another s laps, and the correct way to get ready for lunch is,
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 9
when you hear the gong, to part yourself from your com
panion, pull a comb out of your pocket and do your hair
then you are ready."
I did not suffer from sea-sickness myself, and never missed
a meal. Indeed, the waiters seemed greatly intrigued at my
appetite, and I fancy, from the way they pressed the various
courses, that they were betting on how much I could eat !
A day or two before we reached New York there was a
horrid orgy on board. Knowing that they were entering a
" dry " country, many of the passengers got drunk, shouting
and raging all night long, so that one could not sleep. On
the prairie I afterwards found other ill-effects of prohibition
the smuggling of spirits and excessive drug-taking, the
latter chiefly amongst women. Before passing such laws
it surely would have been advisable to have created a
stronger public opinion to support them. Otherwise there
is danger of finding two evils in the place of one.
On the other hand, future generations should benefit
greatly by this measure, however imperfectly it now works.
It seems improbable that the health and industrial pros
perity of non-prohibition countries will equal those of " dry "
countries.
The day before we entered New York we got into the
end of a blizzard. There was a tremendously high sea, and
we moved very little that day. We received a wireless
message from a ship just out of a Canadian port which had
struck a rock in the storm, but we were too far off to go to
her assistance.
Our stay in New York proved to be an amazing and ex
hilarating experience. The palatial manner in which, in a
private house, one is assigned one s own " compartments,"
would have satisfied Mr. Salteena ; and the restaurants are
a paradise for the discerning palate. A brief but thorough
experience of American luxury in a great city was, from its
very contrast, a fitting prelude to the rough life of the
prairie. You get a more complete picture with strongly-
drawn lights and shades.
io ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
CHAPTER III
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE U.S.A. AND CANADA
THERE is a very remarkable system of religious education
in New York, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, and many other
cities. The entire educational work of the Church in the
United States is under the direction of the Department of
Religious Education of the National Council (called in the
United States "The Presiding Bishop and Council"). The
Department of Education has several divisions : Theological
Seminaries, Church Boarding Schools (the same as Public
Schools in England), Church Sunday Schools, Week-day
Schools, work among students in State Universities,
Pageantry, etc.
All Church School teachers are urged to go to Normal
Schools. These are successfully operated in New York
City, Boston, Detroit, and Cleveland. The teacher attends
the Normal School once a month and receives instruction
from an expert in Child Study, Psychology, and Methods,
and also has an opportunity to discuss the outlines and
illustrations for the four lessons which are to be taught the
following month. The lesson material is from the Christian
Nurture Series. This Series is a most up-to-date graded
course for children from four to seventeen years of age.
Week-day schools are provided for children who are
excused from the public schools (that is, the great schools
supported entirely by State funds) for one hour or more
each week for religious instruction under the Church of his
parents affiliation. These schools stand for the co-operation
of the Church and State in the education of the child. The
State does not technically release the child for religious
instruction, but honours the request of the parent and excuses
the child for extra educational work desired by the parent.
It is realised in America that religious education cannot be
successful without the co-operation of the parents, therefore
the Christian Nurture Series provides a " Monthly Letter
to Parents" to be forwarded regularly by the teacher.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN n
These letters explain clearly what is required for the pre
paration of each Sunday s lesson during the week. Social
gatherings are also arranged for the parents from time to
time, at which an address is given bearing upon the im
portance of the religious training of the child, and calculated
to enlist parental interest and co-operation.
An interesting example of the practical application of
these principles was afforded by a visit to what we should
call in England an " upper class " Sunday School. I had
already met the superintendent, Miss Warren, and she had
explained one most interesting feature of her system
namely, that each month she held a staff meeting of parents
and teachers to discuss the lesson, the children, and the
school. In each department of the school there was a
superintendent; a grade leader who ensured a continual
supply of teachers (absentees having to send in their names
to her beforehand) ; a teacher and an assistant teacher for
each class, the latter being there to learn her art; and a
pupil teacher to hear the memory work. Some of the
teachers received a salary, and all the children paid a small
entrance fee. These fees, however, did not suffice for
expenses, owing to the very good apparatus in use, but the
deficit was made up by the church.
A conspicuous feature of the school was a large diagram
which hung near the superintendent s table. It consisted
of five rings : the small central circle represented " Parish
and Home," the next ring "Community," the next "Diocese,"
the next " Nation," and the outer ring "The World." At
the end of the session an appeal was made by the secretary
each Sunday for one of the above " fields of service," which
took the form of a stirring address on the need for support
ing the work. The secretaries were always some of the
elder pupils, and their appeals were remarkably well
expressed for such young persons. After the address the
secretaries of each class were asked to vote a sum of money
for the cause, which they did after discussion with their
class-mates. The school had a choir of girls led by a talented
musician, and they all united to teach the children hymns.
Miss Warren took me to see Dr. Gardner, and, consider-
12 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
ing the excellence of the system at which the American
religious educationist aims, it was encouraging to find him
taking great interest in the proposed caravan tour. He even
went so far as to ask for details of the plan, and to request
that an account might be sent to him for publication. On
the appearance of this article he appealed for volunteers
and money in order to start a similar campaign on the
plains of the U.S.A., where no religious instruction was at
present provided for the children.
After ten days in New York, we went on to stay with
friends in Toronto. Here we took the opportunity of in
quiring into the methods of, and opportunities for, religious
education in Canada. We were greatly helped in this by an
introduction to the Rev. Dr. Hiltz, General Secretary of the
General Board of Religious Education for the Church of
England in the Dominion of Canada. The following is a
summary of the information given by him or gleaned from
other sources.
Under the British North America Act of 1867 the right
to legislate on matters respecting education was reserved
exclusively to the Provincial Legislatures subject to the
maintenance of the rights and privileges of the denomi
national and separate schools as existing at the time of the
union or admission of provinces to the union.
This gave to the Roman Catholics in the Province of
Ontario the right to have separate schools, and to the
Protestants in the Province of Quebec a similar right. In
other provinces of the Dominion, with the exception of
Saskatchewan and Alberta, however, separate public schools
have no legal standing. The right to have separate schools
in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan was con
ceded to these provinces when they were admitted to the
Dominion.
So far as religious education in the public schools in
Canada is concerned, the following brief summary will give
some idea of the situation and at the same time strongly
emphasise the need.
In Nova Scotia the matter is largely in the hands of the
local authorities. So long as no one objects, religious in-
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 13
struction may be given in accordance with the wishes of the
majority of the supporters of the school.
In New Brunswick schools may be opened with the reading
of Scripture and the use of the Lord s Prayer, but as this
regulation is permissive only, everything depends upon the
individual teacher.
In Prince Edward Island the reading of the Bible at the
opening of school is authorised.
In Quebec in the Protestant schools the first half-hour of
each day is devoted to religious exercises and instruction in
morals and Scripture.
In Ontario the public school must be opened with the
reading of Scripture and the repeating of the Lord s Prayer,
or the prayer authorised by the Department. Religious
instruction may be given by the clergyman to the pupils of
his denomination once a week after school hours.
In Manitoba ministers of the various religious communions
have the right to go into the schools at 3.30 once a week
and give the children religious instruction.
In Saskatchewan and Alberta the School Board may permit
religious instruction to be given during the last half-hour of
the day, and may direct that the school be opened with the
recitation of the Lord s Prayer.
In British Columbia no provision is made for religious
instruction, but the Lord s Prayer may be used in opening
and closing the school.
In most large towns and many villages of the Dominion 01
Canada there are well-organised Sunday schools. Some
of the dioceses have in the past had Diocesan Sunday
School Organisers. The Diocese of Rupert s Land was
a pioneer in this direction, and the Dioceses of Toronto
and Huron have also had such officials. The City of
Ottawa for several years had a resident Anglican
Sunday School Organiser, an ex-student of St. Christopher s
College.
The religious educational work of the Church in Canada
is organised under the General Synod, the General Board
of Religious Education being the officially appointed body
for the promotion of this work. It began as a Sunday
14 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
School Commission in 1908, but in 1918 was enlarged to a
Board of Religious Education.
Its work falls into five departments, namely :
1. The Department of Parochial Education.
This department concerns itself with :
(a) Religious education through the agency of the
home.
(b) Religious education through the agency of the
Sunday School.
(c) Religious education through the agency of Adult
Bible Classes and Young People s organisations.
2. The Department of Religious Education in Public and Private
Schools.
This department concerns itself with religious education
in public and high schools and in church boarding schools.
3. The Department of Teacher Training.
This department concerns itself with :
(a) The training of teachers and officers in the local
Sunday School.
(b) Teacher training in church boarding schools.
(c) Training for leadership in provincial normal
schools.
(d) The training of students in our theological colleges
in religious pedagogy.
4. The Lantern Slide Department.
This department concerns itself with the promotion of
educational work through the medium of the lantern in all
branches of the Church s activities.
5. The Editorial Department.
This department concerns itself with the providing of
suitable material for use in the promotion of religious
education through the other departments, including the
preparation and publication of the necessary lesson helps
for teachers and pupils.
In connection with the work of the Parochial Depart-
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 15
ment, an interesting attempt has been made to reach the
people in the scattered districts through what is known as
" The Sunday School by Post." This is practically the
only way in which isolated families can be helped who are
too far away to make attendance at Sunday school possible,
and too few in numbers to support a school of their own.
This Sunday School by Post sends out monthly and weekly
graded lesson helps, each lesson having its own illustrations,
questions, memory work, prayers, and Bible readings for
each week. The parents are asked to see that the child has
ample opportunity to do the written work, and this is
returned to the Diocesan Secretary for the Sunday School
by Post for examination and correction.
Sunday School by Post secretaries are now working in
the Dioceses of Qu Appelle, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Ed
monton, and Athabasca, and, now that the General Board
of Religious Education has a western field secretary at
work, in the person of the Rev. W. Simpson, it is hoped that
other dioceses may be led to establish work similar to this
to reach the church people in the more distant settlements.
Without some such help as this the parents usually find
it impossible to give their children religious instruction.
They have little time for thought or study, and have fre
quently forgotten what they once knew. But their interest
is very keen when roused, as the following incident proves.
In one of the public schools, during the history hour, the
teacher read part of the story of Joseph, but not having time
to read the whole of it promised to finish it next day. One
child, thrilled by the story and impatient for the end, went
home and asked his parents if they could finish it for him.
" Joseph !" they said, " Joseph ! Surely we have heard that
name somewhere." At last they remembered that it was a
biblical name. A long search finally revealed the Bible,
dusty from long neglect, and a further search discovered the
story, which was read with intense interest by parents and
child alike. When the latter went to school next day he
proudly told his class-mates how the fascinating adventure
ended.
In connection with the Parochial Department, much is also
16 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
being done for the training of boys and girls of the " teen "
age. With a view to meeting the needs of these young
people, a Council on Boys Work, a Council on Girls Work,
and a Council on Young People s Work have been formed,
whose chief task it is to prepare and issue definite pro
grammes of mid-week activities for organised groups of
older boys and girls and young people. The plan which is
largely followed is that known as the fourfold plan, the aim
being to develop these adolescents physically, intellectually,
socially, and spiritually. The programmes are of such a
character that they can be worked out through any type of
organisation desired, whether it is with an organised class
in Sunday School, a Boy Scout or Girl Guide Troop, Trail
Rangers, Tuxis Square, or Anglican Young People s Asso
ciation.
The publication work of the Board is extensive, lesson
courses and helps, both for teachers and pupils, being pro
vided for all departments from the little beginners to the
adult Bible classes. These constitute the official lesson
schemes of the Church of England in Canada, and are used
in the great majority of the schools.
A very effective piece of work is being done by the
Teacher Training Department, which not only provides
courses of training for teacher training classes in the local
parish, but has also made provision for definite teacher
training work to be carried on amongst the Anglican students
in attendance at the Normal Schools in the provinces of
Ontario and Quebec. In addition to this, definite courses
of training are provided for the students in attendance at the
Church of England Deaconess and Missionary Training
School in Toronto, and in the various theological colleges of
the Church of England. In five of these latter, the General
Secretary of the Board of Religious Education lectures
regularly.
Another important channel for the promotion of teacher
training work is that provided through Summer Schools,
which are held regularly at strategic centres from the Mari
time Provinces to British Columbia. These schools are
conducted under the auspices of the three Boards of the
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 17
Church namely, the Missionary Society, the Board of
Religious Education, and the Council for Social Service.
Dr. Hiltz kindly showed interest in our caravan project,
and said that if it proved possible of accomplishment he
would like a report of the work at the end of the season.
He remarked that there was great need for work of the kind.
CHAPTER IV
LIFE IN A LITTLE PRAIRIE TOWN
WE had arranged to work at Regina until the season was
sufficiently advanced for us to take the road, but before
leaving Toronto I heard that my caravan was not yet begun.
This was exceedingly worrying, as it was now the middle
of March, and I wished to start on the prairie by May i,
when the trails should be open. I had only six months
leave from my diocese, and was anxious to make the most
of it, and now it seemed as if the whole plan would be
spoilt by this delay over the caravan. I determined to stop
at Winnipeg on my way to Regina in order to see about
the matter, and to bring what influence I could to bear
upon the coach-building firm. As a member of the Victoria
League, " I had an introduction to a Daughter of the Empire
at Winnipeg, and I wrote and asked her to use her influence
in getting my order for the caravan put through without
further delay. Then, arming myself with a letter from an
official of the Royal Bank of Canada, stating that I was to
be relied upon to carry out my business transactions, I had
a " stop-over " for Winnipeg put on our tickets, and on
arrival in that town went straight to the coach-builder s
office. The Daughter of the Empire had telephoned to the
firm, and this, with the official s letter, had the desired effect.
The manager was most civil and "obliging, and promised to
do everything in his power to carry out the contract. To
my surprise I found that the order for the caravan had
never been received, the firm through which it had been
* An organisation started in memory of Queen Victoria to bind
together the members of the Empire.
i8 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
given never having transmitted it. When I pressed for
a promise that the van should be finished by May i,
adding that otherwise I should not pay for it, the manager,
knowing that I came from the land of labour troubles, said,
with a twinkle in his eye : " Yes, if there isn t a strike."
I spent some hours in attending to the details of the van,
and then we went on to Regina by the night train, arriving
there next morning. The clergy of the Railway Mission
gave us hospitality at first, then Winifred Ticehurst went to
work in St. Peter s parish, and lived at the vicarage, and I
went to St. Mary s parish, and lived in lodgings.
Soon after I arrived in Regina Aylmer Bosanquet asked
me to go out to her at Kenaston for a week-end. I was
thankful that I was going to make my cross-country journeys
by caravan when I found that it was no unusual thing for
the trains in Western Canada to be three hours late in
starting. This was so much a matter of course that a
fellow-traveller one of the Railway Mission clergy, who
was going up to Kenaston to take service on the Sunday-
telephoned to the station from the Mission-house before
attempting to catch the train. These automatic telephones
were a feature of every house in Regina, and were also
installed in all parish halls and public buildings. The
person using them could switch on to the desired number
without calling up through the Exchange.
It was a five hours journey to Kenaston, which is a
typical prairie town just a wide earth road, with wooden
side-walks, and bordered on either side by wooden shacks.
Even in Regina all but the main streets are of this unpaved
earth, and when the snow is melting or after heavy rain
this earth turns into thick and sticky mud (called "gumbo"),
which cakes on your boots in lumps of incredible hardness,
so that you often find yourself walking with one foot higher
than the other. It is so hard that it can only be scraped
off with a knife. Of course one has to clean one s own
boots, unless one is near a " Shoe-shine Parlour" in some
large town.
Kenaston is surrounded by illimitable prairie, across
which one can see for twenty or thirty miles. When I first
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 19
saw it the prairie was covered with snow, stained crimson
in the West by the red glow of the setting sun. An
unforgettable sight.
The town has a lumber-yard and several elevators, both
of which are found in every town situated close to the
" track " i.e., the railway. The lumber (trees sawn into
boards) is sent down from British Columbia and other parts
for building shacks, etc., there being no timber trees on the
prairie. The elevator is a high granary for storing the
wheat till it is sent away by train.
Small as the place is there are three churches Anglican,
Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran. In many
places there is a " Union " Church and Sunday school.
This is a sort of co-operative Nonconformity, the ministers
of the different denominations officiating alternately.
Presbyterians have united in this matter with the other
non-episcopal sects. The plan has been adopted to
economise in men and money ; but its weak point seems to
be that, as the ministers have to please all denominations,
the teaching is apt to become wishy-washy. A possible
alternative occurred to me namely, that all the religious
bodies of a given area should combine to build a church,
which could then be used for their own special services
at different hours. But, of course, this plan would not
economise in men.
Aylmer Bosanquet s shack had three rooms, all on the
ground floor, with a veranda reached by steps. All the
wooden houses have a basement beneath them, dug out of
the earth and concreted. This helps to keep the houses
dry and warm, and in the larger ones the furnace for the
central heating is placed here. A stove going night and
day is absolutely essential in the winter, as it is often forty
or fifty degrees below zero. But the cold is not felt as
severely as might be expected because of the dry, sunny
atmosphere.
Life in a shack was a distinct contrast from life in New
York. My hostesses slept together in a bed 2j feet wide
in order to accommodate their guest. In the dark of the
wintry morning, about 7 a.m., I roused up sleepily to find
20 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
Aylmer Bosanquet bringing me hot water, herself fully
dressed and armed with logs, just going out to light the
stove in the church, so that it might be warm when the
people came at eight o clock.
St. Colomba s was a typical prairie church, square built,
without a chancel, the plainness of the walls only accen
tuating the richness of the altar furnishings. The walls
were hung with framed Nelson pictures, which lent beauty
and atmosphere to the church, and suggested meditation on
holy things to all who entered. Most of the pictures were
Aylmer Bosanquet s gifts, and the little wooden font, with
its brass basin, was given by the Sunday School children.
The splendid attendance at Holy Communion and Morning
Prayer showed that the adornment of the church was the
expression of a real love for religion. The hearty way in
which the congregation joined in the services was very
striking. Their mutual friendliness also was pleasant to
see, and gave point to the usual greeting : "Pleased to meet
you!" murmured in broken English even by the Chinese
member of the congregation, a phrase which left me at
a loss for a suitable reply until I hit upon the plan of
always saying it first.
Preparation for the afternoon Sunday School was some
what hampered by the necessity for cooking lunch at the
same time, and the peas got burnt while the sand-tray was
being prepared. At this unpropitious moment Mr. G., the
Mission clergyman, looked in to smoke a surreptitious pipe,
removed from the disapproving gaze of his flock, who have
no sympathy with this form of self-indulgence on the
part of their spiritual pastors. Unfortunately, in peas
versus tobacco, peas won, and with a discerning sniff
Mr. G. remarked : " You seem to be having very strange
food." Which was the more disconcerting as the shack
owners had more than once been reproved for their careless
ness of their own comfort.
This first experience of a prairie Sunday School was
indicative of the problems to be faced. It was held
perforce in the church, a necessity with which I was
familiar in my little schools on the fells. There were only
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 21
sixteen children at Kenaston, their ages ranging from two
to seventeen, so that the grading of lessons and devotions
was difficult. The intelligence and interest displayed by
these children were very remarkable. They did credit to
the excellent teaching they had received.
The women missioners had classes in three other places,
and held preparation classes for young teachers, thus train
ing up a supply of teachers from among the young girls of
the neighbourhood. The influence of the missioners lives
on these young girls was very wonderful.
On the Sunday evening there was no service at Kenaston
because Mr. G. had gone on to take one elsewhere, so we
went round to visit the parents and children. It was
noticeable how beloved the missioners were. With some
of the old people they held an informal service, which was
greatly appreciated.
Aylmer and Nona intended to go out on the prairie that
summer, in a different direction from that which I should
take, of course, as we wanted to cover as much ground as
possible. Aylmer had ordered a Ford roadster, which is a
two-seater Ford with a folding camp-equipment attached.
This caravanning was a subject of enthralling interest to
both of us.
Life in a shack is a very busy one, but one soon got used
to the inevitable chores, and remembered to keep the pan
of melting snow on the stove always filled, this being the
only water available for washing up. The shortage of
water is one of the great trials of prairie life. When I
remembered Aylmer s house in England, with its well-
trained servants, her car and chauffeur, and all the luxuries
to which she had always been accustomed, it emphasised
all the more strongly the self-sacrifice of her present life.
On the Monday morning I wanted to telephone to Regina,
and as my hostess said they were always allowed to use a
neighbour s telephone, I took advantage of this neigh
bourly kindness. Whilst waiting for the long distance call
I remembered that mutual assistance is the custom of the
West, and helped to make the beds and sweep the house.
It was about mid-day before I had finished with the
22 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
telephone, and so I was pressed to stay for dinner. No
newcomer is a stranger in that hospitable country. They
were Yorkshire people and seemed delighted to meet another
North Country person.
It was a typical West Canadian meal. It began with
boiled Indian corn served with white sauce, then meat and
potatoes, and then delicious canned fruit served with iced
layer cake, the whole accompanied by strong tea. It is
difficult to do as Rome does until you know what Rome
does do, and with agony the guest realised that she had
nothing wherewith to eat the canned fruit before her, having
been too engrossed in conversation to notice the removal of
her knife, fork, and spoon. Like Chinese chop-sticks, these
should have been retained throughout the meal. The
sqarcity of water necessitates these little economies.
CHAPTER V
IN REGINA
WITHIN the last twenty years Regina, the capital of Sas
katchewan, has grown from a colony of wooden huts to a
town of over 26,000 inhabitants. Government House and
the Parliament Buildings are finely built of stone, but most
of the houses are of wood, there being no quarries on the
prairie. One not infrequently meets one of these wooden
houses moving along the streets a fascinating accomplish
ment. When you wish to live in another part of the town
you simply have your house lifted on to wooden blocks and
skids, and it is then moved bodily with a windlass turned by
horses or machinery. One day I went house-hunting quite
literally, chasing my elusive quarry from street to street
with a camera.
We stayed in Regina for eight weeks, giving lectures and
holding demonstration classes. We were invited to visit
parents and teachers, which we were very glad to do, as by
this means we became acquainted with most interesting
people, and saw how life is lived in this part of the world.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 23
There are four Anglican churches in Regina, St. Paul s
having a splendid parish hall. But Anglicanism only comes
fourth in numbers and wealth here, as it does in Western
Canada as a whole. The Presbyterians are the most
numerous, and have a fine church with a conspicuous
tower. Methodism is also very strong. The Roman
Catholics have built a beautiful cathedral on the highest
part of the town, with two fine spires which form a land
mark for miles around. Underneath the cathedral is a large
parish hall with rooms for various purposes, and this
economy of space allows room for two tennis-courts in the
cathedral grounds.
A large piece of ground has been acquired for the site of
the Anglican cathedral, but this has not yet been begun,
because it was thought better, whilst funds were low, to
build the theological college and the girls school first.
Aylmer Bosanquet gave 1,000 to start this school/ 1 a pro
ject in which she took great interest. It is under the
management of the Anglican sisters of St. John the Divine.
It supplies a long-felt want, being the only Anglican Church
boarding school in this part of the West. It has now taken
over St. Chad s College, which was originally built for
divinity students, but as their numbers were greatly depleted
by the War, St. Cuthbert s Hostel is now large enough for
their needs. Unfortunately, in many cases the children s
schooling depends upon the crops. Only comparatively
well-to-do parents are able to send their children regularly.
Before they have made their way, or when the crops fail,
they have to depend upon the public schools. To help such
parents several bursaries have been given, but others are
needed.
After my week-end at Kenaston I settled down to work in
Regina until the trails were ready. My vicar made arrange
ments for me to lodge with a charming family a Mr. and
Mrs. W. and their two daughters. They had come out
from England about twenty years before, and the girls were
thorough Canadians and very delightful creatures. Mrs. W.
made me feel like one of the family, and mothered me in
* The Qu Appelle Diocesan Boarding School for Girls.
24 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
countless ways. She taught me how to use the Canadian
washing-machine, a thing not unlike a churn. You wash
the clothes simply by turning a handle so many times for
white things and so many times for coloured. She also
showed me how to iron my blouses, and, above all, helped
me to buy the equipment for the caravan. Her advice
here was invaluable, as she not only knew the best " stores"
and what a thing ought to cost, but she also interpreted
Canadian terminology, such as " coal oil " for paraffin,
" wood alcohol" for methylated spirits, and " gasolene " for
petrol.
Mr. W. was equally helpful, and I soon came to regard
him as an encyclopedia of useful information, especially
with regard to practical business matters. Having lived on
the prairie, he also gave me many valuable tips about
prairie life.
The girls were members of the choir, and one was a
Sunday School teacher, and by meeting their friends and
going about with them I gained an insight into the life of
young Canada. Pretty faces, very smart clothes, instant
friendliness, swiftness in uptake, a keen interest in work and
play, and a worthy ambition are some of the characteristics
of these young people. The " movies " and ice-cream play
a large part in their lives. The girls usually marry very
young and have a large circle of admirers from whom to
choose. Winifred Ticehurst sketched them as, follows in
one of her letters : " Choir girls, mortar boards and tassels,
most chic ; surplices and cassocks, curls each side of mortar
boards . . . white Eton collars like little boys."
One of the social activities which interested me very much
was the Canadian Girls in Training, organised by the
Council on Girls Work. They gave a banquet while I
was in Regina, and one of the W. girls asked me to go as
her " mother," it being the custom for each of them to
invite a parent or some older person. I was much struck
by the excellent speeches made by the girls. They ex
plained the object of the organisation, and gracefully
thanked all those who had helped towards its success.
Another very interesting social gathering which I attended
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 25
was a reception given by the Daughters of the Empire in
the Parliament Buildings. I had received introductions to
all the members of this association living in any of the
towns where I was likely to go. The President thought
that it would be interesting for us to meet the members who
were coming in from all parts of Saskatchewan, and who
might help us on the caravan tour. We were also intro
duced to Premier Martin, who was then Minister of Educa
tion for Saskatchewan. He gave a most interesting address
on the rural schools, and after hearing about our project
promised to give us introductions to the day school teachers
in the places we hoped to visit.
Further official encouragement resulted from an intro
duction to the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Richard Lake.
He welcomed me as a compatriot, as he had been educated
at Heversham Grammar School, in Westmorland. We
had an interesting talk on prairie trails and motoring, and
the need for religious education in the day schools. He
was strongly in favour of this, and expressed regret for the
continual opposition to it.
The Daughters of the Empire sent the editor of a Regina
newspaper to interview me. She questioned me on what I
had done during the War, the reason for our coming out,
and the places we intended to visit. The result was an
embarrassingly flattering article in the local paper, which
was copied by the Saskatchewan Star. A few weeks later the
following notice appeared in another paper: Bachelors,
beware ! Two women are going in a caravan on the
prairie. This is Leap Year !"
In Regina I met some very nice girls who had come out
under the Fellowship of the Maple Leaf.* They had come
to teach in the prairie schools, and a good many were now
in training at the Normal School. I gave a tea-party for
them, and they told me a good deal about their work, and
in return showed great interest in our caravan scheme.
Those of them who were going out to the prairie that
summer said that they hoped we would visit them. I was
very glad of this opportunity of explaining our hopes and
* See Appendix I.
3
26 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
aims to these teachers, for I knew it had been suggested
that they should help with religious education, either by
starting Sunday Schools or by giving instruction after school
hours during the week. I foresaw that our great difficulty
would be to make our work permanent in districts where
there were no clergy, and I realised the enormous value of
the help of these trained women. They would already
have some knowledge of teaching methods, and some
acquaintance with the Bible and Church doctrine. It would
be a simple matter to show them how to apply psycho
logical methods to religious education, and, helped with
lesson courses and pictures, they could easily carry on any
Sunday Schools we might be able to start in their neigh
bourhood.
We did not talk shop all the time ; the " green English
women " were put through a severe catechism on Canadian
as it is spoken. But the W. family having instructed me
carefully, I came off better than might have been expected.
I saw a good deal of the deaconess in charge of the Maple
Leafs. She found them comfortable lodgings, and be
friended them in every possible way. She asked us to look
up any of them whom we came across in the out-of-the-way
prairie schools. Her only way of visiting was by train, and
some of these schools were far from any " track." She was
very kind to us and helped us in many ways.
Whilst I was in Regina I had to plan out the organisation
of the caravan tour. I was given the names of a large
number of places to visit and the routes we were to follow, but
no names of the clergy in the different "districts" (parishes).
I had no idea how far apart these places were, or how long
it would take to get from place to place in the caravan. I
therefore got a map and worked out the mileage between
the places. On the earth trails outside Regina I had often
seen motor-cars stuck in mud-holes, and I had noticed the
deep ruts of these unmetalled roads, so I concluded that we
could not make more than ten miles an hour at most in the
caravan. On these two calculations I based the mileage we
might hope to cover.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 27
When at last I obtained the names of the clergy on my
proposed route, I found that there were large areas in which
there were no Anglican clergymen at all. I then wrote to
the clergy, and, lacking these, the leading laity when I could
find their names. In some cases this was impossible until
I neared their district. In these letters I made the follow
ing suggestions. We should like to come and stay a week
in their locality, living and sleeping in the caravan and doing
our own cooking (I wished to make it clear that we should
not be burdensome), but we should be glad to receive
invitations and hospitality at times in order to get to know
the people. Where there was a Sunday School in existence,
we proposed to superintend the school and teach, while the
teachers watched. Where there was no Sunday School, we
should like to have the children gathered together to form
one. In this case we hoped that prospective teachers would
come to be shown how to teach, that they might carry on
the school when we had started it, helped by the books and
pictures which we proposed to leave them. We also re
quested the trustees to allow us to give Scripture lessons in
the day schools in the half-hour allotted for that purpose,
and also expressed our great desire to meet the parents,
that we might discuss with them the problems of religious
education.
I received most kind replies to these letters. The writers
offered us a hearty welcome, and said how pleased they
would be to have people coming out to them, for, as a rule,
they had little help in these matters, beyond an invitation
to a summer school just when the harvest was in full
swing.
I should add here what I had been most careful to
explain namely, that we were given diocesan authority for
our work by Archdeacon Dobie, D.D., who was acting as
Commissary for the Bishop owing to the-latter s breakdown
through overwork, and by Archdeacon Burgett, the Chair
man of the Sunday School Diocesan Association, who was
also Diocesan Missioner.
28 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
CHAPTER VI
THE MOTOR CARAVAN
WHILST in Regina waiting for the caravan to be ready for
the road I took steps to be ready for the van. I had never
driven a Ford, but Aylmer Bosanquet s Ford roadster
arrived whilst I was in Regina, and she allowed me to
have lessons on it. It was quite easy to drive, and on the
second day I took it out alone. I also went to a motor
school and had a course of lessons on Ford running repairs
and vulcanising tyres. The head man was exceedingly
nice, and took infinite pains to help me in every way.
I was the only woman in the shop, but there were a great
rriany men learning motor-tractor work preparatory to
working on the prairie farms. Most of them had been in
the army. They took a most embarrassing interest in me
and my future plans, putting me through the usual cate
chism, with the inevitable leading question : " Are you
married ?" They seemed to think it was not fit for two
women to go out alone on the prairie, as in Western
Canada women hardly ever drive outside the towns, and
never do their own running repairs and seldom even oil
their engines, judging from the sound.
On May i I heard that the caravan was ready, but,
unfortunately, the trails were not yet open. However,
spring comes suddenly on the prairie. On May 2 there
was a blizzard of snow, and on May 5 it was like an English
midsummer day. Archdeacon Burgett advised us not to
fetch our caravan until his clergy had arrived at Regina
with theirs, as they could then tell us what the trails were
like. They came in on the Saturday, May 8, having had a
very rough time with snow-drifts and mud-holes. They
had bent their back lamp and damaged a rear mudguard.
I noticed that they had no shock absorbers, which accounted
for a good deal of the damage. They gave us a book with
directions and maps of the blazed trail between Winnipeg
and Regina, and gave us a lurid description of the perils of
THE CARAVAN AND HKR CRKW
(\v. ,M. T. LKI-T, i- . i!. ic. H. KIGHT)
THE INTERIOR OF THE VAN
To face p. 28
cross the Prairie
I
T1I>YIN<; I ! (see page 54)
A SHACK ON THE MOVE (see page 22)
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 29
the way, apparently wishing to dissuade us from what they
considered a mad attempt. But as I had mapped out the
caravan itinerary with but little margin, I did not wish to
lose any time in getting off, so Winifred Ticehurst and
I started for Winnipeg late on Sunday evening (after work
ing pretty hard all day). We took a blanket or two and
a little spirit lamp and saucepan as our sole camping equip
ment. The parish hall, in which our sleeping-bags, etc.,
were stored, was locked, and the caretaker had gone to
church.
We arrived at Winnipeg at 11.30 a.m. on Monday, and
went straight to the coachbuilder s, The manager showed
us the caravan, which was all ready for the road, except
that they had not put non-skid tyres on the rear as ordered.
I pointed this out, and the manager said that the mistake
had been made by the Ford Company, but he would send
the car down to have it put right in the morning. We had
expected to start that afternoon, but were told that the car
had not yet been passed by the Government officials, who
were going to register it as a commercial vehicle to escape
taxation. As it was a public holiday this could not be
done until next day.
The caravan was much like a tradesman s van in appear
ance. It was painted black, with " Sunday School Mission,
Anglican Church," lettered in red and gold on one side.
The driving seat could be completely closed in when neces
sary, for, besides the wind-screen, there were half-glass
doors on either side, which in hot weather could be taken
off and put behind the mattresses. There were two doors
at the back of the van, which opened outwards. As the
side doors had their catches inside, when we wished to
leave the caravan we got out at the back and padlocked
these doors, thus making all secure. The back of the
driving-seat was hinged and folded forward at night, so
that the six-foot mattresses which were strapped back to
the van sides during the day could come down over it.
Beneath one mattress was a wooden locker, and under the
other a wooden shelf with legs. There was also a shelf on
one wall of the van. When I got back to Regina, before
3 o ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
starting out on the prairie, I added further items, which
the run from Winnipeg had shown to be desirable. An
electric bulb was fitted to the roof of the van, and a reflect
ing glass put on the left side. I also got an inspection
lamp for use at night in case anything went wrong with
the engine. This could be attached to the electric current
which supplied the bulb. We racked our brains to think
of some means of keeping the things on the shelf, and
finally nailed on wire netting, which we hooked to the roof.
This proved very effective, but so great was the jar that the
dancing pots and pans wore it out from time to time. We
made a bag to hold our tidiest clothes, and blue cotton
covers for the mattresses and a bag to keep our pillows
clean. We also nailed linoleum on the floor of the van,
because dust and draughts came through cracks in the
wood-work, and this made the floor easy to keep clean.
The caravan had a Ford chassis with electric starter and
head lights. I had heard that for the rough prairie trails
nothing could beat a Ford engine. Only a car with a high
clearance is of any use on these earth roads, and whereas a
heavy car would stick in a mud-hole the light Ford can
get through. Then again, even little "towns" which are
nothing more than hamlets stock Ford spare parts, both in
garages and in the ordinary "hardware stores" i.e., iron
mongers. I had had two extra petrol tanks put on the foot
board, each holding 8-J gallons, so that we could carry
25 gallons in all. The tool box, also, was on the foot
board, so the spare tyre had to be strapped inside the
caravan above the driving seat. We had very strong shock
absorbers to prevent the body smashing the back axle and
springs when we went through very deep holes, and sub-
radius rods to strengthen the steering-rod and front axle.
I carried three spare tubes as I had not remountable rims,
and a pyrene extinguisher fixed inside the car in case of fire
through damage to the petrol tanks on the rough trails.
I fitted out the caravan in the light of what I had learnt
about the prairie from the Regina Railway Mission clergy
lecturing in England, and from books on the subject. From
these sources I knew something about the condition of the
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 31
roads and the storms one might expect. This was why I
insisted on having a caravan rather than a Ford roadster,
for though the lightness of the latter would enable it to get
through a mud-hole where a caravan might stick, I guessed
that a prairie thunderstorm with its terrific winds and
torrential rains would sweep away the tent and hood of the
roadster like straws, leaving the occupants homeless.
As we could not get away that day we were obliged to
find lodgings for the night, and had not the least idea where
to go. I would have asked hospitality from the Daughter
of the Empire to whom I had an introduction, but we did
not care to present ourselves to a stranger in our travel-
stained condition, and we had brought no evening clothes
with us. Winifred suggested that we should try to find a
Y.W.C.A., which we did. The head received us very
kindly, and gave us cheap and comfortable accommodation.
Had we not been so tired we might have attended a
concert in their concert-hall.
Next morning we went to a store which sold camping
outfits and bought several things, in particular a cunning
arrangement of aluminium cooking utensils which fitted
neatly into a canvas bag. Canadians make a speciality of
this kind of thing, as people often camp out when on a
shooting or fishing expedition. I also had to get several
extra tools for the car, as very few were provided with it.
Whilst I did this Winifred went off to buy food.
When I went to fetch the caravan I found that a
mechanic was just about to take it to the Ford Company
to have the non-skid tyres put on, so I accompanied him.
I noticed that it was not easy to drive in traffic, you could
not see out of the back, and as yet it had no reflecting
glass. The engine was very stiff as it had just come out of
the assembly shop and had not been run, so it was difficult
to steer and to regulate the speed. Also it swung a good
deal as the body was very long, and the shock absorbers
helped to make it swing. Though Main Street, Winnipeg,
is much wider than Oxford Street, it also contains much
more traffic, including trams, so it was not surprising that
we nearly ran into a motor bicycle and other vehicles.
32 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
Then the pyrene extinguisher fell outj and I had to rescue
it from under the nose of a tram.
Seeing what Winnipeg traffic was like, and how stiff the
engine was, and also not knowing the way out of the town,
I thought of the suggestion made by the Regina motor
school, where I had learnt Ford running repairs. This was
that I should ask a mechanic of their Winnipeg branch to
look over the engine and see if it were rightly adjusted, and
then take us out of Winnipeg. Leaving the caravan at the
Ford Company, I went to find this firm. The address given to
me proved to be a barber s shop. This was rather discon
certing, but, on inquiring the way, I found that it belonged
to the same firm, and they directed me to the motor shops,
They sent a mechanic with me, but he seemed all the time
to be in a great hurry, and kept looking at his watch. I
left him looking at the engine while I went after something
or other, and when I came back he was gone. I then saw
that I should have to take the van out of Winnipeg myself,
as they could not spare a mechanic from the Ford Company.
What must be must, so Winifred and I started off and
drove into Main Street, with its surging stream of trams
and cars. The rule of the road here is the opposite of the
English rule, all cars having a left-hand drive, so I thought
it best to cross over to the right side of the street. But
just as I had turned across the tram-lines a policeman
stopped me, saying that I must cross further up at the
regular crossing-place. The engine, being stiff, stopped
dead, and there we were, right in the way of the trams.
However, by the help of the self-starter, I got it going again
and tried to turn, but the steering-wheel w r as so stiff that I
nearly ran into the pavement. We went on further up the
street until we came to a red notice which marked the
crossing-place, but as I had to drive slowly through the
traffic, the engine kept stopping, so I turned into a side
street, and with a good deal of difficulty found my way out
of the town. With every mile the engine ran better, and
after fifty miles it went quite easily.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 33
CHAPTER VII
THE PRAIRIE TRAILS
THE prairie trails are simply earth roads, it being impossible
to get stone for them. The very best trail is much like the
worst cart road in England. The trail is made by scooping
out the earth on either side of a wide track, and throwing it
into the middle, where the clods are baked as hard as bricks
by the sun. These clods would knock the bottom out of
any car which had not a high clearance the more so as a
used trail has ruts about two feet deep. Trail-making is
usually done by a scoop drawn by two horses, but in some
places a kind of motor-plough is used. In dry weather a
simple track across the prairie made by carts and horses is
much easier going, but these tracks are impossible when the
snow is melting, or after the heavy thunderstorms of summer.
Therefore all the main trails have to be raised in the middle
to let off the water, which would otherwise stand till it
formed sloughs. When once on the trail you have to keep
there, as it is either bordered by a three-foot bank whence
the earth was dug, or else it slopes straight into a slough.
These sloughs are like great ponds, their bottoms are
covered with deep mud, and if it once gets in, a car sinks
deeper and deeper, and cannot be got out. The sloughs are
very beautiful, reflecting the wonderful blue of the sky, or
the marvellous colours of sunset. A prairie sunset is quite
beyond description. I have never seen such colours in
England.
The flowers on the prairie are lovely, forming a changing
kaleidoscope of colour throughout the summer months.
They border the trails and the sloughs, and grow in riotous
profusion on unbroken ground. When we first took the
trail I specially noticed a lovely little pale mauve anemone.
There are also many beautiful birds on the prairie, the
most striking being the red-winged blackbird a very big
blackbird with glinting red feathers on the top of his wings.
There was also a robin about twice the size of his English
34 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
cousin, and a yellow-breasted bird which sang a very sweet
little song, but never seemed to finish it. There were prairie
chickens of a greyish brown, wild duck and large snipe, and
a sort of water-hen.
The jack-rabbit was a very ubiquitous person, always
jumping across the trail. He is really a hare, greyish-brown
in summer and white in winter. Another local inhabitant
who made his presence felt was the gopher, which looks
like a cross between a squirrel and a weasel. They make
their holes in the wheel-ruts of the trails, as we found by
bumping violently over their excavations. Badgers adopt
the same inconvenient habit, as we discovered to our cost
when shot suddenly to the roof of the caravan. Fortunately,
they are not so common as gophers. The latter do a great
deal of damage to the wheat, so that the farmers are obliged
to poison them and the children are given so much per tail ;
consequently I had little compunction in running over one
occasionally when it sat up in the middle of the trail just in
front of the wheel. At first I wondered why these beasties
chose the trail for their burrows when they had all the
enormous prairie at their disposal, until it was explained
to me that the hard ground formed a better front door to
their holes, as in soft ground the soil would fall in.
We were interested in watching the farming operations
en route. They were disking and ploughing and sowing,
generally driving six horses abreast. The machines were
immensely wide, too large to pass through our widest gates,
and it was a heavy alluvial soil, thus needing much horse
power. We also saw a large number of motor tractors in use.
All the main trails are bordered with telephone poles, and
a red blaze on these poles indicates the way i.e., an R or
an L tells you when to turn to the right or left. At least,
it is supposed to tell you, but as both letters are usually on
the same side of the pole, it is up to you to guess whether
you turn to the right to go to Winnipeg or to Regina.
The matter is further complicated by the letters being made
of paper on some trails, in which case they are generally half
torn off.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 35
The trails, like the towns, are laid out in squares. In a
town the avenues run east and west and the streets north
and south. On the trail, when you are running north and
south you find a trail running east and west every two miles ;
and when you are running east and west you find a trail
going north and south every mile. But this arrangement is
complicated as you draw near to the Arctic Circle, because
as the trails are laid out in squares, these squares grow
narrower in this direction and so an extra trail, called a
correction line, is added at intervals. Also now and again
an old Indian trail upsets one s calculations. You never
talk of right and left on the prairie, but always of the points
of the compass, and these points form the first lesson which
a child learns. Yet the actual compass is of no use on
these rough roads, as it gets out of order. One learns
to steer by the sun and stars.
It is useless to ask for directions, you will merely be told
" Go five miles north, and three miles east and one mile
south and four miles west, and then look for the elevator at
So-and-So. Ye can t miss it." But you can miss it, very
easily. Again, you are often told that a place is "quite
close " and find it to be at least five miles away.
There are no landmarks on these trails, except the
elevators in the towns near the track. The sections are
marked by a small heap of stones at their corners. There is
scarcely a fence on the prairie, there being no stock to speak
of and no wood at hand for posts. There are also no sign
posts or danger signals, and for lack of the latter we had a
narrow escape of finishing our tour before it had well begun.
Soon after we left Winnipeg, running through the main
street of a little town, we suddenly saw a great C.P.R. train
cross the road in front of us with no warning whatever.
Had we been a minute or two sooner we must have been
killed. It is no unusual thing for the track to cross the trail,
but in this instance the houses prevented us from seeing the
approach of the train.
Meeting another car was an awkward matter as it meant
climbing out of the ruts and running with one wheel in the
gutter. Sometimes, in trying to avoid a mud hole or some-
36 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
thing, we ran at such an angle that I only kept my seat by
clinging to the steering-wheel, and how Winifred kept hers
a mystery. Straw and sand are sometimes thrown into
these mud holes, in a vain endeavour to fill them up.
When stuck fast in one it was little consolation to be told
that it was probably an old buffalo wallow.
This is how Winifred described the trail in one of her
letters : " The road was long, the ruts were deep, the sloughs
were lined with mud. The road was narrow, and on each
side those watery sloughs did gleam with tempting sunset
gleams of cherry, pink and gold, a warm, warm glow.
They said Oh, guide your car into our gleams and spend
the night with us. "
CHAPTER VIII
FROM WINNIPEG TO REGINA
THE first night we camped near a farm-house so as to be
able to get water. We did this whenever it was possible.
Going to bed in a caravan proved to be an acquired art.
First we had to put all the camping equipment, etc., either
in front of the driving seat or outside the van covered over with
a waterproof sheet (there was always a very heavy dew at
night); then we let down the mattresses and arranged the
bedding. Next came the difficulty of undressing, there
being barely 12 inches between the mattresses when they
were let down. We could not make a dressing-room of the
prairie because we generally camped near a farm, and any
how the clarity of the atmosphere and the flat ground made
one visible from a long distance. This first night we sat
on our mattresses and wriggled out of our clothes, there
being no room in the van to stand upright. Afterwards we
adopted the plan of going to bed one by one. We put up
the tent for a second room whenever we stayed long enough
in a place to make it worth while. We had been obliged
to do this trip without our sleeping-bags, and so were very
cold at night, as the temperature then falls very low even in
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 37
the summer. You really need a sleeping-bag as well as
blankets on the prairie. Our excellent health throughout
the tour was probably largely due to our precautions in this
matter. My sleeping-bag had already done much service,
having been lent me by a cousin who had used it on the
French and Italian fronts, and my mosquito net was a loan
from a padre who had served at Salonica. This preserved
me from much discomfort and blood-poisoning, as later in
the summer the mosquitoes were very ferocious, especially
to us newcomers.
We started on our tour with a due regard for appearances,
both of us armed with travelling looking-glasses. But these
soon got smashed in our bumpy progress, and henceforth
we contented ourselves with tidying our hair from our
shadows cast on the ground or our reflections in the wind
screen, or, Hyacinth-like, gazed fondly into the sloughs.
I turned out first in the morning, as I was going to cook
the breakfast, and found it decidedly cold. When I went to
the farm for milk and eggs the nice woman would not let
me pay for them. We found great generosity wherever we
went. We had brought sufficient water from Winnipeg in
the ferrostate flask for tea, but this was too precious to use
for washing up, so we had our first experience of getting
water out of a prairie well. This shortage of water and the
expense of boring very deep wells is one of the farmers
great trials. In certain places you have to go down forty
feet for water. If there is no gasolene engine or windmill it
has to be drawn up with a bucket and rope. This is by no
means easy, the problem being to prevent the bucket from
floating empty on the surface of the water. To avoid this
you have to swing the bucket so that it falls in sideways and
fills itself, but if you are not very careful when drawing it
up it will sway violently and spill half the contents. On
this first occasion, having proudly drawn up my water, I
essayed to take it away in our canvas bucket, but not
knowing the habits of the latter it turned over just as I had
got it filled. Afterwards I circumvented it by weighting it
with a stone or propping it up.
When at last we were all ready to start, the engine un-
38 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
fortunately wasn t. I thought that the sparking plugs had
probably got damp with the heavy dew, or had got oily, so
I took them out and cleaned them and also cleaned the
carburetter. In the meantime Winifred went off to the
neighbouring town to fetch help from a garage, but they
were all too busy with motor tractors to come. Presently
two farm men came and talked to me and helped to undo
screws, but did not seem to know much about a car. The
small boy from the farm saved the situation by his cheerful
chatter. He kept telling me that the radiator was like a
letter-box.
At last I got the car to start, and then it went very well.
The trail was very sandy, bordered with coarse grass and
prickly scrub, and there were hills at intervals. The car
skidded badly in the sand, and once swung round broadside
on up a bank, and nearly turned over. We had to cut down
some of the thorny bushes in order to get it out without
damaging the headlights. We had not gone much further
before the car stuck in the sand again,, going up a hill.
Some men came by in a car and advised me to tighten the
gear pedal, which I did. New cars need continual adjust
ment at first, of course. W 7 hen we had done about fifty
miles I thought that the engine smelt hot and found that
the fan was not working, so I screwed up the belt and it was
all right for a time. We passed through several towns
that day, and stopped for the night near a slough, outside
Alexandra. For the first time we were hushed to sleep by
the " Canadian Band," as the frog chorus is called.
The next day was Ascension Day, and we hoped to reach
some town in time for a service, but difficulties beset us
from the first. I had to get some gasolene out of the side
tanks, and this meant siphoning it, an exceedingly un
pleasant performance, no less than sucking it through a
tube to start the flow. Then the electric starter went
wrong, and the engine was terribly hard to crank, as the
starting-handle had not been used. At last we were off, but
the trail was heavy with sand, and the engine got very hot
and presently stuck fast at a hill. I found that the fan had
gone wrong again, and took it down, and while trying to
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 39
put it right found that a nut had not been properly adjusted.
A man came along in a car and at once went to my aid.
Then two more men came by and also stopped to help, and
when we had adjusted the fan they all three pushed the van
off and we went up the hill.
But our troubles were not over yet. An immense hole,
about five feet deep, yawned across our path as we topped
the hill, and there was nothing for it but to plunge through
it and down the hill beyond. The caravan swayed so
violently that I expected every moment that we should be
upset, but it always righted itself just in time, though every
thing on the shelves was hurled to the floor a continual
occurrence until we put up the netting. The sand was so
thick here that we got on to a grass track beside the trail,
hoping for better going, but this soon ended, and we had
to bump back on to the trail again. In so doing we stuck
fast in the ditch. By racing the engine I got her out, but
we soon stuck fast again, this time up to our axles in sand.
After we had tried in vain for an hour to get the car out, we
gave it up and sat down by the roadside to read the service
for the day in our prayer-books. It was easy to enter into
the spirit of the festival out there on the wide prairie, with
its immense distances and glorious blue sky. We were
about thirty miles from any house.
After a time we started to dig out the wheels with our
hands, but just then two of the men who had helped us
before came back along the trail. " How many more
times shall we have to help you two girls out of a hole ?"
they cried, and with much good nature proceeded to assist us,
until at last, with reversing and pushing and putting our
blankets under the wheels, we got out. We had to go half
a mile back and along another trail, but at last reached
Verdun. We only did twenty-seven miles that day.
We didn t stick fast anywhere next day, but the trails
were very bad, and we were shaken to pieces. My arms
became very stiff with the vibration from the steering-wheel,
and sometimes it was nearly knocked out of my hands when
a front wheel struck big clods. One had to hang on like
grim death. After a time, however, I quite got into the way
4 o ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
of driving in ruts. We stopped for the night at Wapallo,
and were just going to have supper when the vicar came
along and saw our van, whereupon he promptly took us home
with him. His wife was most kind to us, and at once
supplied our greatest (and most obvious) need by inviting
us to wash. A real wash is a great treat on the prairie,
where water is so scarce. After supper we went to evensong
in the pretty little prairie church, near which we afterwards
camped. We had done ninety-two miles that day.
Next day, when we stopped at Medicine Hat for gasolene,
a man came out of a store close by, and, seeing the van, in
troduced himself as the superintendent of the Anglican
Sunday School there. He was most anxious that we should
stop over Sunday, but we thought it best to get to Regina
as soon as possible. As we neared the town we had a
narrow escape from a slough. Going into Regina there
was a very bad turn, in negotiating which the car swung
round and one of the front wheels went into a muddy ditch.
By putting on the brake with great force, I managed to
stop her from plunging farther in. I think I was getting
a little tired. We had done 120 miles that day. Winifred
went off to find help, but a big motor lorry came along as I
sat waiting with the car, and stopped at once, seeing I was
in difficulties. The driver called out that he would pull me
out if I had a rope. I always carried one, and with its aid
he soon towed me out backwards. When I thanked him he
said : " You re Scotch, aren t you ? I was in a hospital in
Scotland during the War, and the nurses were so good to
me that I m glad to help any girls from the Old Country."
Everyone seemed both pleased and surprised to see us
back, though unfeignedly astonished that one so " green "
should have been able to bring the car through alone. It
is 412 miles from Winnipeg to Regina farther than from
London to Glasgow. Far from being exhausted by our
adventures, we felt braced up by the glorious sunshine and
invigorating air of the prairie, and we did full justice to the
feast of welcome prepared. Folks were interested in the
caravan, and various remarks were made about it. Even
to our fond eyes it could not be called exactly beautiful, but
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 41
it was rather cruel of Canon X. to observe : " Ah ! a Black
Maria, I see."
On the Monday following, while I was in the midst of
preparations for our start that week, Nona Clarke rang me
up to say that Aylmer Bosanquet was very ill, and could I
come at once to help to bring her into Regina. I had about
ten minutes in which to catch the train. Helped by kind
Mrs. W., I bundled a few things into a suit-case and ran.
But I had to stop at a drug-store to get some sort of
stimulant for Aylmer, as Nona had said that she seemed on
the verge of a collapse. It is in a case like this that pro
hibition is so inconvenient. I could get neither brandy nor
sal- volatile without a doctor s certificate and yet I had often
seen people who did not look ill produce a certificate and get
the stimulant they asked for. " Is there nothing you can
give me ?" I asked in desperation, and the shopman handed
me some kind of ammonia, saying that was the only thing
he could let me have. The bottle bore no directions, and
when I asked how one should take it, and whether the dose
would be about the same as sal-volatile, he replied in
differently : " Oh, yes, I think so."
I just caught the train, which then steamed out of the
station and waited an hour at North Regina.
I found Aylmer very ill indeed, hardly able to speak, and
without any of those little comforts which mean so much in
sickness. The shack was all in disorder, too, as they were
packing up to go on the prairie in the Ford roadster.
Although she was so weak and ill she was full of interest in
our work, and made me describe the journey from Winnipeg,
but I soon saw that conversation was too much for her.
Nona telephoned to a doctor in Regina, asking him to come
out next day to see if the patient were fit to travel, in which
case he was to accompany her back by the next train.
All that night a dust storm raged, succeeded next morning
by torrential rain. I went out to get milk and bread for
breakfast, buying the latter from the Christian Chinaman,
who inquired anxiously for Aylmer, and said, when I wished
to pay for my purchase, " Eef it ees for de missionarees you
need not pay." Then there was the problem of how to get
4
42 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
the invalid to the station, as the shack was by this time
surrounded with a sea of black mud which no car could
traverse. But Nona found a man with a dray who
promised to come if needed. The doctor s train was so late
that there was only a quarter of an hour between his arrival
and the departure of the return train. But he made a hasty
examination, and said that though she was very weak
it would be better to take her into Regina. It is so difficult
to get nurses or medical attendance out on the prairie.*
I dressed her with difficulty, and she lay on the bed while
we all combined to lift it bodily on to the dray. But
the rain and wind were still so strong that Nona had to
kneel beside the bed holding on fast to the rugs, while
I held an umbrella over Aylmer s head. It was pathetic to
see the people waving good-bye from their houses as she
passed, for though they did not guess how ill she was, they
knew that she was leaving them, perhaps for ever. Arrived
at Regina, we took her to the Grey Nuns hospital.
I had now only three days in which to complete our
preparations if we were to start on the date fixed, which it
was necessary to do if we were to fulfil our engagements.
I went to see Aylmer as often as I could, and of course
drove the caravan up to the hospital for her to see from her
window. It grieved me very much (apart from my anxiety
about her illness) to think that she could now take no part
in this adventure, the idea of which was all her own.
Indeed, this was to prove her only glimpse of our van, in the
details of which she would have revelled, for before we
returned from the prairie she had been ordered to British
Columbia and then on to California. I never saw her
again.
CHAPTER IX
SANDSTORMS AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS
WE had arranged to start on Friday, May 21, and the day
dawned beautifully fine. I fetched the caravan round to
the parish hall, where our things were stored, and we loaded
* See Appendix II.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 43
up. This was no easy task, for unless you did it very
carefully you could not get everything in. The packages
reached from floor to roof now that we were fully equipped.
Whilst we were busily engaged in this task we did not
notice that the weather had changed, but presently a great
wind arose, and then an ominous darkness blotted out the
sun. We knew that that horror of horrors, a fierce dust
storm, was raging. It was a veritable blackness that might
be felt ; and when we went to say good-bye to some Regina
friends they begged us not to start. One of them travelled
for a firm, and he assured us that no commercial traveller
would venture out in such a storm. It was bound to get
worse and worse, he said, and he did his best to dissuade
us. But I had arranged to get to Buffalo Lake by Sunday,
and I had already been obliged to alter the date once owing
to the delay in getting the caravan, so I felt that I could
not put them off any more. If one delays for difficulties
one will never do anything. So we started.
The wind whipped and whistled around the caravan, and
blew the earth in great clouds over us, and formed huge
drifts on the trail, which made the car skid as on loose
sand. It was distressing to remember that this earth was
full of newly-sown wheat. It was hard enough to see the
way when we started, though Winifred held the map and
directed me; but after sunset it was impossible to go on,
as the headlights could not penetrate the dense clouds of
dust. However, we had gone a good distance, and therefore
decided to camp. Meanwhile our late host, at the urgent
instigation of his wife, was searching the trail for our
mangled remains.
The next morning was fine, and we started early ; but
quite soon we struck sand, and after the storm of the day
before it lay in drifts. I tried to rush through at full
speed, but with a tremendous skid the car lurched sideways
and stuck fast in a drift. We got out, and tried to jack it
up in order to wind rope round a wheel, as I had been told
that Parsons chains are useless in sand. To crown our
misery the wind now began to blow hard, and we were
almost blinded by the flying sand, which stung our eyes
44 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
cruelly. In the dust-storm of the previous day we were
spared this torture by the wind-screen and side-doors being
kept shut. But help was at hand. One after another six
men in all stopped their cars and came to our assistance.
It was easier for them to get through the sand-drifts than
for us because their cars were so much lighter, although
a good deal of the caravan was made of a kind of stout
beaver-boarding to save weight, but this was counteracted
by our camping equipment, etc.
Our helpers pulled us out with great difficulty, and we
continued on our way through Moose Jaw. Towards
evening we sighted Buffalo Lake church and steered for it,
expecting that the vicarage would be near by. But before
we reached it, in trying to negotiate a mud hole, we stuck
fast once more. A farmer ploughing near came to our aid,
and fastened his team to our rope. One of the trials of
a mud hole was that when you got out to adjust the rope,
etc., your boots became thickly coated with sticky mud, so
that you could scarcely work your gear pedal. It was also
exceedingly difficult to drive the car close at the heels of
restive horses. They hated the noise of the engine, and
were all ready to kick ; and when the car reached firm
ground it rushed forward almost on to the horses, and was
only stopped by jamming on the brakes.
Thanks to this timely aid we reached our goal in good
time to make camp. But the wind was still blowing strong,
and as I was cooking on the Primus it suddenly burst
into flames. Thinking the caravan in danger, Winifred
hastily threw earth on it which put an effectual end to my
culinary efforts for that night. We made a fair meal on
the food we had with us, and just as we had finished a
buggy came along with the vicar and his family. They
had been shopping in the neighbouring town. From the
van he guessed our identity, and came up to ask how we
had managed our cooking in this wind. We tactfully
evaded this point, and assured him that we had made a
good meal. But we were not sorry when he said that next
day we must have meals at the vicarage.
The next day was Whit Sunday, and we were very glad
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 45
to be where we could have an early Celebration. So widely
scattered is the population that there was only one other
worshipper besides ourselves. After breakfast the vicar was
going to take duty at a place about five miles away, so I
offered to drive him in the caravan as there was another
dust storm blowing up and he had nothing but an open
buggy. As he was the first vicar I had driven I determined
not to disgrace myself by sticking on the trail, and so went
full tilt all the way and successfully ploughed through the
drifts. We skidded and swayed a good deal, but my pas
senger seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. When we arrived,
however, we found that none of the congregation had cared
to face the storm ; we therefore did a little visiting and
returned home.
There was a regular weekly Sunday School here in which
two of the parents taught. It was brilliantly fine in the
afternoon and the children and their parents were all able to
come. Car after car drove up, until there was a long line of
them. The children were most beautifully dressed, with
dainty white frocks and pretty hats. The parents and the
elder boys and girls were also extremely well turned out.
Indeed, it is one of the most striking features of prairie life
that, with all their heavy manual work, the people dress
well when not engaged in actual toil a fine example of
personal self-respect.
It was delightful to see this school, conducted by two of
the mothers. We longed to give professional assistance
but hesitated to offer it, as of course the idea of constructive
criticism and demonstration lessons was quite foreign to
them. But an opportunity for the latter presented itself
when we gave round " Hope of the World" postcards and
the children began to ask questions about them, whereupon
the mothers appealed to me to give the explanation.
After the school there was a Family Service (character
istic of the prairie) at which all are present, from the father
to the infant in arms. There were a great many baptisms,
which made one think of Whitsuntide in the early Church.
A delightful feature of the service was the freedom with
which the children ran out to play when tired. I could see
46 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
them from the window jumping in and out of the cars.
But when they had worked off their superfluous energy they
came back quietly to their places.
After the service we were introduced to all the people, and
one young man remarked: "We thought your car was a
motor ambulance and supposed there d been a scrap."
The fervour of these people, and their evident apprecia
tion of the services of the Church, made a strong impression
on me. It was shown by their coming long distances
twenty miles in some cases after working very hard for
very long hours all the week.
In the evening I drove the vicar to another church for
evensong. It was coated so thickly with dust from the
storm of the morning that we had to clean it down before a
service could be held.
Next morning the vicar showed us his stable, and we
photographed his special pride, a handsome colt which he
had broken himself. We had had a most delightful week
end, and were much cheered by our kind reception from the
vicar and his wife, and felt quite weak with laughter at the
former s amusing stories.
In the afternoon we started for Eyebrow, but did not get
very far that day^ as we stuck in the mud and had to wait to
be pulled out. We arrived at Eyebrow next day, however,
and went to see the layman in charge of the mission. It
had not been possible as yet to arrange for us to visit any
schools, so we decided to go on and spend some time here on
our return journey. They entertained us most hospitably
to supper, and allowed us to put our baggage in the church
porch as it was raining in torrents. We next made a two
days journey on to Riverhurst, and on arrival went into a
Chinaman s restaurant for supper. The food in these
restaurants is both good and cheap. A three-course dinner
costs only about one and eightpence in English money. As
we were comfortably eating our supper we were surprised
and rather alarmed to see a district policeman making
straight for us. He put us through a searching catechism.
Who were we and where did we come from ? A brother
officer had seen us and put him on our trail. We told him
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 47
who we were and whose authority was behind us, and after
a few more questions he seemed satisfied and left us to
finish our supper in peace. We longed to know what
crimes he had mentally charged us with.
We found that there was a Union Sunday school at River-
hurst which all the children attended, including the only
Anglican children in the place, four in number. It seemed
hopeless to try to start a Sunday School for these four, so
we noted them for enrolment in the Sunday School by Post,
and went on towards Elbow.
We started in a dust storm, the unpleasantness of which
custom cannot stale. I took some photographs of it, how
ever. Presently we thought that we must have taken the
wrong trail to Elbow, and so tried to turn on what looked
like firm grass, but the ground was soft underneath, and the
heavily-weighted car stuck fast, sinking in up to the axles.
It was far away from any sign of human habitation, and the
recommendation of Dr. Smiles seemed the only solution.
So I started to dig out a wheel. Suddenly a boy on a horse
appeared as if by magic, and asked if we wanted help,
saying that he would go back to his father s farm for horses,
which sure enough he did, and handled them manfully.
He fastened his team to our rope, and I got into the car and
started the engine. Then followed the usual breathless
moment when the car charged forward on to the horses
heels. The boy then directed us to take a certain trail, and
after his recent display of prowess we naturally followed his
advice. But we soon found ourselves going up a very steep
and narrow track with a bank on one side and a sheer drop
into a ravine on the other, and with literally not an inch to
spare on either side. On the steepest part of this road the
car stopped dead, and I had to keep my foot hard down on
the foot brake to prevent it slipping backwards. There was
nothing for it but to unload the heaviest things, and I could
not get out to help, as the car would then have run back.
Winifred opened the back doors so that I could see behind
me, and I managed to get safely down to the bottom of the
hill, though it was exceedingly difficult to back round the
sharp corners. I then put on full speed and rushed the car
48 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
up, and at the top we loaded her again, thinking that the
worst was over. But as we went on we found the road was
as narrow as ever, with a very bad surface, big stones
cropping out here and there. I was driving, with one wheel
low down in a rut and the other high up, when the car again
stopped at a steep bit, and I had to jam on the brakes as
before whilst Winifred unloaded. But when I tried to
release the brakes I found that the hand brake had jammed,
and I could not get out and hammer it free as the van would
have run backwards when I shifted it. At this crisis two
men came along and helped us, and between us we put the
brake right and got the car to the top of the hill. This was
the only bad hill we had found and the only stony road.
We discovered afterwards that it was not the right trail for
Elbow. The town is so named because the Saskatchewan
River runs in a elbow-like curve through the ravine at the
bottom of this hill, on the crest of which the town is built.
We went on beyond Elbow to Loreburn, and camped
near the vicarage for the night. The vicar and his wife had
only just arrived in the parish, with a little baby of a month
old. She looked hardly fit to cope with all there was to do,
but they insisted that we should come in to meals with them.
I was the more grateful for this as I had had a difference
of opinion with the spirit lamp, which blew up in my face
and nearly blinded me.
This was the first occasion on which we used the tent, and
its erection was something of a puzzle, as we had no sketch
of the finished article, and had never seen it in action. But
by the time I had it all laid out, and was wondering how I
should put it up without help (Winifred having gone to the
vicarage), some boys appeared, and said that they knew all
about tents, and helped me splendidly. There was no
difficulty about finding the children at our stopping places,
for the caravan drew them like a magnet. We reversed
Froebel s injunction" Come let us live with our children "
for the children invariably came and lived with us. On
occasions their company was so persistent as to be rather
embarrassing. One never knew at what moment the tent
would be invaded by eager visitors. They were most
DIGGING OUT THE WHEEL
THE TENT, AND MY ASSISTANTS AT LOREBURN
To face p. 48
1 & _>. HOUSEHOLD TASKS (see page 54)
;;. MR. M. AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE OX THE RAILWAY TRACK
(see page 63)
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 49
delightful children, extraordinarily intelligent and full of
practical wisdom. It was truly a case of " development by
self-activity." They freely offered assistance and advice
when they saw we were in need of either. It was a five-
year-old girl who noticed one evening that I had laid the
potatoes outside the caravan, and thoughtfully warned me :
"I shouldn t leave those potatoes out all night if I were
you ; the gophers will eat them."
On that first night at Loreburn we had torrents of rain,
and next morning the trails were deep in mud. But I had
promised to drive the vicar into Elbow, as he had no buggy
as yet. We skidded violently from side to side of the road
all the way, and had more than one narrow escape from a
slough I had horrid visions of a congregation waiting
indefinitely for a vicar hopelessly submerged. I put on
the Parsons chains before making the return journey. This
is a job one willingly defers till it is unavoidable.
Despite the weather there were many people at church,
so I was glad that I had made the effort. These prairie
services really were an inspiration. In the afternoon I
superintended the Sunday school, w 7 hich consisted as usual
of children from six to sixteen. Winifred and I divided the
children into two classes, and the vicar and a teacher listened
to our teaching. The greatest difficulty, here as elsewhere,
was the grading of hymns and prayers. The best way
seemed to be to open with devotions suitable to the infants
and then to let them go off to another part of the church for
their lesson while we had other prayers and hymns for the
elder ones, closing the school in a similar manner ; but if
this made the session too long, we began with devotions
suited to the younger children and closed with those more
suited to the elder.
After school there was the usual family service, at which
I specially noticed how well the organist played. W T e were
afterwards invited to supper with him and his wife, and
were interested to find that they used to live at Leeds and
had sung at Morecambe Musical Festival. Canadian meals
are delicious, and we had a sumptuous supper bacon and
eggs, layer cake and stewed fruit, and strong tea, very
50 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
acceptable after our sketchy caravan meals. After supper
we had some good music, and the organist told us some
of his experiences as a prairie choir-master. His choir
showed talent, so he felt that they were capable of chanting
the psalms, and trained them to do so. He kept this as a
pleasant surprise for the congregation, and felt very proud
of his pupils when they duly acquitted themselves well.
But the real surprise was his. Next day most of the
congregation waited upon him in a body and stated that
they would not attend church in future if such High Church
practices were followed.
We had obtained permission from the trustees of the
public school at Loreburn to give religious instruction in
school hours, as it was more convenient for us. I took the
upper division, children of twelve to eighteen, and Winifred
took the lower form, children of six to twelve, it being a
two-roomed school. (In these prairie schools the scholars
stay from six to eighteen.) The teachers were very nice.
They showed interest in our work and listened to our lessons.
As I could give them only one lesson, I wanted it to be one
of permanent value, sufficiently connected with their every
day experience to recur frequently to their minds, so I spoke
on the Union Jack, which floats over almost all of these
little schools. I began with the splendid work of Canada
in the War, and referred to the men of the widespread British
Empire all united under one flag, thus leading on to the
unity of Christian soldiers and telling the stories of the three
saints whose crosses unite in the British flag. (A further
bond of empire now is the photograph of the Prince of
Wales, which is found everywhere in this neighbourhood
since his visit to Regina.)
After the lesson we gave each child a prayer card and
a picture of the "Hope of the World" or "The New
Epiphany." It was very distressing to find that only two
or three of the thirty children present knew the Lord s
Prayer. Apropos of this a clergyman s wife told me how
she had asked a child, "Do you know Our Father?" and
the child answered, " No, but I know our grandfather."
The children seemed to hang on our words, listening with
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 51
intense eagerness to the lessons. " They listen to lessons
here in this country that they would never dream of attend
ing to in the Old Country," Winifred wrote home. " One
has no fear here of possibilities of naughtiness either. They
are good without being disciplined, not restless like the
children at home."
The intense hunger for knowledge holds these sturdy,
open-air little people in a trance of breathless interest. It
was their desire rather than our skill which exercised the
spell, as we knew well.
CHAPTER X
ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES
IT rained hard all next day, so I spent the time in making
some things for the caravan ; in particular, a wire cage for
the electric bulb, which was always being knocked against
and broken. One could never start directly the rain ceased,
the trails were too bad, and when we did take the road on
the following day we found a sea of mud. On the second
day we arrived at Outlook, and camped above the ferry.
There was no resident clergyman here, but a local lady did
what she could for the spiritual needs of the children, hold
ing a very successful Sunday School in the church, where
she had arranged a beautiful " Children s Corner." A few
suitable pictures and simple printed prayers were pinned on
the wall within easy reach of kneeling children. They
are encouraged to make this spot their special oratory.
This particular "Corner" was arranged near the font,
which seemed a specially suitable place for it. Unfortu
nately, we were unable to meet this lady, as she was ill, but
we went to see the lay reader who took the services on
Sunday.
After we had camped that night a young girl came to
talk to us. She explained that she was very unhappy and
unsettled with regard to religion. She had gone to the
" Pentecostals," poor child, because she was deaf, and
52 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
could hear their loud declamations ; but she had received
no sort of help from them. Her parents belonged to the
Church of England, but since they had been in Canada the
younger children had not been baptized. Presently the
girl s mother joined us, and we made friends at once and
had " a good crack " when we each found that the other
came from Cumberland. She told me that she had been
brought up a Baptist, but had joined the Church of Eng
land. I urged her to prepare her children for baptism
herself, and have them baptized at the earliest opportunity.
This she promised to do.
Next day we had to cross the Saskatchewan River, no
easy task from all accounts. We had been regaled with
hair-raising stories of how a man drove his car too fast
down the pier to the ferry boat, which had not been linked
up, and the car plunged into the river and was never seen
again. The same fate overtook a man who fell out of his
boat when mending the ferry cable. I w T as not quite at my
best for this particular undertaking, as I had one eye badly
swollen from a mosquito bite through forgetting to put on
my net when sitting down to write a letter. There were
three ways of getting down the river bank to the ferry pier.
One road zig-zagged so sharply that the long caravan could
not turn at the bend, and the paling just there was so frail
that had we run into it we must have broken through and
gone down a bank. The other road was strewn with huge
stones, so I eschewed roads altogether, and went down the
rough grass bank, swaying and bumping and almost over
turning, but it seemed the least perilous passage. I took
the car down while Winifred was on in front, looking for a
better road, as there was no reason why we should both be
upset. A narrow road led on to the pier, which was a long
wooden structure built over the sand and mud of the river s
edge. The ferry, a wooden barge worked by a cable, was
moored to the end of it, and I drove on to it cautiously.
The men working the ferry were three Englishmen, who
had served with the Canadian contingent, and they hailed
the van delightedly as a long-lost friend, at first thinking it
was an old motor ambulance from France. We took photos
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 53
of them, whereupon they begged that we would not exhibit
them as " specimens of the white heathen we met out
there." " I felt indeed that we must look missionaries
of the fiercest type," was Winifred s comment on this
incident.
There was only one trail to Bounty, our next destination,
so when we came suddenly on a dreadful hole right across
the path, with a bank on either side of the road, there was
nothing for it but to go on. I tried .to rush across, and
suddenly felt an awful concussion. I was flung up against
the roof of the van and saw stars for the moment, but
somehow or other we got across. Then I went round to
see what damage was done to our baggage, etc., and found
that a three-gallon tin of coal oil had been flung up and
had come down upside down. There it was, standing on
its cork. I next examined the engine, which seemed very
odd. The gear pedal had gone wrong and everything was
crooked. Then I saw that the bonnet was not fitting. I
lifted it up and found that the whole engine was two or
three inches out of the straight. I saw that I could not put
things right myself, and so determined to try to reach the
town. Meanwhile, in this as in other mishaps, Winifred
helped me enormously by sitting calmly on the bank read
ing a novel. She never fussed or made worrying exclama
tions, or hindered me by offering useless suggestions or
unwanted assistance. She never complained, either, under
the most trying circumstances, or made the slightest sound
in those wild moments when we were nearly thrown out of
the van by the roughness of the road.
We were five miles from Bounty, but I found that I
could get along on low gear. A few miles farther on we
came to another bad place, where the conduit had fallen in,
but we managed to crawl through somehow. I was thank
ful to find a big garage at Bounty, with an efficient
mechanic. He and I examined the car and found that the
frame was sprung three inches on either side. He said
that the body would have to be slung up and the engine
taken out and a new frame put in, and that this would take
a week to do. So we unloaded the van by the church, and
54 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
took out the mattresses also for use in the tent, and then
left the poor invalid at the garage.
There are garages in every prairie town, even in what we
should call little villages, for in Saskatchewan there is a car
for every two people. These garages are well fitted up,
and have all the latest inventions. Outside all of them
there is a petrol pump and a " Free Air " cable for the con
venience of passers-by. The latter has a gasolene engine
which pumps up the air, so that you can fill your tyres in a
second. No one thinks of using a hand-pump unless he has
a burst right out on the prairie.
We lived in the tent this week, with most of our baggage
stored in the church porch. As usual, the children helped
us to arrange our things. I had quite a holiday, with the
caravan off my hands, but Winifred s duties went on as
usual. We had apportioned the work as follows : she was
to keep the interior of the van clean and do all the washing-
up, whilst I drove, cleaned the engine, did repairs, etc., and
cooked. Winifred s job was no sinecure. She hardly ever
had much water for washing-up, so she used to clean the
horrid greasy dishes and things with paper and then rinse
them ; and though I sometimes nearly threw her out of the
van, she in turn sometimes kept me out of it when she was
having a thorough clean up a necessary evil after a muddy
day or a dust-storm.
I wanted to telephone to Mr. W. at Regina, as he was
holding my insurance policy for the car, so I asked permis
sion to do so from a resident who had already greatly
befriended us. When phoning I found it very difficult to
hear what Mr. W. said ; it seemed as if all the receivers
were open. I was further distracted by hearing the owner
of the telephone remark to Winifred, as she gazed at my
back, lt Eh ! isn t she fat ?" as who should say, " No wonder
the frame was sprung !"
Next morning I walked to Conquest (six miles away) to
interview the secretary of the Municipal Council, as the in
habitants of Bounty thought that the hole should have been
attended to, and advised me to claim damages. I failed to
get any compensation, but Bounty benefited from our mis-
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 55
fortune, as the hole was immediately filled up. Calling at
the Conquest post-office for letters, the old postman re
marked to me, " I have heard all about your accident. You
girls, you drive too fast." It seemed that the entire district
knew all the details, even to the cost of the repairs. I now
remembered having heard that a favourite winter amuse
ment on the prairie was to take down your receiver and
listen to the conversations along the line. Report said that
a certain courtship had in this way provided entertainment
for the whole neighbourhood.
CHAPTER XI
SOME ASPECTS OF PRAIRIE LIFE
IT was unfortunate that there was no Anglican Sunday
School in this place, where we had perforce to spend a week.
There were very few Anglicans there at all, but a great
many Presbyterians and Nonconformists, who united to
form a Union church and Sunday School. There was a
very nice Anglican church, but most of the congregation
lived at farms some distance away, coming in for Sunday
services, when the vicar also came in from one of his other
districts. He came to see us on the Saturday night, and
explained that on the morrow there w r ould be a United
Family Service in the Anglican church, to which he was in
viting all the members of the Union church. He asked us
to write out and fix up notices about it. He also asked if
we would give an address after the service on the need for
religious instruction for the children.
Sunday was a very hot day, and with sinking hearts we
realised that the congregation would be arrayed in lovely
summer clothes, and that it was up to us not to discredit
the Old Country. But it is difficult to look one s best when
caravanning, and even one of Paquin s frocks would lose its
bloom in a cotton bag, and the smartest hat would look
dashed after the three-gallon oil tin had collided with it.
Personally, I felt that my bravest efforts would be futile
56 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
since Winifred s remark as we arose that morning : " Let
me look and see if you are as much a fright as you were
yesterday." When your nose and one eye have been
entirely remodelled by a mosquito bite you do not look your
best, nor can you be quite unselfconscious in public, and,
alas ! / should have to give that address, for Winifred had
flatly refused.
Patience is required when attending prairie meetings.
What with the immense distances, varying clocks, and un
expected obstacles on the trails it is difficult to get anywhere
to time. In this case we waited an hour for the organist,
whose car had stuck in a mud hole. Winifred rose to the
occasion, and was just making her way to the organ when
the belated car was heard and the big bronzed young farmer
hurried in.
The elders of the Union church preceded the vicar and
his churchwardens up the aisle. The service was a
shortened form of evensong, interspersed with many hymns.
The sermon was a clear but non-controversial exposition of
the Apostles Creed. It was remarkable to notice how the
preacher held the attention of all present, from the child of
live to the old lady with grey curls. One hoped that this
united worship might pave the way for union on Christian
essentials, so that Christian teaching might be agreed upon
for the schools and a united stand made against materialism
and the many so-called Christian sects.
After service I was called upon to address the congrega
tion. I had to speak from before the altar rails, there being
no other place from which to command the congregation,
except the pulpit, which I did not wish to occupy. As there
had been a fairly long service, and the church was very full
and very hot, I thought that a ten minutes address would
be sufficient. So I spoke briefly on the importance of
religious education, leading up from the wonderful way in
which Canadians had helped in the War, to the need for
their help in warfare against evil. Christian soldiers must
be trained, and a young country needs a Christian founda
tion. It is extraordinarily easy to hold the attention of a
prairie congregation, and I was told afterward that they
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 57
wished I had gone on longer. It is indeed a preacher s
paradise.
The vicar had to leave at once for his next service. He
motored about eighty miles each Sunday and took four
services. But the rest of us held a kind of social gathering
outside the church, where we had opportunities of studying
the prairie fashions. Most of these gorgeous garments are
ordered by post from Timothy Eaton s store in Toronto.
His enormous illustrated catalogue is sent yearly to every
house, and is commonly called " The Prairie Bible." The
children know it by heart, and amuse themselves on winter
evenings by cutting out and colouring the fashion plates,
with the embarrassing result that when they see a neighbour
in her new spring costume they remark, " Oh, Mrs. So-and-
So s new hat is on page 603, price so many dollars."
We had a washing-day on the Monday. When near a
farm they allowed us to take our blouses, etc., and wash
them with their apparatus, as the Chinks, who did our
heavy washing, ruined the finer things.
On the Tuesday we went to Swanson by train (the trains
only ran on certain days in the week). This had been one
of the centres of the Railway Mission, and was worked with
Birdview, but they had had no services for about a year,
owing to the scarcity of clergy, and they felt the privation
very much. The Railway Mission had now come to an end,
and there were no clergy to supply these districts. We
went to see the leading church people, with a view to taking
Swanson on our return journey if it seemed possible to start
a Sunday School there. We were told that there was no
Sunday School of any kind thereabouts, and were advised to
go to the day school and beat up recruits, which we did with
great success. A farmer s wife promised to gather the
people together for us when we came again, so that we
could hold a demonstration school and a parents meeting.
We wished to visit Birdview, but no train ran there that
day. Our friend Mrs. T., however, said that her son should
drive us in a car. A terrible sandstorm blew up, and we
were almost blinded in the open car. We realised once
more the advantage of a caravan. Great drifts of sand lay
5
58 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
on the trail, and the car skidded from side to side, but we
got there. Mrs. T. had arranged by telephone that we were
to stay the night with a storekeeper and his wife. There
were not many church people in Birdview, so I wanted to
go out to a little mission church in the centre of outlying
farms which used to be worked by the Railway Mission.
The only way to get there was by car, and the storekeeper
thought that no hired car would face the storm. But,
happily, the wind dropped and the sand subsided, and we
found a car to take us. So the storekeeper s wife and I
started off.
We were now in one of the "dried out" areas. There
are certain belts of land in Saskatchewan which, when first
taken up, nearly twenty years ago, proved very fertile. But
over-cultivation, though advised by the Board of Agriculture
in order to conserve the moisture, had rendered the soil so
fine that most of it had blown away. It had been of no
great depth to start with, and the sand below it had come to
the surface, and now blew in great drifts. As the wheat
came up, the flying clouds of sand cut it down, and even
buried the scrub. Little vegetation was visible, and what
wheat there was the grasshoppers devoured. They were
enormous things, 3 inches long. They flew into the car
with a great " plop," and even jumped down my clothes.
The farmers hereabouts were ruined, and nobody would take
their farms. They had not sufficient capital to start again.
Yet with all this they kept up their courage and hoped for
better days.
When we reached the little church we stuck fast in a big
drift, but I took the wheel while the man pushed, and at
last we got out. We went on to the leading farmer s,
where they welcomed us warmly. They had had no ser
vices there for a very long time. I explained that we
should like to visit the place on our way back if they would
collect the people to meet us. The farmer s wife expressed
great delight at the idea. They had been so long without
a clergyman, and had so much appreciated services when
they had them. She found it very difficult, she said, to
keep Sunday when there was nothing to remind her of the
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 59
day. They felt their spiritual privation, especially now that
their material troubles were so great.
I noticed here, as in many other places, an almost
conscience-stricken look on the parents faces when I men
tioned the necessity of religious instruction for the children.
It was not that they did not wish their children to be taught
religious truths, but that they themselves were so cruelly
overworked that they had no time for the care and fore
thought which the preparation of a lesson entails. When
you work all the week from 5 a.m. to 10 or n p.m. you are
exceedingly tired on Sunday ; and yet there is still some
necessary work to be done if you live on a farm. But give
these parents some idea of how and what to teach, with
a suitable book to follow and pictures to illustrate the
subjects, and they will do their very best, often making
most excellent teachers. It is in places like this that the
Sunday School by Post helps so greatly, especially in winter,
when the children cannot attend a Sunday school at a
distance.
We returned to Birdview that night (sticking again in
the sand-drift on the way). Our kind host and hostess
refused to let us pay for our entertainment. We were
continually receiving most generous hospitality all the time
we were on the prairie. We were never allowed to pay for
our milk and eggs at a farm, and we were invited to many
meals, which greatly helped our resources. We hardly
liked to accept so much, knowing as we did how badly off
the farmers sometimes were. But we knew how hurt they
would have been had we refused. Their generosity was
a great lesson in almsgiving. They always treat all
missionaries in this way.
We took the train to Conquest, and then had to walk to
Bounty, a very tiring six miles on the rough trail with the
wind against us. Unfortunately no car overtook us, for it
is the invariable custom to give pedestrians a lift. We
went at once to the place where we had left our tent, but no
tent was to be seen. We inquired about it at a neighbour
ing house, and a nice old man told us that the storm of the
previous night had smashed the pole and ripped up the
6o ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
canvas, whereupon he had rescued it, otherwise it would
now have been miles and miles away across the prairie.
We felt thankful that we had had a house over our heads
when this happened.
We were now homeless, tent and caravan both hors de
combat. Many kind people would have taken us in, but in
a prairie shack, or even in most of the smaller houses, there
is seldom any accommodation for visitors, especially women
visitors. So I went round to beg an old broom-handle, and
with this I spliced the tent-pole. Then Winifred and I set
to work on the canvas, and managed to restore it to the
semblance of a tent cover. Early next morning another
storm came on. We got up hurriedly and took refuge
in the church, for the tent showed signs of collapsing on
top of us.
That day we had been invited out to the B. s farm.
One of the Bounty farmers drove us out there behind a
spanking pair of horses which had taken first prize at
a show. A heavy thunderstorm came on and we were
asked to spend the night, an invitation which was gratefully
accepted in our shelterless circumstances. Mr. B. was
a most interesting man. In England he had been a coach
man, and had come out about seventeen years before with
"8 in his pocket. He worked his way West, and took
up a half-section. When he had got a home together
a girl from the Old Country came out and married him.
Now he had a splendid farm ; the house and farm-buildings
were lit by electric-light. A feature of this farm, as of all
others, was the enormous barn. This is always much
larger than the house. The hay and grain are stored at
the top and the stables are below. On most large farms
they keep at least twenty horses, besides up-to-date and
ingenious machinery.
This farmer felt very strongly on the subject of emigra
tion. As he truly said, in the Old Country he would prob
ably have remained a coachman all his life, and would have
had nothing to leave his children. But it was useless to
come out to the prairie, he added, unless you were prepared
to work hard. He himself worked from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 61
throughout the summer months. During the War he had
been obliged to work his farm single-handed. Both he and
all the other prairie farmers had given large gifts of wheat
to England, and all the young farmers had enlisted in a
body directly war was declared, often travelling miles to
the nearest recruiting station.* In many cases their farms
went to rack and ruin whilst they were away, as there was
no one else to work them, Large numbers of them never
returned.
The conversation at meal-time was most entertaining.
Mr. B. used to inquire if things were still the same in the
Old Country, and if folks still touched their hats and said
" Sir " this with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at us.
Of course, there are no class distinctions out West ; the
very word is unknown.- We agreed with our host that the
fairest measurement of mankind is to judge each one on his
own merits. It is quite certain that no one should come
out here unless he can become what is called " a good
mixer." The following extract from one of Winifred s
letters is descriptive of the country : " The people . . .
must have pretty big minds to manage their own State,
which is larger than the British Isles. There is, and must
always be, a stretching out in this country, and it s a wide
outlook for children ... no appearances to keep up, a
natural existence, hard work, but suitable, and prospects for
children. . . . Canada is a leisurely place ; no bustle. It
is too large, I think."
When we got back to Bounty we found that the caravan
was ready, and we joyfully fetched it from the garage and
repacked it. Once again I felt glad that ours was a van
rather than a roadster. Though more difficult to get along
the trails it was a much more stable home. The wind is
perhaps the greatest trial of prairie life. It sweeps with
unbroken force over these wide spaces. Sometimes we had
to go all day without hot food or drink, as of course it was
not safe to use a Primus stove in the caravan or tent. At
* Canada raised an army of 450,000, and it is estimated that 60 per
cent, were members of the Church of England. The Canadian
casualities were 152,000.
62 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
times even a trench would not keep off the wind, but it
usually dropped at night.
We regretfully bade farewell to the kind people of
Bounty, feeling that the town was well named, and went
on to Rosetown. On the way we passed through another
dried-out area ; our car and several others stuck in a great
sand-drift near a farmhouse, which was actually being sub
merged in sand. We went to the house to ask for the help
of a team of horses. A young farmer and his sister lived
there. The girl told us they were " going to beat it," as
nothing would grow, and the sand was up to the lower
windows of the house. She had just washed some clothes
and hung them up inside the house, and yet they were
covered with sand. I was much struck with her extra
ordinary cheerfulness in these trying circumstances. This
fine quality is characteristic of all Westerners.
The farmer pulled us out with his team, and we had no
further trouble that day.
CHAPTER XII
MISSIONS AND MUD HOLES
WHEN we arrived at Rosetown the vicar and his wife were
out, as they did not know what time to expect us ; but we
found the vicarage door unlocked, as is the hospitable local
custom, so we went in and read the letters from home which
we knew were awaiting us there. Mr. and Mrs. M. soon
arrived, and gave us a very warm welcome. They insisted
on our sleeping in the house instead of in the van, and
having our meals with them. We said that in that case
they must let us help with the chores. Mrs. M. had a tiny
baby and no domestic help. Here, as elsewhere, our host
a,nd hostess were delighted to meet anyone fresh from
England. Mr. M. had worked on the Railway Mission, and
was now in charge of this district. A Canadian " parish "
is often 2,000 or 3,000 miles in extent. Mr. M. had a rural
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 63
eanery of 6,000 square miles, and as many of his clergy
were in deacon s orders, he had to perform all priestly duties
for them. He used a Ford car in the summer, and in the
winter took the tyres off a motor bicycle and fixed it up to
run on the rail of the track. The prairie being so flat, he
could see the trains in time to get out of the way.
When talking to men like this we realised that our summer
adventures were as nothing compared with what they ex
perienced in the winter, with the thermometer5o degrees below
zero and blinding blizzards in which it was impossible to
find one s way. This life of hardship and self-sacrifice won
the respect of their parishioners and developed their own
manhood. The farmers looked upon them as personal
friends, fellow-men, instead of the remote being a clergyman
is sometimes assumed to be. They are all-round men of
affairs, too, as Winifred put it : " Out here a parson has to
know about seeds and weather and dollars, but he is respected
also for his office, and valued very much for what he brings
to the people."
For the most part the men out here are the pick of the
junior clergy from Oxford and Cambridge, men who have
sacrificed much in leaving England. The clergy depend
upon voluntary contributions, there being no endowments,
of course. It is reckoned that in the diocese of Qu Appelle
the average contribution for each man, woman, and child is
155. per head. They use the envelope system, so that if
prevented from attending church the money is set aside just
the same. Besides this, the farmers give generously in kind.
But, as a clergyman s wife remarked to me, butter and eggs,
though very welcome, do not supply clothes for the children.
The drawback to the voluntary system is that the clergy
man s income is as uncertain as that of his parishioners ;
for when the harvest fails there is no money for anyone.
The Railway Mission clergy received monetary support
from the Fund, but this Mission was only a temporary
arrangement until the various districts became self-support
ing. There is, however, a diocesan fund to help the poorer
parishes. Though the parishioners do their best it is obvious
that they can never provide more than a scanty support for
64 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
a clergyman who has a wife and family, and hence the great
difficulty in filling the Canadian theological colleges.
The Rosetown Sunday School was in a flourishing con
dition, for the vicar was very keen. The children were
taught to sing by a lady who had been accompanist to
Clara Butt. On the Monday it had been arranged that I
should take a Bible-class of elder girls, but when Mr. M.
took me down to the house where it was to be held, we
found that none of the girls had come (owing to school
examinations), so we went to the movies instead !
There is a splendid picture palace in every little prairie
town, and some of the films shown are really good. The
cinema provides the sole recreation for the entire populace.
On Saturday evenings there are long lines of cars all down
the street, when the farmers and their wives come into town
to shop and go to the pictures and meet each other.
I was asked to give a missionary address next day to the
junior branch of the Women s Auxiliary.* This particular
branch proposed to call itself " The Busy Bees/ because
the members intended to work so hard. I talked to the
children about the "Hope of the World" picture, which
seemed suitable to this country of many nationalities.
Winifred remarked that it was a splendid country from the
missionary point of view as " they see black and white and
brown." Where this junior branch had been started the
children were keen to join, just as every Canadian church-
woman seemed to belong to the Women s Auxiliary. From
many years experience as a secretary for S.P.G. one longed
to see the Church of England follow Canada s example by
directing all her missionary effort into one channel, and one
wished that missionary fervour were as universal.
Just at the time when we had planned to start from Rose-
town a tremendous thunderstorm came on, making the trails
quite impassable for several days. The water cart which
brought the town s drinking water from five miles away
could not get in for three days, so we had very short rations.
On the Thursday I determined to leave for Kerrobert,
in spite of Mr. M. saying that no one ought to go out
* See Appendix III.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 65
on such trails. I knew that if we did not start at once
we should not get to Kerrobert by Sunday. The trails
were indeed dreadful, about the worst we had ever seen.
The half-dried mud was like putty. We had the Parsons
chains on, but even so we skidded from side to side and had
to go on low gear all the time.
About a mile out of the town we came face to face with
a large wagon and four horses, which refused to make way
for us. The road was steeply graded, so that if you got off
it you would slide down into the mud and water of the ditch.
I pointed out that it was as awkward for us as it was for
them, indeed worse, as they had horses. They replied that
if we stuck they would pull us out, and making a dash for it
I managed to get on the gradient and up again. But what
was my horror to find, a little farther on, another great
wagon left standing in the middle of the road. It appeared
that they had taken the horses from this to help on the
other wagon. There was nothing for it but to drive round
it, and this time my luck failed and we stuck fast in the mud.
One of my Parsons chains had come off in the last place,
we found.
I put on another chain with great difficulty, as the jack
kept continually sinking in the thick mud. When I had
finished I looked round for Winifred, and could not see her
anywhere. I got the car out and waited. Still no W T inifred.
Feeling very anxious, I went off to a neighbouring farm and
asked to be allowed to telephone. I then rang up Mrs. M.
at Rosetown, but she had seen nothing of her. At last I
saw her coming along the road. She had been to look for
the lost chain, found it was broken and had got it mended
in the town.
We then went on with great difficulty till we came to a
most awkward place. It was a bridge over a creek, very
narrow, and just as muddy as the rest of the trail, with a
very rotten paling on either side. I knew that if the
caravan skidded it would smash this paling and fall four or
five feet into the little stream below. As there was no
reason why we should both run the risk I asked Winifred
to get out, and then managed to crawl over safely. Presently
66 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
we came to a very bad bit, nothing but large boles of mud
and water, but we ploughed through. Then came a tre
mendously steep hill up which I tried to rush, but I stuck
half-way. Even with the chains on the wheels could not
grip in the sticky mud, and unloading failed to help us.
I then sought assistance from a farm at the top of the hill,
and the farmer, a Frenchman, brought a horse and pulled us
up. The trail got worse farther on, and we camped at the
next farm we came to. We were in a dreadful condition
of dirt and hunger, our feet twice their normal size with
clotted mud, the caravan full of lumps of mud, our hands
and clothes all over mud. I did not feel much like cooking,
so when I went to the farm house for water I asked if we
might boil some eggs there. Whereupon the farmer s wife
insisted on giving us the eggs as well as boiling them for
us, and she also gave us boiling water for our coffee. We
thankfully ate our supper and went to bed.
After sticking in several mud holes next day, we finally
stuck fast in a very deep one, but a farmer ploughing near
pulled us out. He told us that the trails got worse between
here and Kerrobert, no cars had been through for several
days, and he advised us to stop the night at his farm and go
on by train next clay. So we drove the van into his yard
and received a kind welcome from his wife. I wanted to let
the vicar of Kerrobert know that we were coming. They
said that there was a telephone at the next farm a mile or
so away, so I walked over there. On my return I found it
exceedingly difficult to find my way in that featureless
district, and I should probably have got lost had I not heard
Winifred s hail.
We tried to make some return for the kind hospitality we
received here by helping with the chores, but zeal without
knowledge is a dangerous thing, and one of us, washing up
the separator, dissected it so thoroughly that the farmer s
wife gazed in consternation at the result.
On the Saturday the farmer drove us into Rosetown when
he went in for his weekly shopping. He promised to look
after the caravan for us while we were away. We got to
Kerrobert in good time that night, and were able to carry
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 67
out all our Sunday engagements. But we missed the cara
van very much, as we could not take all our apparatus
without it, and we had to put up at an hotel as the vicarage
was very small. These little hotels are expensive and
not at all comfortable. We hoped great things when we
caught sight of a bath, and promised ourselves a real treat,
but on inspection it proved to be full of dust, with no water
laid on.
There had been a Sunday School at Kerrobert, but the
teachers had left the district. The vicar was too busy to
take it, and his wife had her hands full with two small chil
dren. But for several Sundays in succession the children
had come as usual, waiting and hoping against hope that
the school would be held. Two little boys of six and seven
years old had driven three miles in a buggy by themselves.
The joy of these children made our struggles to get to them
well worth while. There were about twenty of them in all.
It grieved me that, though the Union Sunday school had
plenty of teachers, no one could be found to teach the
Church of England children.
We visited some very line day schools and gave Bible
lessons there, and also gave an address to parents in the
church. The vicar arranged a children s service for the
next day, so Winifred stayed to give the address while I
went to fetch the caravan. Mr. M. drove me out to the
farm, but I did not get started with the van till about
3.30 p.m. The trails had dried up a good deal, but the ruts
were perfectly awful, as they always are after these heavy
rains.
I had great difficulty in finding the way without Winifred
to hold the map and direct me. Presently I came to a little
town and stopped at the garage to refill my gasolene tank,
but the petrol pump was empty. I had plenty in the side
tanks but it took so long to siphon it out, so I determined to
run on with what I had left. But beyond the town was a
steep hill, and as I could get no run at it, and my gasolene
being so low, I stuck half-way up. Again I missed Winifred
badly. I could not get out to unload because the brakes
were not strong enough to hold the loaded van, so I had to
68 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
back to the bottom of the hill, unload, drive the van up, and
then load again. This wasted a lot of time, though I got
some help from a passer-by. Then I came to a "wash-out"
i.e., a conduit that has fallen in. This one was a large hole
right across the trail about five feet deep. As there was a
large slough on either side I had to go back four or five
miles to find another trail. I could not turn between the
sloughs and so had to reverse for some way.
The great difficulty now was to know where to go. I
had been following main trails, but now I had to take any
side trail in the desired direction which seemed passable. I
went mostly by the sun, as I knew my way lay north and
west. When it was growing dusk I was going down a steep
hill, when I noticed a bit of wood lying across the trail. I
thought it was merely a broken piece of wagon rack. At
the same time I experienced the most curious sensation, a
strong warning not to go any farther, the like of which I
have never felt before or since. I stopped the van, and
getting out walked along the trail a few paces and found a
great wash-out right across the road. It was much worse
than the former one, with quite as deep a drop and a much
wider chasm. Had I gone on I could not have escaped it,
and must have been badly hurt if not killed. I heard after
wards that there had recently been two bad accidents here.
One man had broken three ribs and had had to be nursed at
a neighbouring farm, there being no hospital near.
To the side of the wash-out there was an equally bad
hole, but it had not such a sudden drop. It was evident
that cars had been through this, so I tried it. Remembering
the sprung frame, I went rather too slowly and stopped dead
just on the opposite incline, at an acute angle. My gasolene
being so low contributed to this misfortune, so I filled up
my tank by siphoning from the side tank and tried to crank
the car, as the electric starter had gone wrong that morning.
At this angle it is almost impossible to crank any car, and
this handle was stiff, so I blistered my hands in vain. As it
was late I made up my mind to go to bed and tackle it in
the morning. I was hungry, however, and had had no food
since I started, so seeing a farm about half a mile off I
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 69
went to get milk and water. The farmer s wife said she
was sick of this hole, so many accidents happened there.
She promised that her husband should come and help me in
the morning, and said that she would telephone to the
Secretary of the Municipal Council to see if they could not
get the road mended.
I had my supper and was just going to bed, when I saw
the headlights of an approaching car. I hurried out to stop
them before they reached the wash-out. It was an enormous
caravan on its way to Kerrobert sports. They were very
grateful, and said they would tow me out in the morning,
before they went on, if 4 a.m. was not too early. It was
very difficult going to bed at this angle, but I managed to
sleep. The prairie air is so wonderful that you can sleep
anywhere and anyhow. Next morning the other van
crawled round me and tried to pull me out, but my rope
broke, and I told them not to stop for me. The farmer
came later on, and between us we managed to get the
engine going by priming the sparking plug, and then I got
out of the hole all right.
The farmer directed me along the main trails. But,
unknown to him, there had been a cloud-burst in this
district during the recent thunderstorm, and this had
washed away conduits and formed great sloughs within
the space of three hours. Consequently I spent the day
retracing my path and trying to find passable trails.
On one occasion I stuck fast in a very bad mud-hole, and
so went to a farm for help. The farmer sent his man with
two horses, and he pulled me out. While he was unhitching
the horses, he became embarrassingly confidential. Begin
ning with the usual query " Are you married ?" and the
inevitable "Why not?" he intimated that now was the
opportunity. I gathered he was " baching it " as many
do, which meant that he had to do all his own domestic
chores as well as his farmwork. I could imagine what his
shack looked like, having seen some when asking the way
with their unwashed crockery and general disorder, and I
guessed that he was wanting a housekeeper and thought
that I looked strong and useful. The man would take no
70 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
money for his service, and when I refused to let him come
and sit beside me in the caravan he called me ungrateful.
It was an awkward situation, and I saw that the only thing
to do was to get away at once. But as the caravan was
not quite out of the mud the engine had stopped as soon as
the horses ceased pulling. Fortunately they now became
so restive that they took all the man s attention, so I
cranked the car like lightning, jumped in and got away.
Farther on I stuck again in alkaline mud, which sucks
you down, but a farmer lent me boards and I managed to
run along them. Presently I reached a farm with a tele
phone, and sent a message to Winifred lest she should be
anxious. The farmer s wife kindly offered me food, which
I gladly accepted, as I had had none since early morning.
On other occasions, when we could not stop to cook, Wini
fred fed me with biscuits and chocolate, as on these rough
trails I had to keep both hands on the wheel. When I tried
to start the car again it would not crank. But there was a
small hill near the farm, so I pushed the car to the brow of
it by turning the wheels by the spokes. Then came the
exciting moment when the van began to run down the hill
and I had to jump in with all speed.
At a place called Dodsland I was advised to cut across
the prairie, as the main trail was impassable. I had an
exciting time bumping over the hillocks, and felt sure that
everything in the van was being smashed to pieces.
Finally, by asking the way at isolated farms, I got in
sight of Kerrobert, and then found yet another slough half
across my path, in which two side wheels stuck fast as I
tried to get by. My efforts to dig the car out proved futile,
so I went to a near-by farm for help. I found numbers of
horses, but no men. Everyone had gone to Kerrobert
sports. I was sorely tempted to take some horses and pull
the car out myself. Then a car came along from Kerrobert,
and most kindly turned round and hauled me out. I got
into the town about 9.30 p.m. and went straight to the
vicarage, where I found Winifred.
The next day I took the van to the garage to have the
electric starter repaired, but as it was a new pattern the
PRAIRIE SCHOLARS
A YOUNG HERDSMAN (see page 91)
A I KAIRIK SCHOOL
A MAPLE LEAF TEACHER AND HER PUPILS
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 71
spare parts were not in stock, and they could not promise
them before Saturday. This was awkward, as we were due at
Coleville on the Friday (the next day). We could not work
the Coleville district without the caravan, so many of the
schools being far from the track. We went up on Friday
by train, and back on Saturday for the car, which was not
ready till Sunday afternoon, however. But we arrived at
Coleville during evensong, in time for Winifred to play and
for me to give the address.
CHAPTER XIII
FURTHER PRAIRIE SKETCHES
WE had come to Coleville at the special invitation of Mr. H.,
the clergyman in charge of the district. It seemed strange
to meet out here, he being the son of the late vicar of my
parish at home. We had promised to spend a week in his
district, and he had planned out a full programme for us.
On the Monday we gave an address in Coleville school
(during school hours), and then went on to Victory school.
This school-house was a mile and a half from any other
house, and many miles from a town. All around were
wide stretches of unbroken prairie, with a few farms here
and there. The prairie was covered with flowers of all
colours the wild, blue flax, flame-coloured mallows, many-
hued vetches, and a lovely deep pink low-growing wild rose
with a very sweet perfume, and a small anousa of turquoise
blue.
A Maple Leaf teacher was in charge of this little one-
roomed school a very pretty girl. She was delighted to
see anyone out from England. After school was over the
children brought round the teacher s horse, and then they all
mounted and galloped away in a picturesque cavalcade.
Most of them lived about four miles off.
We went on to Smilie in the evening, where I gave an
address to parents and children. While I was buying
gasolene next morning, a man came into the garage, and,
72 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
seeing the name on the van, began a conversation with us.
He was glad that someone was going round to teach the
children, he said. He had been taught the Bible when he
was young, but nowadays people knew nothing about it.
Why, only the other day he had asked a workman if he knew
what building it was which had been raised without sound
of axe or hammer, and he actually didn t know ! It was
quite time the children were taught the Bible.
We had no housekeeping cares in this district, as Mr. H.
had arranged for nearly all our meals to be provided. So
generous, indeed, were the folk of this neighbourhood that
all our gasolene was sold to us at half-price. On the Tuesday
we went out to a prairie school where they were having
holidays. But our visit had been announced, and the
children drove in to have a Bible lesson, holiday time though
it was. Moreover, after Winifred had given them an hour s
lesson the class still refused to disperse.
Out here I saw the first flock of sheep which I had found
on the prairie. We had dinner with the owner, an old
Welsh farmer, and his wife. He remarked that he was
very glad that we were going round to teach the children,
and when I asked why, he replied that the young people
now growing up hadn t been taught the Bible as he and his
wife had been taught it at home in Wales, adding gloomily :
11 Half the motor cars you see in the town on a Saturday
evening haven t been paid for. It s time somebody went
round to teach them something."
He did not usually attend any meetings, it seemed, but
we had evidently made a good impression, for, to everybody s
surprise, he turned up in the evening at my address to
parents. We had a special Welsh hymn in his honour.
This meeting, as was often inevitable, was an hour late in
beginning. Those who arrived first telephoned to the rest
to know if they had started. It was rather like a Derby
day, Mr. H., on the top of the caravan, announcing from time
to time who was first in the field. While we were waiting,
a good many young men were introduced with the usual
formula, " Meet Mr. So-and-So, one of our bachelors," and
etiquette obliged us to reply, " Pleased to meet you."
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 73
Next morning we went out to Travet Park school, miles
away across the unbroken prairie. We should never have
found our way had not Mr. H. accompanied us. It was
pleasant to miss the telephone poles and see countless flowers
instead. We never passed a farm all the way, and we could
hardly see the trail. At Travet Park the teacher told us
that she had started a Sunday School on Fridays after school
hours, but very much wanted help with books. The children
here listened with breathless attention to the lesson we gave
them. It was most encouraging to find both teacher and
children so keen. We had dinner at a farm, and afterwards
I took the van to collect people for the parents meeting
among others, a young mother with her tiny baby, and an
old lady with a broad Cockney accent and a bonnet trimmed
with black cherries, some of which \vere jolted off in the van
and remained with us as trophies. It was a real cross
country run. We were actually told to drive over the wheat.
Then we came to a ditch which we crashed into and out
again, and then over a large badger s hole. By the time we
arrived at the school I felt that all ideas had been jerked
out of my head. But the meeting began with a hymn, and
then Winifred said a few words, and by that time I had
collected my scattered wits.
Next day we had a puncture far out on the prairie our
first misadventure of the kind. I had no spare wheel, and
this entailed a hot job in the broiling sun. At last we
arrived at the farm where we were taking Mr. H. to baptize
two children a child of three and an infant in arms. The
father was ploughing, but he left his horses and came in for
the baptism.
We then went on to Kindersley, where Mr. W. was in
charge. We had done 130 miles in Mr. H. s parish.
Mr. W. kindly gave us a special Celebration next morning,
as Mr. H., who was still in deacon s orders, was never able
to have one. He then returned to his district.
We spent a week at Kindersley. The Women s Auxiliary
had arranged to give us dinner and supper every day in
different people s houses throughout our visit, and others
brought us milk and eggs for breakfast. We met many
6
74 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
thoughtful and interesting people here, some of whom had
been early settlers. While entertaining us, they told us
stories of these early days. The settler and his wife used to
trek fifty miles in an ox-wagon to the bit of land he had
bought. There they lived in a tent until he could build a
sod shack. The wife would perhaps have to go twenty
miles to the nearest slough to wash her clothes, and sixty
miles for stores, letters, etc. Probably there would not be
another woman for miles around. In time a solid wooden
shack replaced the sod building, and the farm slowly ac
quired all the latest modern appliances. Then motor-cars
linked the isolated farms together, and with the coming of
the railway little towns sprang up here and there. These
tales of quiet heroism filled me with great admiration.
On the Saturday the president of the Women s Auxiliary
invited us to meet all the members at a tea-party, and asked
me to give a description of our aims and objects. They
seemed interested, and thought it was a work which the
W.A. might support. On the Sunday we had an early
Celebration, and, after breakfast, started off for Avonhill,
some sixteen miles away in Mr. H. s district, which we had
been unable to visit on the previous Sunday. W T e went
along a road with sloughs on either side until we found a
slough right across the trail. So I had to reverse on this
narrow road for about a quarter of a mile, and then had to
cut across the prairie ; this made us an hour late in arriving.
We held a service for parents and teachers and children,
and left them some books. Although we were invited to
dinner, there was no time to stop for any, and we got back to
Kindersley just in time for the Sunday School at 2.30.
On the Tuesday I held a study circle in the church for
adults (by request). It was on "Prayer and the Prayer
Book." Among the members was a " Dunkard," a sect
which combines the tenets of the Quaker and the Plymouth
Brother. This woman had a most spiritual and beautiful
face. She wore a sort of uniform with a dark bonnet much
like a Salvation Army girl s. There were some Presby
terians in the class, too. We ended with a discussion on
the respective value of forms of prayer and of extempore
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 75
prayer, those not in communion with us showing great
sympathy and breadth of mind.
Next day we went out on the prairie with the vicar, to
visit the parents and children who lived far away. There
had been some rain, which added to the glory of the flowers
masses of wild mustard and purple vetch and luxuriant
gaillardias.
On Friday, July 9, we started for Alsask, fifty miles off.
We arrived by supper-time, though we did not start till
4 p.m. We had a terrific thunderstorm on the way. It
was a wonderful and terrible sight, great zig-zags of forked
lightning against inky black clouds. We tried to keep pace
with the storm, expecting a torrential rain at every moment,
which would render the trails impassable. I set my teeth,
and got every possible ounce of speed out of the caravan.
We could actually feel the heat of the lightning. (They
are called out here " electrical storms.") Just as we thank
fully caught sight of the Alsask elevators, the storm in
creased. A terrific wind got up, and we saw a great grey
cloud of dust swirling towards us, mingling with the black
storm-clouds above. As we entered Alsask, the clouds
burst and the rain came down in torrents. I tore down the
main street looking for a garage, to get the van under cover
as soon as possible. Fortunately, I soon found one. When
the storm had partially subsided, we made our way to the
vicarage, and from under cover watched the lightning and
tried to take photos of it. Later on, when it had cleared a
little, we brought the caravan up to the vicarage and slept
in it.
The vicar and his wife were not long out from South wark
Diocese. He had been secretary for his diocese for the
A.W.C.F., and, like me, had got keen in this way. The
vicar s wife was a trained educationist, and ran a splendid
Sunday School, but, like all who know the most about a
subject, she was eager for fresh suggestions. Here, also,
we received much hospitality, and so got to know the people,
and when we were not at other folks houses the children
were with us. On the Sunday we held a demonstration
Sunday School.
76 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
While we were here a Sunday-school picnic was arranged.
There were about thirty to forty children, most of whom
went with their parents, but we took some in the van and
the vicar took some in his car. Shrieks of laughter arose
from our passengers when the van skidded badly in the
sand. Our destination was a big slough, which was almost
a small lake. There was a crazy boat on it, in which the
children rowed about, keeping it afloat by vigorous bailing.
I unwillingly adventured in this craft in response to a
pressing invitation, feeling certain that my weight would
send it to the bottom. A further diversion was paddling, in
which we also joined the children. It was very hot and quite
shadeless : 104 degrees in the shade and 126 degrees in the
sun is quite usual during the Canadian summer, hence the
national welcome accorded to ice-cream. On this occasion
the vicar brought a barrelful, which he doled out into cone
biscuits all through the afternoon. Each child ate about
six, but they paid for what they had. These ice-creams are
most delicious and wholesome, being made of pure cream
from the Co-operative Creameries. These are established
in all large towns. They buy up the farmers cream, making
it into butter or ice-cream, the latter being sent all over the
country in barrels. Co-operation is one of the great secrets
of success out here. Even this picnic tea was co-operative.
Everybody brought their own, and then shared it with
others. Thus the speciality of some clever housewife was
enjoyed by many; and Mrs. X. s iced layer cake or Mrs.
Y. s salad was greatly in demand. Everybody wished to
have his or her "picture" taken, and it was very difficult
to get them all in, so we perched some on the top of the
caravan.
On the Thursday we had another expedition. The vicar
had just returned from camping with his scouts at Laverna
Lake, some thirty miles off, and he happened to mention
that he had left all his equipment there and did not know
how to get it back, so I suggested that we should fetch it in
the caravan. We got there in good time, though the trails
w r ere rough, and I had a delicious swim before lunch.
It is a beautiful lake, surrounded by low hills. All
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 77
around the margin were lovely wild tiger-lilies. Mr. H.,
from Coleville, was in camp there with his scouts. It is an
ideal place for a camp.
We got back to Alsask in time to give a Bible picture
talk to the children around the caravan. Then we went on
to a social evening, at which we were asked to speak. All
present seemed to realise the great importance of work
amongst the children.
On Friday morning the vicar kindly gave us an early
Celebration as we were going on to Youngstown, eighty
miles away, where there was no Anglican clergyman. It
was a very hot day, and the trails were extremely rough.
When running one felt a little air, but when one stopped for
meals the heat was intense. The tyres got so hot that I
had to keep them covered or they would have burst.
Alsask is on the borders of Saskatchewan and Alberta,
and we were now in Alberta. We had written in advance
to a Mr. and Mrs. S., some of the leading laity of Youngs-
town, and Mrs. S. had replied that it would be useless for
us to attempt anything there this week because a Chautauqua
would be going on. Therefore, as Youngstown was the
most westerly point of the diocese which we were to visit,
we thought it best to go on and make arrangements for our
work when the Chautauqua should be over, meanwhile
going on to Banff to see the Rockies. We did not arrive at
Youngstown till 8 p.m., and had to wait for some time before
we could see Mrs. S. as she was out. We then arranged
meetings for the Saturday and Sunday of the following
week, thus giving her time to let all the people know.
78 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
CHAPTER XIV
A CAMPING TRIP IN THE ROCKIES
WHILE I was visiting Mrs. S., Winifred had found a garage
where we could leave the caravan. She had also inquired
about the trains for Banff, and found that one left about
5 a.m. next morning. Mrs. S. gave me the vicarage key,
so that we might store our things there. This we did over
night. We got up very early in the morning, collected our
sleeping-bags, the tent, the tea-basket and a little food, with
a small saucepan and a spirit lamp, and a "grip" apiece,
and drove these things to the station in the van. We then
left the van outside the garage (as previously arranged),
because it did not open till 7 a.m., and just managed to
catch the train. We had a few hours wait at Calgary, and
arrived at Banff about twelve o clock at night. We had
not the least idea where to go, and there was nobody about
except an old man with a lorry. I asked him where the
camping -ground was, and he replied that it was too far
to go that night, but he would take us to a place where we
could camp for the present, and he would come and fetch
us in the morning ; so we put our things on the lorry and
climbed up after them, and he whipped up his horses and
drove off at a gallop into the darkness.
Presently we stopped suddenly where a wood loomed
up against a star-strewn sky. " Here s the place," our
charioteer said briefly, and we pulled our things off the
lorry and were speedily left alone. It was pitch dark under
the pines, so we could not see to put the tent up. We
groped for the rope which confined the tent and sleeping-
bags, and after some fumbling undid the knots and got out
the bags and waterproof sheets and mosquito-nets. Then
we undressed with great difficulty in the heavy dew, and
somehow or other crawled into the bags and rolled our
selves up in the waterproofs and pulled the mosquito-nets
right over our heads. The latter pests were awful. They
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 79
even bit us through the nets, and made such a noise in the
early morning that we could stand it no longer, and got up,
whereupon they fell upon us with renewed zest.
We now saw the exquisite beauty of the place. The sun
shone down through the tall pine-trees and glittering dew-
drops spangled every blade of grass. We came out of the
wood, and there were the Rockies in full view lovely
pointed peaks, with snow on their summits. Near at hand
flowed a beautiful clear river. Trees and water were an
intense delight after the bare stretches of prairie.
I collected sticks and boiled coffee in the little saucepan,
and we had the most delicious breakfast. By the time we
had finished the old man had come for us. Pie drove us
a few miles beyond the town to a large pine-wood. The
Spray River ran through this wood a swift clear stream,
opalescent with melting snow. The wood was full of tents,
but we found a nice spot near the river for our camp, not
too near anyone else. I then went off into the town to
look for an Anglican church, as it was Sunday morning.
The way into the town was through a beautiful avenue
of tall pines, an avenue over two miles long. By dint of
asking the way I found a lovely little church. It had the
prettiest natural decoration moss growing on the window-
sills. It was just ii a.m. when I arrived, and I found
there would be both Matins and Holy Communion. I was
well rewarded for my efforts. In the evening we both
went into the town for evensong, and had supper at a
restaurant.
We had heard of the beauty of Lake Louise, so on
Monday we made a trip thither. The last part of the way
was by a funicular railway. Lake Louise was hardly
known before 1890. It is a small jewel of a lake, just over
a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. It lies 5,670 feet
above sea-level, and Mount George at the head of the lake
is 11,355 feet high. This mountain is covered with glaciers
and perpetual snow. I live in the Lake District, and also
know the lakes of Scotland, Switzerland, and Italy, but I
have never seen such exquisite colouring as that of Lake
Louise. It flashes on you suddenly as you emerge from
8o ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
the pine woods, a mirror of gleaming turquoise, framed on
either side by dark pine-clad slopes, with glistening white
peaks between them, these being reflected in the clear
waters. On the lower slopes of the mountains and at the
foot of the lake there is vivid emerald green grass. Facing
this loveliness the C.P.R. has built an artistic hotel, chalet
fashion, which does not spoil the landscape. From the
windows of this hotel the whole enchanting picture is seen
as in a frame.
In the afternoon Winifred went in a motor char-a-banc
to see other lakes and mountains, and I walked up through
the pine woods on the right of Lake Louise to Lake Agnes,
a climb of 1,200 feet. A little above this I saw a tiny lake
called Mirror Lake. These two are sometimes called the
Lakes in the Clouds. By this time a thunderstorm had
come on, which greatly enhanced the grandeur of the
scene.
On the Tuesday I went to the famous sulphur baths at
Banff. The water comes out at 98 degrees in one spring and
112 degrees in the other. There are open-air swimming baths
with glass all round them, so that you can see the mountains
all the time. The next day we went down the river in a
motor-boat, seeing a most wonderful panorama of woods
and mountains, which a thunderstorm made more beautiful.
The lightning seemed to strike a waterfall and glance off
again. That same night there was another tremendous
storm, the thunder echoing and re-echoing in the mountains,
sounding as if two storms had met and burst above us. I
distinctly felt the heat of the lightning and could not help
wondering how soon it would be before we were struck,
being under trees. But although the rain was terrific it
never came through the tent.
Another day we motored to Lake Minawaake, passing
several canyons. We came back by Banff Park, where we
saw moose and other tame wild animals, the most interesting
of all being the buffalo, one of which was wallowing with
his legs in the air. I took a photo of him, but was not
allowed to get out of the car to do so as they said he would
probably charge. This is the only herd now in existence,
1. THK AVENUE AT BANFF, AL15ERTA
- . FAKE LOUISE
3. LUMBER ON THE BOW RIVER
To face p. So
SLINGING HAY INTO THE BARN (see page 87)
THE CHURCH ON THE INDIAN RESERVE (<ee page 99)
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN Si
and they once covered the prairie. Another very interesting
sight was the lumber being floated down the Bow River to
Banff, where it is sawn up and sent by train all over the
prairie. The flowers here were very luxuriant. The most
striking one was the Red Indian s Paint Brush.
On the Friday we returned to Youngstown. We had a
very exciting journey as there were sixty wash-outs on the
track. It was very sandy, and had given way in the recent
big storms. You wondered all the time w r hat was going to
happen next, especially after it grew dark and they kept
shunting us from one line to another. Then a madman
got in, and insisted on conversing with us when he was not
fighting, until removed by the conductor. We arrived at
Youngstown at 1.30 a.m., but as the tent had not arrived,
and the caravan was garaged, we had nowhere to sleep, and
so finished the night on a very hard wooden bench in the
CHAPTER XV
ON THE RETURN JOURNEY
THE Chautauqua at Youngstown was now over, but we
heard all about it from Mrs. S. It consists of meetings,
with lectures on all sorts of international and intellectual
subjects, interspersed with concerts and social gatherings.
It seems a very good plan for places far from large centres
of human life and thought. By this means they are brought
into touch with modern movements. Speakers from all over
the world lecture at these Chautauquas. Mrs. Pankhurst
was speaking at this one.
That night we gave our promised picture talk around the
caravan. We had a mixed congregation of Anglicans,
Roman Catholics, and Lutherans. The children seemed
most interested, and would hardly go away. The Anglicans
were without a clergyman at present, and they felt this
privation very keenly. They had had one of the Railway
Mission clergy, who had lived here and worked the sur-
82 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
rounding district. The four missioners who had served this
district at different times had all been killed in the War.
Now no one was forthcoming owing to the distressing
dearth of clergy. Everything was ready should anyone be
sent. Monetary support was guaranteed. The vicarage
was a nice little two-roomed shack with a garage and Ford
car all complete. The church was dusty from long disuse,
and Winifred spent all Saturday cleaning it. The furniture
had been made by one of the congregation. It was of some
dark wood and of very original design. The asphalt path
from the church to the vicarage had been laid by a Roman
Catholic neighbour. This same spirit of goodwill was shown
when I went to buy gasolene and oil from a Youngstown
Roman Catholic. He refused to take any money for it,
saying that he was glad to help on religious work amongst
the children.
On Sunday we held a Sunday school at 3 p.m. The
children were most eager for instruction ; they knew almost
nothing, poor little things. In the evening we had a
service for adults in the church. A man took the collection
in his hat because they could find nothing else. He carried
it up the aisle and gave it to me, and as I laid it on the altar
I felt that it was a more acceptable offering than many a
laden alms dish offered that night in some rich cathedral.
Here, as in many places, we were asked who paid us.
When we explained that we were not paid, it seemed to give
the people a better grasp of spiritual things. In this country
of growing materialism, in which the monetary value of a
thing is of first importance, it was difficult for them to
understand anyone doing honorary work. They began to
think religious education must be of real importance when
they saw that we considered the work its own reward. The
congregation asked us to keep the collection money for our
work, so we thanked them and promised to use it towards
paying for the pictures which we left at each place.
In all the parishes which we visited we left a dozen
Nelson pictures backed on linen, with wooden slips top and
bottom so that they could be hung up in the church,
and also some small Nelson pictures for use in class, as
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 83
well as lesson books of different grades. Where the
Canadian Sunday School magazine was in use the teachers
found these additional books useful to supplement it both in
matter and method.
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 w r e
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
84 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
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.
Then we came to a nightmare of a road, very steeply
graded and w r ith loose hard clods about 3 feet deep on
the top. These nearly knocked the bottom out of the
engine, so I had to drive on the side at an incredible angle,
expecting every moment to be overturned, though my
companions were steadying the van with might and main,
the one hanging on to one side, and the other propping up
on the other. Every now and then we had to stop and
unload, or else we must have capsised. We arrived at
Kindersley about 2.30 a.m., and found Mr. and Mrs. W. still
waiting up for us w 7 ith a splendid supper prepared, to which
we did full justice. About four in the morning a tremendous
thunderstorm came on. I woke up with a start and suddenly
remembered that I hadn t covered up the engine, so I
scurried out to do so, otherwise my sparking plugs would
have been ruined and the whole of the engine flooded. The
difficulty was to keep the tarpaulin on, as there was always a
big wind. I made up my mind that another year the engine
should have a proper mackintosh cover to clip on.
We could not start for another twelve hours because the
trails were so heavy after the storm. The Chautauqua had
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 85
reached Kindersley now. The big brown tent was pitched
just opposite the vicarage and I heard the singing, but had
no time to go to any of the lectures, unfortunately. We
did not leave for Rosetown till 4 p.m., but we arrived there
at 9 p.m., a seventy mile run.
The next day (Sunday) we went on to Dinsmore, where
the vicar lived whom we had met before at Bounty. We
had not been able to hear from him, but knew he expected
us to take a Sunday School and address parents somewhere
in his district that afternoon. We started about noon, but
lost our way, and when we inquired at a farm were wrongly
directed, so we did not get to Dinsmore till 2.30. Just as we
were entering the town we got on to a rough trail with a lot
of big clods. A front wheel struck one of these and badly
bent the steering-rod, which made it very difficult to steer
the van, as it kept veering towards the left of the trail all the
time. When we reached the vicarage we found the vicar
had gone, but I knew that he had a service at Surbiton on
Sunday afternoons and so asked the way there. The cara
van got more and more difficult to steer. I tried to straighten
the steering-rod with a tyre iron, but it was not strong
enough. Then we came to a creek where there had been a
bad wash-out, and a board up across the trail said " No
road." But I noticed that cars had been going over the
creek a little to the right, which meant going down a hill
like the side of a house, over the stream, and up an equally
steep hill on the other side. One needs to steer particularly
well on these occasions, but I had to risk it and got across
somehow.
At last we arrived at the school-house at Surbiton, and
singing told us that service was going on. We crept in
and found the room full ; some of the congregation were even
sitting in the porch. The Sunday School was over, but I
was asked to give an address to the people.
The vicar had to go on immediately to another service,
but he had a puncture and no spare tube, so I lent him one
of mine. He introduced us to the Sunday School superin
tendent and her husband. She was most anxious to learn
anything about methods. All the children of every denomi-
86 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
nation attended her school. She invited us to stop to
supper, and it finally ended in our camping in their yard for
nearly a week. We wanted to teach the children, so our
host and hostess suggested that they should be invited to a
cricket match, and have a picture talk afterwards in the
evening. They complained of the lack of organised games
for the children, a thing we had already noticed. Here and
there a teacher would organise a base-ball team, and that
was all. One felt how invaluable it would be to have more
Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. The difficulty here lies in the
lack of people for Guiders and Scout-masters.
The cricket match could not take place till after school,
then the children arrived in cars and buggies, and we had a
splendid game. We played till it \vas too dark to see, and
then had the Bible picture talk by the light of the moon and
the headlights of the cars. The day-school master and the
parents standing behind the children seemed just as interested
as the latter were.
CHAPTER XVI
AMONG THE PRAIRIE FARMS
OUR host and hostess were charming, cultured people. Pie
and his brothers, Varsity men, were farming in a little
colony of their own. He was a member of the Provincial
Parliament, or Senate. Our hostess was a trained nurse
from St. Bartholomew s. She had been matron at a
hospital in Rosetown, and she still helped in cases of illness
whenever she had time. She told us how badly nurses
were needed on the prairie. She was also President of the
local Grain Growers Association, which is similar to the
Home-Makers Club and the Women s Institutes we got
the latter idea from Canada. The chief aim of these
associations is the selling of farm produce and the general
betterment of home and rural life. Our hostess was one of
those who saw the need for a higher moral standard in the
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 87
country, and her Association had appealed to the Senate to
that effect.
They were most kind and hospitable, and insisted on our
having meals with them. The farm hands sat at the same
table in this democratic country no longer below the salt.
On several evenings I went with our host and his children
to play cricket at other farms, and I noticed that the farm
hands and everyone else joined in the game.
It was very interesting to go round the farm and see all
the wonderful labour-saving devices. They had cut the
hay and were getting it in. The term " wild and woolly
West" is said to have originated from the "prairie wool,"
or natural hay, which is specially luxuriant on dried-up
sloughs. It is a grass with a fluffy, golden-brown plume.
But this natural hay can only be cut every other year,
hence many farmers are sowing hay seeds as well. The
wagon which they use for carting hay and wheat has
enormously high rack-like sides. On this farm, when cart
ing hay, an immense canvas sheet with rings at the corners
is put in the wagon and the hay piled up on it. When a
wagon-load reaches the barn, a rope attached to a pulley in
the barn roof is put through the four rings of the sheet, the
horses are taken out of the shafts and harnessed to the
pulley-rope, and the whole load is swung up into the barn,
along a rod, and on to the rick. The whole operation only
takes three minutes. There was a blacksmith s shop on
this farm, and as some of the metal on my shock-absorber
had broken, our host cut me a piece of metal, and I mended
it with his assistance a job which entailed lying under the
car for an hour with earth falling into one s eyes. The
vicar was famous as a " fixer " of broken-down Fords, and
one day he came to the farm with his children to gather
Saskatoon berries.* Whilst he was waiting for the party to
start, he and our host took out my steering-rod and
straightened it at the forge. As he put it back he eyed me
solemnly and remarked : " I suppose you know that your
two lives depend on this rod."
One very hot night we were sleeping in the van with all
* Something like wortleberries.
88 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
the doors wide open for the sake of coolness. I woke up
suddenly to a tremendous clap of thunder with terrific
forked lightning and a hurricane of wind, and hailstones the
size of a hen s egg. I sprang up and pulled the wind-screen
to and shut the side doors, and then woke up Winifred and
told her that we must hold on to the back doors for dear
life. If once the wind got in it would certainly overturn
the van. How we got through the next half-hour I cannot
tell. There was no catch inside the back doors, as we
always bolted them from the outside, but so sudden and
terrific was the storm that there was no time to run round
and bolt them. The wind would have swept you off your
feet, and you might have been struck by the lightning. For
the same reasons it was impossible to make a dash for the
farmhouse, and even if we had got there safely by any
chance, the caravan would have been smashed to atoms as
soon as an open door gave entrance to the wind. The only
thing to do was to hold the back doors with our fingers in
the chinks, though how we managed it I do not know. The
alternative was to abandon the caravan and lie flat on the
ground, as one was advised to do in cyclones, but in this
case we might have been killed by lightning. All through
that half-hour the van quivered like a live thing, and we
expected every minute that it would be blown away or
broken in. I have never felt so near death. The storm
lessened after a time, and then I bolted the back doors. In
the morning we found that the farmhouse had been nearly
flooded by the torrential rain, a stream of water having
poured through the house. They had looked out at us
anxiously from time to time, but could no more reach us
than we could get to them when the storm was at its worst.
Two great hay-wagons had been blown several yards into a
fence, and we heard that a shack eight miles off had been
blown over, and the settler had had all his limbs broken.
We had often heard of these storms before. On one
occasion such a storm burst upon a prairie school, smashing
in the windows. The young teacher gathered the children
into the porch, where they escaped injury. But when they
returned to their homes most of them found the shacks
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 89
blown over and their parents killed. A neighbouring school
was entirely wrecked and the teacher and children killed.
On the Saturday, when the trails had dried up, we
started for Birdview. We were now entering the dried-out
area again, but the sand-drifts had sunk a good deal and
become more compact, so we managed to get the caravan
through, though she skidded a bit. We camped by the
little prairie church, built miles away from any farm so
that it might be in the most central spot for each. Beside
it stood the vicarage, a one-roomed shack with a cellar
beneath. There was also a good-sized parish hall and a
stable for the parishioners horses. This complete isolation
has its perils. During the influenza epidemic in 1918 one
of the clergy lay here helpless for three days before anyone
knew that he was ill.
We stayed here for a week, having the place all to our
selves. We cleaned out the shack and had our meals in it,
sleeping in the van. It was intensely hot, and we found
the cellar a great boon for our butter, etc. These cellars
are a necessity on the prairie, keeping your food cool in
summer and your house warm in winter. Mrs. M., the
farmer s \vife who had arranged for our visit here, used
to bring us water and milk and eggs from her farm two
miles away. The well at the shack was now very low.
She also drove us to visit a day-school teacher who had
promised to carry on the Sunday School if we started it.
We held the school on Sunday, and two prospective teachers
listened. After school there was a most excellent tea in the
parish hall, provided by the parents who had brought the
children. Delightful al fresco meals are a feature of prairie
life. After tea we held a service in the church. We had
made it as beautiful as possible, with golden rod in the altar
vases. Members of the Women s Auxiliary had cleaned it
thoroughly for us. This service will always remain in my
memory. There were people of all ages present, and a
large number of men, both middle-aged and young. Winifred
played, and I read the service and gave the address. We
had a shortened form of evensong. For the lessons I
selected passages from the Gospels about our Lord and the
7
go ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
children. I also used some of the beautiful prayers written
for the Forward Movement in particular, the one for a
parish left without a clergyman. We chose well-loved
hymns, such as " Rock of Ages," from the Canadian hymn-
book, which is beautifully called " The Book of Common
Praise." It is the best collection of hymns which I have
ever seen, including suitable ones for both children and
adults. There is also a Canadian prayer-book, some of the
prayers being for the special needs of the country, such
as the prayer in time of drought. We used this one at the
service on behalf of this dried-out area.
I spoke on the importance of religious education, building
up my theme from the Gospel readings of the lessons.
I tried to show how juvenile crime had increased in countries
which neglected the spiritual welfare of the children. I
ended by reminding them that, just as they had chosen
a font for their War Memorial, so the children, properly
trained, would be a living memorial of those who had laid
down their lives for Christian ideals. It was very easy
to draw analogies between the spiritual life of the child and
the growth of the wheat, which is so easily prevented by
storms and drought from coming to its full perfection.
At the close of the service we went to the door to say
good-bye to the people. I was very touched to see that
some of them were crying, no doubt from memories which
the old familiar hymns and prayers had brought to mind.
The next day we were invited to supper at a farm five
miles off. On the way we had a feast of beauty from the
flowers, which were especially glorious now. This is the
native land of golden rod and Michaelmas daises. I have
never seen such a variety of the latter little white ones
growing low on the ground, little pale mauve ones, and
great bushes of deep mauve and yellow ones. There were
also perennial sunflowers with beautiful dark centres, and
fine erigerons. At last we arrived at the farm. It was
a melancholy sight, almost buried in sand, and the farmer
was leaving it. In spite of being very badly off they gave
us a most delicious supper roast chicken and layer cake
and fruit and tea. It was especially welcome just then as
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 91
I had been doing a lot of cooking that week, so a meal which
I had not prepared was a great treat. (This may be taken
in two ways.)
The next day we taught in the day school and enrolled
some children for the Sunday School by Post. Then we
went on and paid several visits, finishing up at Mrs. M. s
farm, where we had supper. It was wonderful to see her
small son, aged three or four, rounding up cattle mounted
on a tall steed. This infant had already made our acquaint
ance, driving over to our shack all by himself to bring
us eggs.
On Thursday we left for Swanson, nearly sticking in the
sand more than once. At last the sub-radius rod broke with
our continual skidding, but I was able to get another at
a hardware store on the way. We reached Swanson that
night and camped by the church. Next day we went to see
the farmer s wife who had promised to get the people
together to meet us. The family consisted of Mrs. Z., a
widow, her daughter, and two sons. As we drove up we
saw that the wheat was being cut. Some of the binders
were drawn by motor tractors and others by horses. After
the tea-supper, which is the last meal of the day, Winifred
went to the piano to play songs for the girl. I noticed that
the two brothers looked very tired after their day s work,
and guessed that they were waiting up for us as I had seen
that our room led through another. At last in desperation
they went to bed, and we found them fast asleep when we
went through. This shack was in advance of many, as it
had a door between the rooms instead of a curtain, but the
girl ingenuously suggested that as it was a hot night we
should leave the door open.
The next day we went out to help them stook the wheat.
It was a beautiful sight, the sky so very blue and the wheat
so very golden. I felt quite at home at this job, though one
had to stook from a quarter to half a mile before turning,
and the sheaves in the stocks were placed in a circle
instead of in our English way. Their aim is to keep out the
sun and wind, which would dry the wheat too much,
whereas ours, of course, is to let them in. They told us
92 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
that a stocking machine had been invented, but it was not
very satisfactory as yet. The wheat usually stands only
a week in stook, and is then threshed on the field. The
rack (i.e., wagon) is accompanied by a loader (elevator)
which shoots up the sheaves into the rack. When this is
full it is driven to the thresher. This differs from our
English threshing machine. Instead of coming out in
bundles, the straw is cut fine and blown out of a funnel,
accumulating in a heap on the ground. It is left there all
winter, being used either as fodder or as fuel. The grain
pours down a great pipe into a wagon, instead of being put
into bags as with us. The wagon is then driven off to the
nearest " depot," where there is always an elevator, as the
tall buildings used for storing the wheat are called out here.
The wagon drives into the building, where it is weighed
with its freight. Then the wheat is tipped out and taken
up to the store rooms above. From there it is shot down a
pipe into railway trucks, and sent by train to Fort William
on the Great Lakes. There it is cleaned and again stored
in elevators, and then poured down a great pipe into the
grain boats which carry it down the Great Lakes. Then
it goes by train to Montreal and Quebec, where there
are even greater elevators, whence it is sent all over the
world.
We were told that this was the first good harvest in that
district for five years, which shows what a gamble prairie
farming is. What with drought and late frosts in spring,
and hail and rain when the wheat is ripe, the result must
always be uncertain. The farmers are obliged to put all
their eggs into one basket, as they cannot store a root crop
in winter owing to the intense frost. A daily paper, dated
September, 1921, has the following news from Montreal :
" Two feet of snow fell in the district of Saskatchewan,
causing much damage to crops and bringing the snow-
ploughs out. Drenching rains throughout the remainder
of the province suspended harvesting and threshing. The
storm is the worst for 25 years."
Of course I had put on my landworker s clothes to stook
in, and to my surprise this caused a great sensation. They
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 93
had never seen a landworker in real life, only pictures of
them in the Sketch and the Daily Mivvov. They said the
kindest things about British women war-workers.
CHAPTER XVII
BACK TO REGINA
WE returned to Swanson that evening in order to be ready
for Sunday, While we were hanging up pictures in the
church two boys came in. We had already met these two
out in the harvest field, and had asked them to come to
Sunday School. One of them pointed to the cross on the
altar, and asked, "What s that?" I found that he knew
nothing about the Life of our Lord, so I showed him the
picture of the Nativity, and from this and the other pictures
told him the sacred story. The other boy joined in at
intervals, supplementing my remarks. I found that he knew
the story quite well, and asked him how it was that he knew
so much, and he explained that he was a Roman Catholic.
I told them that there would be Sunday School on Sunday
afternoon, and asked them to come, which they did. (There
was no Roman Catholic church in the place.) The children
seemed to enjoy the school, and the teachers-to-be came to
listen. A bad thunderstorm delayed us in beginning the
service following, as the people could not get there. But
they arrived eventually, and seemed to think the effort
worth while. A few of the people from the Birdview
district, who had attended our service on the previous
Sunday, were among the congregation.
We were given an early supper by kind Mrs. T., who had
mothered us when we were there before, and, thus fortified,
started on our twenty-mile drive to the ferry over the Sas
katchewan River, where we camped. There was another
thunderstorm that night. I got up very early, and had an
awful business cooking breakfast because of the raging wind.
I had determined that on any future trips there should be a
94 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
tin shield for the Primus, as digging a trench was of little
use.
Meanwhile we heard that the ferry had not been running
for several days, as the river had fallen and the sand had
silted up. If I had known this sooner we might have crossed
at Saskatoon, where there was a bridge, but we were now a
hundred miles or more away. It was necessary to cross
without loss of time, because Winifred wanted to catch the
train at Outlook on the following evening. She was obliged
to get back to England by an earlier boat than I was taking,
because the tour had been prolonged beyond the original
date, owing to weather and other difficulties.
When we had got down the steep, slippery trail to the
river I found that the ferry-barge was not starting from the
pier, but lower down stream where there was no pier, and
between us and it was nothing but sand and mud and water
in which the caravan would sink. There were two other
cars waiting to cross. Their owners had gone over to
Outlook in the ferry to get a team of horses to pull them
through. Just at this moment a wagon and two fine horses
drove down to the river bank. We explained our difficulty
to the driver, and he offered to tow us on to the barge. The
ferry-boat had now returned, and the touring cars were
towed on with difficulty. The waggoner hitched us on to
his wagon, and I asked Winifred to get out, as there was no
reason why she should run the risk of being overturned.
Then our wagon started, and I started the engine to help the
horses, but this frightened them and they tried to bolt. The
man shouted to me to switch off, which I did, but they still
galloped on and seemed to be making straight for the river.
Hitched on behind like this I was helpless. But the man
was a splendid whip, and he knew his horses. He steadied
them with his voice, and, getting them in hand, swung them
sharply round and on to the barge, though still snorting and
plunging in their fright. It was exceedingly difficult to
steer the van round just at the right moment, but I managed
it somehow. The barge men (our former friends) seemed to
find it very hard work getting the heavily-laden boat across,
with the wind against them. On the other side there was
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 95
no pier to land on, only mud and water as before, so the
waggoner offered to pull us ashore. His horses were really
magnificent extraordinarily strong for they pulled both
the wagon and the laden van through the sand and water,
past the touring cars stuck in the mud. The man refused
to take any money for his services, though it was usual to
charge a dollar or so for pulling out cars, etc. But only once
in all our three months on the prairie, and with our numerous
calls for help, w r ould any man take money for his services
to us. I am sure that our work was helped by our being
women. Much more consideration was shown to us than
would have been the case with men similarly situated.
Perhaps this is because there are fewer women than men
out there. The men certainly seem to feel that they cannot
do enough for them.
I took the grass track up from the river, the same which
I had used when crossing the ferry before ; but the van
stuck at the top, so I had to unload, and then back down to
the bottom and rush up again at full speed It was a very
hot day and a weary task repacking the van. We bitterly
regretted our refusal of the kind waggoner s offer to pull
us up.
I saw Winifred off by train, and then went on to Eye
brow, 96 miles. It was rather fun trying to race Winifred s
train, which I could see on the track a little ahead of me.
I did nearly catch her at one station, but was not quite
quick enough. I was very grateful for all Winifred s help,
and found it rather difficult to find my way without her,
as she always held the map. But I struck a green blazed
trail after a time, and then found my way quite easily. This
trail fortunately avoided that bad corner at Elbow, and the
surface of all the trails was far better now than when we
came up. I arrived at Eyebrow about 5 p.m.
The next day Mr. T. took me to visit some parents, with
whom we had meals, and then on to Keelerville day-school,
where I gave an address. I was surprised to find one little
girl answering all my questions with great fluency, while
the others sat in open-mouthed admiration. I said to
myself, " I m sure you ve been to the Qu Appelle Diocesan
96 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
School for Girls," as I had noticed the same phenomena
in Sunday Schools in Regina, and my surmise proved to be
correct.
We went out to supper, where we had the usual great
bowl of boiled eggs, from which we helped ourselves, every
one being expected to eat at least three. It was very dark
on our return journey, and the headlights sometimes went
very dim. I found it extremely pleasant to be driven for
once.
I left Eyebrow on the Wednesday afternoon, and went
on to Mortlack, about 38 miles. I found my way all right,
but had to go through a great deal of sand. Fortunately
I did not stick. The vicar and his wife gave me a very
warm welcome when I arrived that evening. There were
five small children and a young theological student in the
he-use. The vicar had been presented with a Ford caravan
very much like mine, in which to get about his rural
deanery. For everyday use he had a Ford car, and he
took me round the district in this. I taught in two schools
and held a parents meeting on the first day, and gave a
picture talk and two addresses to parents and teachers on
the next day. Indoors I helped the student with the house
hold chores, which he had made part of his duty. The
vicar s wife had her hands full with the children. The
latter were charming people ; they specially loved jumping
in and out of the caravan. I secured temporary quietude
by taking them down the town and presenting them with
"all-day suckers." This protection of the Canadian parent
is a large hard, brightly-coloured confection, stuck on a
pointed stick, which forms a handle. As the name suggests,
it is supposed to last all day. Another favourite comestible
is chewing-gum. The children in their turn frequently pre
sented me with both these dainties. But what I really
liked were the delicious ice-creams and ice-cream sodas and
sundaes. Those of the latter that one buys in England are
but pale shadows of the original. The real, true sundae
is a bowl of genuine ice-cream, on the top of which is
preserved fruit in rich syrup, with chopped nuts scattered
over it.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 97
This rural deanery received a great deal of support from
the Colonial and Continental Church Society. They wanted
me to stop at Mortlack over Sunday, but I felt that I
should never get all my affairs settled up in Regina before
catching my boat unless I went on at once.
So I started off for Regina on the Saturday, and got
there in the afternoon (70 miles). The trail was exceedingly
bad, as they were newly grading it, and in some places
I had to get over mounds of loose earth about four feet or
more high. It was odd to find my watch an hour different
from the Regina clocks. The big towns have summer
time, but the C.P.R. and the country places keep to ordinary
time.
I had a very warm reception from the W. family, behind
whose house I stored the caravan until I had time to
clean it. The first thing to do was to clean myself and
my wardrobe. I looked more like a mechanic than
a Sunday School " expert." I found oil on most of my
clothes, and without Mrs. W. should never have got them
clean again. It was very nice not to have to turn out in
the morning and cook breakfast over a bad-tempered Primus.
Mrs. W. s meals were not easily forgotten, and now they
seemed extra good. The Canadian breakfast is a dream :
you begin with grape fruit, and then come " cereals,"
followed by eggs and bacon, and sometimes griddle cakes
with maple syrup, or Johnnie cakes.
When I went to church on Sunday morning I had another
kind reception, and the vicar insisted that I should give an
address to the whole Sunday School in church that afternoon.
Next day I went to see Archdeacon Dobie and Archdeacon
Knowles, and had a long talk with them, the gist of which
I append later. I told them that I wished to present the
caravan to the diocese, that this work might be carried on.
Archdeacon Knowles offered to take charge of the van and its
equipment during the winter, promising that it should be
stored in the Synod garage.
The caravan had covered at least 3,000 miles in just over
three months. We started from Regina on May 21 and got
back on August 21. We visited ten existing Sunday Schools
9 8 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
and started four new ones; we also visited twelve day
schools and enrolled sixty children in the Sunday School
by Post. Besides this we gave many Bible picture talks
to children and addresses to parents and teachers, held a
good many services in church, and did a lot of visiting.
CHAPTER XVIII
AN INDIAN RESERVE
I FELT that I could not leave Canada without seeing an
Indian Reserve. I had met Miss A., the headmistress of
the Christian boarding school at Punnichy, so I wrote to
her asking if I might pay a flying visit to the Reserve, and
received a warm invitation. I left Regina at 9.30 p.m. and
did not arrive at Punnichy till next morning at 6.30. I
travelled with a large number of Doukhobors, extraordinary
people who talk a most curious language. They come from
southern Russia, and are a religious sect. They live in
communities, having everything in common, even wives.
The women wear picturesque clothes a coloured hand
kerchief over their heads and another over their shoulders,
with a very full short skirt. I noticed that the train in
spector seemed uneasy at my being in their compartment,
and soon moved me to another one. But I had to remain
an hour with them in the waiting-room at Saskatchewan,
and they seemed quite harmless and were interesting to
watch.
I was met by a Mrs. T., who drove me in her own car
up to the Reserve. I found that she had nursed in France
during the War, had had shell shock, and had received the
Royal Red Cross. Her husband was the headmaster of the
day school on the Reserve. She had found that the Indians
were without a nurse of any kind, and so she was giving her
services in that capacity and had her hands full. She had
even bought a car in order to get round the Reserve. There
was a great deal of sickness, the Indians being very tuber
cular now, and there was much infant mortality. Mrs. T. said
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 99
that she badly needed another nurse to help her She was
then on her way to the school to help the doctor operate on
a good many children for adenoids and tonsils, but it would
be a case of "first catch your hare," as the patients always
fled into the bush on these occasions.
Miss A. and her father, the chaplain on the Reserve,
received me very kindly. After breakfast I was asked to
give the children a Scripture lesson. They were bright,
attractive children, but not nearly so quick as the British
children. They knew a great deal, however, having been
well taught. It seemed very sad that our British children
had been so neglected that they knew less about the Bible
than these Indian children did. I bought some of the
beautiful moccasins and bead chains which they make on
the Reserve. The mother of one of the pupils had made
the Bishop s mitre all out of beads.
Outside the school-house there was a poor little boy lying
on a mattress, the other children entertaining him with pic
ture books. I asked what was the matter with him, and was
told that he had broken his leg and the witch-doctors had
essayed to cure it, doing him great harm. But he was now
getting well under proper supervision. We had meals with
the Indian children, in a nice family way. They talked
good English, of course, having been in the school for
several years. The raison d etre of the boarding school is to
give the children a good standard of living. When they
attend a day school they have to live at home in the dirty
hovels, which undoes much of the civilising influence they
have received. When they are old enough the boys are
trained to work on the school farm, under the management
of Mr. A. I was shown the beautiful little church, but was
saddened to see the many little wooden crosses marking the
babies graves. We saw some fine Indian men, looking
quaint with their long braided hair and big shady hats.
They are being trained to farm work, at which they prove
most efficient. I should have liked to have seen the Indian
warriors in war paint, but this is seldom allowed by the
Government now as it is found to have such an exciting
effect on them. There had been a display of the Hudson
ioo ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
Bay Company at Winnipeg in the May of that year, but I
was not able to go.
There was something singularly tragic in the sight of
these people, disinherited, and suffering from diseases which
they never knew in their old free life. It is one of those
great injustices for which there seems to be no remedy.
I remained for evening prayer, and was asked by Mr. A.
to give the address. I told the story of St. Christopher,
which seemed to be much appreciated. Then I caught a
night train and got back to Regina next morning.
CHAPTER XIX
HEADED FOR HOME
ON my return from Punnichy I went to see the Bishop and
Mrs. Harding, and described our caravan tour. His lord
ship said that my account only emphasised his previous
conviction that work among the children was of vital im
portance, and he hoped I would come back in the following
spring to carry it on. I explained that I had my diocesan
work in England, and had only six months leave of absence,
and was even now hurrying back to take a Teachers Train
ing Course.
I had plenty to do during the next few days. I had sent home
to England for a good many books and pictures, and these
now had to be done up and sent off to the different places
we had visited on the prairie. A decidedly arduous task,
too, was the cleaning of the caravan, to which a good deal
of the trail still clung. I spent strenuous hours with a hose
and brush, cleaning it inside and out. A hole had been
knocked in the composition boarding of the door, and I
racked my brains to think of a way to mend it. Then I
remembered the paper pulp with which we make raised
maps. This did splendidly and hardened well. Then there
were all the books and pictures and models to catalogue
and store for the winter, ready for those who should take
the van out next spring.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 101
I had told the garage to fetch the caravan and take the
engine down and clean and overhaul it, but as they did not
send for it I took it round myself on the Monday and said
that it must be done by the Thursday, as I had to leave for
England. When I went next day they had merely taken
down a little bit of the engine. They did not get to work
on it properly till the Wednesday, which was very annoying,
as I wished to have the back springs strengthened, a long
job, and one which I meant to see thoroughly done. I
spent Thursday running to and fro between the garage and
the parish hall (where many of my things were stored). I
had to catch an early train in the morning, and so told a
porter overnight to fetch my cases and boxes from the
parish hall. After supper I went round to the garage again
to see if the van was finished. It wasn t. I knew that if I
left it the mechanics would go off to some other car, and not
only would my van certainly not be done in the morning,
but quite possibly it would never be properly done at all,
and when used next year might break down at a critical
moment. I therefore determined to stay and see it finished.
I knew the garage was open all night, with a special set of
mechanics for night duty. Hour after hour passed. I stood
around by the van and handed tools from time to time, and
pointed out what I wanted done, and by thus keeping them
at it the van was actually finished soon after 7 a.m. I
rushed off with it to the W. s, and Mrs. W. and I packed
all the equipment in it as fast as we could. Then I hurried
up to the Synod garage, taking a man with me to remove the
electric starter, which would freeze if left in all winter. As
I flew along I thought wistfully of the splendid breakfast
which kind Mrs. W. had prepared and which I had no time
to eat. I handed over the car and keys, got another car to
take me to the station, and just managed to catch the train.
There was no time to feel sentimental over bidding farewell
to my beloved " Tin Lizzie," who had done such wonders
for us. Several friends came to see me off, but my cases
from the parish hall only appeared on the platform as the
train steamed out of the station, and it was months before I
saw them again.
102 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
I went by train to Fort William, on Lake Superior, then
by the Great Lakes and down the St. Lawrence River.
Lake Superior is a huge inland sea, into which you could
drop England. On Sunday morning we reached the
easterly end of the lake, where the great locks are between
Lake Superior and Lake Huron. We stopped at Sault
St. Marie for several hours, and some of us went ashore to
church. I hunted about for an Anglican church, and seeing
one with a cross on it made for it ; but it was a Roman
Catholic church, and was packed to the doors. Next I
found a Presbyterian church, and at last found an Anglican
one, which I afterwards discovered was the pro-cathedral.
The Archbishop of Algoma was preaching on the Lambeth
Conference, from which he had just returned. I had to
leave before the end of the service lest the boat should go
without me. We started again at one o clock, and went
down Lake Huron and through the Georgian Bay and past
the Ten Thousand Islands. It was very beautiful. We
arrived at Fort McNicholl at 8 a.m. on Monday. I then
went by train to Toronto, and thence took a steamer down
Lake Ontario. It was a grey day, but the scenery was
lovely, and the waves quite rough, like the sea. We passed
into the St. Lawrence at night, and on the Tuesday morning
began to pass the Thousand Islands, some of which are
disfigured by enormous houses, which look too big for the
island. At Prescott we changed into a tiny steamer called
The Queen of the Rapids, and went on down the river, soon
coming to the first of the rapids, which the steamer shot.
There is a drop of three hundred feet between Prescott and
Montreal. The biggest rapid is the Lachine Rapid, with a
fall of eighty-five feet. These rapids have always been shot
by the Indians in their canoes, and now one always comes
on board to pilot the steamer down. The river here is far
wider than the Thames at London, and the rapids form
a foaming bar from side to side, through which there is
only one narrow channel. As we rushed through we were
suddenly aware that the walls of water close on either side
were veiling rocks, between which the boat passed with
only a few inches to spare. We went three miles in one
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 103
and a half minutes. In 1921 the rudder chain broke when
the steamer was shooting the rapids. The boat dashed on
the rocks and had a hole knocked in it, but the passengers
managed to reach an island and were all saved.
We arrived at Montreal that night, whence I went on to
Quebec by train, the Empress of France being too big to get
up the river. I arrived at Quebec in the cold early morning,
and spent the day hunting up my luggage, but finding very
little of it. I found time, however, to go up to the Heights
of Abraham, whence I had a magnificent view right over
the harbour. Both here and at Fort William the gigantic
elevators were a striking sight, and I could also see a lot of
lumber floating in Quebec harbour.
Quebec is a strangely old-world town, noticeably so after
the very modern West. I went into a shoemaker s shop to
get a shoe mended, but had to make my wants known
chiefly by signs, as the man spoke a queer old French and
knew no English.
This journey down through the Great Lakes and the
St. Lawrence is so exceedingly beautiful that it is a pity
more people do not take it. But it is only possible in the
summer months. After October the lakes are too rough,
and in winter the St. Lawrence is blocked by ice.
As we steamed out of Quebec the Heights of Abraham
looked very fine with the sunset behind them. We went by
the northern passage, between Labrador and Newfoundland.
At night the Northern Lights lit up the sky for two or three
hours together, and just here we had to go slowly for fear of
sunken icebergs.
We got to Liverpool on September 15, but though we
arrived at 4 p.m., we did not get off the boat till 7.30 p.m.,
as a White Star liner was at the landing-stage, so I did not
get home till next morning.
io 4 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
CHAPTER XX
SOME PRESENT-DAY NEEDS OF THE PRAIRIE
IN the interview which I was granted with Archdeacon
Knowles and Archdeacon Dobie before leaving Regina, I
tried to explain my conviction that the future of the Anglican
Church on the prairie deper.ded on the training of the
children. If they remained as ignorant of religion as we
found them in many places, it was obvious that their
generation would have no use for the Church. On the
other hand, they were now in an intensely receptive state,
and the parents were more than walling that they should
receive instruction, and had supported us by every means
in their power, both by promising to carry on our work and
by giving us most generous hospitality. Experience had
proved that a caravan was the best means of reaching these
outlying districts, first because they were often so far from
the railway, and also because there was no accommodation
for women visitors in most of the shacks.
When I offered my van to the diocese, Archdeacon
Knowles suggested that I should leave suggestions for its
future use. Those I made were as follows : (i) That in the
spring, summer, and fall, a Sunday School expert should use
the van on the prairie, starting Sunday Schools, visiting the
farms and day schools, giving Bible lessons in school hours,
if allowed by the trustees, if not, after school hours ; taking
names for the Sunday School by Post ; helping the existing
Sunday Schools, teachers, and clergy. (2) That the expert
must be a person fully trained for the work, either at St.
Christopher s, Blackheath, London, or in any similar
institution which might be started in Canada. (3) The
expert must be accompanied by someone who has driven a
car for at least a year, and done her own running repairs.
She should be able to cook, and willing to teach a class
under the direction of the expert. (4) Concerning the
finance : the travelling expenses of the workers, their board,
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 105
and the running expenses of the caravan should be raised in
England until the diocese is able to support them. If
possible, a salary should be provided, but, failing this,
honorary workers might be found.
Archdeacon Dobie read me a report which he had just
received from two of the Mission clergy who had gone out
in the other Ford caravan. They had done between two
and three thousand miles already, and I afterwards heard
that by the end of the season they had gone 6,000 miles and
baptized 101 children. It was interesting to note where their
report corroborated ours. They spoke of the spiritual desola
tion of the people, who asked them if the Church would only
send clergy where a stipend could be guaranteed. They re
marked on the eagerness of the children to learn, their
intense appreciation of the sacraments and services, and the
pathetic ignorance of the children and young people, many
of whom had never been to a service before. The bad
effects of this isolation and lack of education were very
noticeable, they said. One of the clergy, in his report,
spoke of the people " disappointed of their hope year after
year, cut off from the Church the glory and joy of which
separation has deepened there is little wonder at times
they are almost on the verge of insanity." He adds : " If
only some lover of Christ and of the British Empire would
provide for two such vans to run for a few more years until
the tide turns and the country develops, much might be
done to save the children of the prairie and to foster a
spirit of loyalty to the Mother Country."
These Mission clergy seemed to feel, as we had done,
that the time for seizing these wonderful opportunities is
now or never. The worship of the almighty dollar may
easily take the place of true religion unless this present
hunger for spiritual things is satisfied. It would be a
serious reflection on the Anglican Church if she should let
this golden opportunity pass.
Some time after I had returned to England I received
a letter from a man at Stimson (which the Railway Mission
used to work from Youngstown), saying, "Why don t they
send us a clergyman ? Once a fortnight a service is held
8
io6 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
here by howling dervishes, calling themselves Nazarenes,
instead of our dear old Church of England services." In
one of the prairie towns I saw the Holy Rollers tent
erected, and should like to have attended one of their
meetings just to see what they are like ; but as I was doing
Anglican Mission work, I feared it might create a wrong
impression. I received a description of the meeting from
an eye-witness, however. The order of procedure is as
follows : The preacher gets up and begins to speak in
excited tones, gradually working himself up into a frenzy
and becoming unintelligible. This is contagious, and the
audience soon become frenzied also, finally rolling about
the floor hence the name by which the sect is known.
When the people are in this ecstatic state they are per
suaded to sign cheques for large amounts. The Holy
Rollers will not come to a town unless a considerable sum
is first guaranteed, and this peculiarity of theirs adds point
to the settlers query with regard to the Anglican clergy.
It is dreadful to think of the sheep being left to these
hirelings.
A matter of grave import had come under my notice on
the prairie, and I felt it to be my duty to speak of it to those
who were working for the welfare of the province. The
lack of a high spiritual standard, with its consequent
elevated moral tone, is having a gravely deleterious effect
on the children s morality, proving a serious menace to the
health of the community on which the welfare of this new
country depends. On this point I was strongly supported
by the wife of one of the members of the Senate, herself a
trained nurse, who had lived for many years on the prairie,
and also by an experienced clergyman and a Sunday School
superintendent. All three gave me permission to use their
names if necessary, and promised to supply corroborative
details. They lived in widely separated districts, thus
making their combined evidence of more value. Whilst
in Regina, therefore, I reported to the presidents or secre
taries of the following : The Local Council of Women, The
Women Grain-Growers Association, The Women Home-
makers Club, and the Social Service Council, all of which
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 107
organisations work throughout the province, and are inter
denominational.
The secretary of the Social Service Council asked me
to give a report of our work on the prairie to the Inter
denominational Sunday School Council for the province. I
was very glad to be present at this council, because I learnt
so much. We discussed methods and organisation, not
doctrine. It was most interesting to hear about the camps
and clubs which they hold for adolescent boys and girls.
When I gave an account of our caravan tour I took the
opportunity of drawing attention to the moral question, and
emphasised my belief that on this matter all the Churches
should co-operate.
I sent a report of my work to Dr. Hiltz, which he read to
the Executive Committee of the Board of Religious Educa
tion. They were good enough to show interest in the
matter, and suggested that the Western Field Secretary
should inquire what the diocese of Qu Appelle thought
of the scheme, and if the report were favourable he should
try to develop the scheme in other Western dioceses.
Meanwhile Miss Margaret West, who had been trained at
St. Christopher s and had been working in the diocese of
Ottawa, became Diocesan Field Supervisor for Qu Appelle.
She lectured and gave demonstration lessons in Regina, and
acted as secretary for the Sunday School by Post. When I
suggested it, she expressed herself as quite ready to go out
on the prairie in the spring of 1921, but she could not drive
the caravan. I inquired of the Red Cross and St. John
Ambulance in Canada if there were any ex-service girls who
could drive caravans, and they replied that very few had
volunteered to drive in France, and those who had done so
were now dispersed and could not be communicated with.
I then applied to various organisations in touch with ex-
service women, and received a list of women who had driven
motor ambulances or transports in France, but all of them
wanted their expenses paid and most of them needed a small
salary. There was no fund as yet, but through the
" Recruiting Committee for Service in the Kingdom of
God " I was fortunate in finding an honorary worker, who
io8 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
would pay all her own expenses. This was Miss Higgin-
botham, who had driven a car for years, and had also driven
a Ford in France for the Y.M.C.A. and the Church Army,
as well as doing canteen work.
Miss Higginbotham joined Miss West in the spring of
1921, taking out with her a large number of books and
several thousand pictures which I was sending for distribu
tion. They arranged to visit a very large district,
comprising many more places than we had visited. At the
end of the season Miss West wrote : " I have about 200
members collected this year for the Sunday School by Post
... the children need the A. B.C. of the Faith . . . they
are astonishingly ignorant but very nice to teach, so
appreciative of one s efforts and so ready to learn ... I
enjoyed the summer very much the people were very
kind." They had many adventures similar to ours in mud
holes and thunderstorms, and also received similar kindness
and hospitality. In the Bishop s Leaflet for the diocese of
Qu Appelle (December, 1921) a summary of their work is
given, which ends thus :
" What are the results of this itinerary ? The Diocesan
Field Supervisor has gained an intimate knowledge of the
needs and difficulties of the prairie town Sunday Schools and
has got into touch with many of the teachers, so that she is
now in a better position to give assistance. Also nearly 200
boys and girls living in districts where there is no Church of
England Sunday School have been enrolled in the Sunday
School by Post and are now receiving regular instruction in
the Faith of the Church."
In a letter dated April 26, 1921, Dr. Hiltz gave us the
following encouragement : " At the meeting of the Execu
tive Committee held last Friday I read extracts of your
latest letter telling of the plans for 1921. The Committee
was very much interested, and I have much pleasure in
forwarding to you the enclosed resolution, which will give
you some idea of the attitude of our Executive towards the
work which has been done." The resolution was as follows :
" That this Committee desires to express its great apprecia
tion of the work done in the diocese of Qu Appelle by Miss
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 109
Hasell and Miss Ticehurst during the summer of 1920, and
rejoices to learn that the work is to be continued during the
summer of 1921 by Miss West and Miss Higginbotham.
The Committee thanks these ladies for their great help, and
commends their spirit and self-sacrifice for the emulation of
the whole Church."
Dr. Hiltz added that he was calling the attention of the
General Synod to the caravan plan. (The General Synod
consists of the four Archbishops, all the bishops and clergy,
and certain representative laymen from each diocese of the
Dominion.)
The following extracts are from the Minutes of the
Annual Meeting of the General Board of Religious Educa
tion of the Church of England in Canada, October, 1921.
From the Report of the General Secretary :
" Diocesan Conference and Synods. A feature of all the
conferences and synods attended, was the outspoken con
viction of the Bishops and officers of the dioceses of the
urgent necessity for the immediate increase of effort in the
training of the children of the Church in the Faith of their
fathers. The Bishop of New Westminster . . . cited the
fact that communistic leaders in Great Britain and Europe
recognised the strategic importance of influencing the young,
and had established Sunday Schools for propagating their
doctrines. The Bishop urged that the Church must not be
less alive to a great basal principle.
"Without doubt, the present is a critical period in the
life of our Church in the West. The great dearth of clergy
has left many parishes, formerly occupied, without Sunday
Schools or any other Church organisation. The Church of
the future, in the country districts of the West, will be the
Church that will now go into these fields and train and
enfold the young."
" The Caravan Plan. The Executive Committee asked
for a report on the use of the caravan for religious educa
tional work in the prairie dioceses. There can be no question
that the van can be used to accomplish great results. . . .
The van idea is rapidly gaining ground. Qu Appelle
no ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
Diocese has three vans at work, one of which is for
purposes of religious education alone. Saskatchewan
Diocese secured a fine new van this year, which is being
operated for general missionary work. From experience
this summer, the Field Secretary is prepared to recommend
its use to every diocese that may be prepared to man and
use it in scattered missionary districts.
" A van or motor-car, under the direction of the Field
Secretary, could be utilised to good purpose in our work.
Two competent lady-workers in Calgary volunteered for
field work during July, but we had no means of sending them
out. A motor could have been used steadily during August,
and it could be sent on special missions into other dioceses."
From the Report of the Executive Committee :
" The Caravan Plan for Reaching Sparsely-Settled Districts.
Following up the suggestions of the Board at its last
meeting, the General Secretary communicated with several
persons in the Diocese of Qu Appelle, with a view to finding
out how far, in their judgment, the Caravan Plan, as used
by Miss Hasell and Miss Ticehurst, had proved successful.
" The consensus of opinion was that the results were
good, but could only be made permanent by a regular system
of visitations. . . .
" The Western Field Secretary has had an opportunity
during the summer to investigate this work, and has been
doing some experimenting in the Diocese of Calgary. The
Diocese of Qu Appelle also tried out the plan again this
past summer under the direction of Miss West.
" As a result of the investigations of the Field Secretary,
he recommends that the plan be adopted in every diocese
that is prepared to man and use the van properly in scattered
missionary districts."
From the Report of the Parochial Department, under the
heading, Council on Rural Schools : "In one Western diocese
the Sunday School caravan similar to the mission van has
proved of great value to the work of rural schools."
From the above it will be seen that the caravan scheme
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN in
supplies a felt need, and as ex-students of St. Christopher s
and ex-service girls have volunteered, the only hindrance is
lack of funds.*
As showing the approval which this work has received
from the Church s representatives, I may add that the
Bishops of Saskatchewan and Calgary have both invited me
to work a van in their dioceses in 1922.
It was a bitter disappointment to me to be unable to talk
over the results of our work with Aylmer Bosanquet, for it
was she who originated the scheme, and she would have
delighted in the details of its working. But she was in
British Columbia when I returned from the prairie, so all
I could do was to write her a full report, and keep her in
touch with all the developments of the work. She soon
grew too weak to write herself, but her interest never flagged,
and she dictated most encouraging and stimulating letters.
She passed away on Shrove Tuesday, February, 1921.
She was a true missionary, with a gracious and loving
personality. She had a definite call and followed it. This
led her to exchange a life of luxury for one of hardship, and
to expend much of her wealth in the service of God. She
laboured unceasingly, and with a vision which seemed to
leave a living impress on all with whom she came in contact,
and inspired them to greater heights of devotion and service.
As the lessons of childhood are indelibly engraven on the
mind, there must be many prairie children who will bless
her name in after life for the imprint she left upon them.
She had a statesmanlike grasp of the trend of events, and
lived to do a wonderful work in Western Canada, pointing
to lofty ideals and raising the standard of public opinion in
this young and growing country, not only from the Church
point of view, but also from the Imperial standpoint.
She has been one of the glorious instruments used in
helping to bring about God s purpose, that " the earth shall
be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea."
* See Appendix IV.
ii2 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
APPENDIX
I.
THE Fellowship of the Maple Leaf was started under the
directorship of Dr. G. E. Lloyd* in order to remedy the
great shortage of teachers in Western Canada. It aims
at enlisting Englishwomen who are not merely taking up
teaching as a livelihood, but who are " willing to do some
thing beyond what they are paid to do, for the sake of
Church and Empire." Their object is the building up of
character and the development of loyalty to the Empire,
and they are to go specially to the prairie schools among
the foreign population (now called the Ne\v Canadians),
many of whom cannot speak English. The problem is
What can be done to make the un-English settlers British
in sentiment ? Wherever immigration spreads over the
new territory, there, in two or three years time, appear the
little country schools, built by the settlers out of the rates
and taxes, or from bonds guaranteed by the Provincial
Government. All the children of the district, from four
miles on either side, go to that school. In Saskatchewan
alone three hundred new schools w T ere built in 1915, five
hundred the year before, and more than six hundred in the
year before the War. Not only do these hundreds of new
schools need teachers, but there is a continual thinning of
the ranks as teachers go on to other professions or the
women teachers marry. Many of the leading men in
Canada have taught in these little one-teacher schools at
the beginning of their career such men as Sir Robert
Bordon, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Sam Hughes, and Sir
George Forster.
* Now Bishop of Saskatchewan.
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 113
The demand for teachers in these schools is so great that
very many non- British persons are accepted, and it is, to
say the least, very unlikely that such persons can or will
train these young British subjects as Britain would have
them trained. It follows that there is here a magnificent
opportunity for patriotic young Englishwomen. They
would also be able to help the children of those isolated
Anglicans who have no resident clergyman, as well as the
mixed populations of "anybody s people." Of course, no
Church of England doctrine or any other doctrine may be
taught in the day schools. These are Government schools,
and every religion has an equal right there. But much
may be done out of school hours.
Anyone can be a teacher who can pass the Government
test and who takes a short " Method " course in the Normal
School. If she has any practical experience of teaching
she may obtain a " Provisional Certificate," and begin to
teach at once, taking the Method Course later on when the
prairie schools are closed in winter. The teachers are paid
a fair salary. The lowest is about ^14 a month, ranging
up to ^"45 in the towns for head teachers. The higher
stipends, of course, are for those who make teaching their
life-work. Any further particulars may be obtained from
the Rev. P. J. Andrews, Secretary, The Fellowship of the
Maple Leaf, 13, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. i.
II.
The present hospital arrangements in the prairie provinces
are as follows: The Regina Railway Mission started
hospitals in a few of the little towns where they had
established missions, and some of the municipal councils
took up the matter and opened a great many more. But
there are no free hospitals in the West. A patient s ex
penses are about 225. a day (five or six dollars), which
makes a hospital prohibitive for most. Many farms are
miles away from any sort of medical or surgical attendance,
and as the farmer s wife has generally no one to help her
with her house and children, she can seldom, if ever, go
H4 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE
away into hospital for her confinements, and at these times
often has no one with her except her husband. Of course,
all goes well sometimes, but it is obvious that child and
mother must suffer should complications arise. I met a
great many farmers wives in outlying districts whose health
had been ruined through lack of skilled attention at these
critical times.
There is a splendid opening here for ex-V.A.D s. The
Social Service Council of Saskatchewan is offering free
training in a municipal hospital to any V.A.D., after which
she would go out to the farms as a nursing housekeeper,
her work being to give the mother professional attention
and to keep the home running while she is laid up. She
would need some knowledge of the domestic arts, such as
washing and cooking. Her work would be similar to that
of a village district nurse in England, only she would have
but one family under her care at a time. It should be
added that the father of a family helps a great deal in the
house. These nursing housekeepers would be paid $17 to
$20 per week, just half the salary of a graduate nurse.
Thus they would be earning a good income and at the same
time doing a noble work. In this new country the health
of the mothers and children is of supreme importance.
Applications for further particulars about nursing house
keepers may be made to the following secretaries for Social
Service : Mr. W. J. Stewart and Mr. W. P. Reekie, 45,
Canada Life Building, Regina, Saskatchewan, Western
Canada.
III.
The Women s Auxiliary is the women s branch of the
Anglican Church Missionary Society for Canada. There
are members in every district, and they work magnificently
for the cause, raising enormous sums of money. One place,
which had only three members, made about $300 in the year
(about 60 or ^70). They get money by sewing meetings,
teas, and social gatherings. The money is used first for
the parish, to build or furnish the vicarage house, and
IN A MOTOR CARAVAN 115
supply church furnishings, etc., and then to help the work
among non-Christians, both in Canada and overseas.
IV.
The cost of a caravan is 31 6 ($1,250); running ex
penses, ^"40 (|? 1 60); passage out and travelling expenses,
about ^"50, but for ex-service girls, who can get a free
passage, ^"29 ; board and lodging on the prairie for five or
six months, about ^"40 ; board and lodging in Regina,
between -$ and ^4 a week ($15). Donations may be
made payable to Miss Eva Hasell, Canada Mission
Account, London, City, and Midland Bank, Penrith,
Cumberland. A sum of more than ^"300 has already
been contributed.
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