istaking its prairie air, yet superimposed
upon this is the atmosphere of, say, a Lancashire or Yorkshire mining
town. Coal and other mines touch with a sense of dark industrial
bustle the easy air of the plain town. It is a Labour town, and a
force in Labour politics. That, of course, made not the slightest
difference to its welcome; indeed, perhaps it tinged that greeting with
a touch of independent heartiness that made it notable.

As a town it impresses with its vividity at once. That, indeed, is the
quality of most Canadian cities. They capture one with their air of
modernity and vivacity at first impact. True, one sometimes finds that
the town that seemed great and bustling dwindles after a few fine
streets into suburbs of dirt roadways, but one has been impressed. It
may be very good window dressing, though, on the other hand, it is
probably good planning which concentrates all the activity and
interests of the town in the decisively main avenues.

II

Friday, October 3rd, saw the Prince visiting a string of three towns.

Medicine Hat was the first of these, an attractive, park-like place
full of "pep." Medicine Hat's claim to fame beyond its name lies in
the fact that, having discovered that it was sitting upon a vast
subterranean reservoir of natural gas, it promptly harnessed it to its
own use. Now, that elemental thing is in the control of humanity, and
heats the town, and tamely drives the wheels of industry.

The outstanding ceremony was the way little boys suddenly took fright
on a roof. In the middle of the town, beside the street, is a tall,
thin standpipe, and this standpipe was to demonstrate a "shoot off" of
the gas. Scores of small boys climbed on to the roofs of neighbouring
sheds to see the fun. First there was a meek, submissive flame burning
at the top of the pipe, and looking weak in the fine sunlight. Then,
abruptly, the flame shot up a hundred feet, and there was a loud
roaring. Not only was the roaring a terrifying thing, but the force of
that rush of gas made the ground, the roof and the little boys tremble.
Little boys came off that roof in record time, and with such a clatter
that the effort of the standpipe almost lost its place as a star turn.
This tremendous pressure is not habitual; it is, I believe, obtained by
bursting a charge in one of the gas wells.

The Prince also saw the uses to which the gas was put in a big pottery
mill. The kilns here were an incandesc