being
fashioned.

The Prince drove through the cheering streets of Fort William, and paid
visits to some of the great industrial concerns, before setting out for
Winnipeg and the wide-flung spaces of the West.

CHAPTER XIII

THE CITY OF WHEAT--WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

I

We had a hint of what the Western welcome was going to be like from the
Winnipeg papers that were handed to us with our cantaloupe at breakfast
on Tuesday, September 9th.

They were concerning themselves brightly and strenuously with the
details of the visit that day, and were also offering real Western
advice on the etiquette of clothes.

"SILK LIDS AND STRIPED PANTS FOR THE BIG DAY"

formed the main headline, taking the place of space usually given to
Baseball reports or other vital news. And pen pictures of Western
thrill were given of leading men chasing in and out of the stores of
the town in an attempt to buy a "Silk Lid" (a top hat) in order to be
fit to figure at receptions.

The writer had even broken into verse to describe the emotions of the
occasion. Despairing of prose he wrote:

Get out the old silk bonnet,
Iron a new shine on it.
Just pretend your long-tailed coat does not seem queer,
For we'll be all proper
As a crossing "copper"
When the Prince of Wales is here.

The Ladies' Page also caught the infection. It crossed its page with a
wail:

"GIRLS! OH, GIRLS! SILVER SLIPPERS CANNOT BE HAD!"

and it went on for columns to tell how silver slippers were the only
kind the Prince would look at. He had chosen all partners at all balls
in all towns by the simple method of looking for silver slippers. The
case of those without silver slippers was hopeless. The maidens of
Winnipeg well knew this. There had been a silver slipper battue
through all the stores, and all had gone--it was, so one felt from the
article, a crisis for all those who had been slow.

A rival paper somewhat calmed the anxious citizens by stating that the
Silk Lid and the Striped Pants were not necessities, and that the
Prince himself did not favour formal dress--a fact, for indeed, he
preferred himself the informality of a grey lounge suit always, when
not wearing uniform, and did not even trouble to change for dinner
unless attending a function. The paper also hinted that he had eyes
for other things in partners besides silver slippers.

These papers gave us an indication that not only would "Winnipeg be
polished to the heel