Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 3, 1963, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wildlife notebook Chickadee mores Church pages accent on youth feature articles fiction humor Winnipeg saturday August 3, 1963 second Section pages 17 24 a motor camping trip was High adventure in the 30 s when a Winnipeg family decided to drive to Calgary 25 years ago they undertook More than they guessed. You la laugh at their hilarious experiences. By Grace Vanbeck a motor trip today is a far cry from what it was Back in 193s. That s the year we drove from Winnipeg to Calgary in our old 1930 Chevy with our baggage lashed to the running Board and the mattress on the roof. Daddy s company was Send ing him to Calgary to Over see some work in one of the laundries there and mum and daddy decided they would put us three kids in the car and we would All go. The office kept postponing the starting Date but finally daddy phoned to say we were to get on our Way As soon As possible. Good Well leave announced mum to us kids. Start a we Webb used to pack ing because we were always going off on camping trips to Gull Lake and Hoban s and Kenora and my Brothers had developed a Short Cut method. They would open up the win Dows take out the screens and throw blankets and p i 1 lows and All the other things that would t break Down into the backyard shouting anchors aweigh and abandon when daddy drove into the Yard mum was already put Ting dinner on the table. The suitcases were packed and out on the Back Steps and the Long tin portable icebox was filled with ice. Daddy checked the tent and camping equipment clamped the ice Box onto the run Ning Board on his Side of the car piled on the suitcases and snapped on the big Iron grate that held everything in place. The blankets and Pil lows were piled on the Back seat and we kids perched High on top our Heads Al most touching the roof. The mattress and the tent were on the top of the car tied Down with rope fastened to the Back door handles. It was dark by the time we pulled out. When we got As far As Portage Avenue and there had t been any fight in the Back seat about who got to sit by the windows mum looked around uneasily to count noses. Good god Billy we forgot she exclaimed. Daddy braked the car to a Stop leaned Over and stared hopelessly at the two of us. After a minute he said resignedly All right Well go Back and get but he As though he d rather not. We found Ken in the Bath room Reading the comics and we started off again. We had just gotten beyond heading Ley when there was a tremendous thump and the car groaned to a Stop right in the Middle of the Road. Mum sat Bolt upright and shouted what was that Billy what did you i did t hit anything Why do you always think i hit something slide Over and let me get out and see what happened. You kids stay right mum had to get out every time any of us did. Daddy s door was blocked by the bag Gage and our doors were tied shut by the ropes that held the mattress on the roof. Daddy ld7ted up one Side of the Hood and fiddled around for a few minutes. Then he disappeared Down the Road behind the car. A few minutes later he came Stum bling Back carrying a big Square thing. Billy what on Earth do you want with that huge mum called out As he came up close. It in t a he said. It s the damned Battery. You la have to stay out until i can put it Back in place. Hand me the flashlight. It should be in the pocket there on the Bob and Ken looked at each other then quickly pretended they were asleep. I knew Why because i had seen them empty the big Pouch pockets to make room for their comic books and the flashlight was lying on the Back stops at Home along with wrenches Little Oil cans nuts and bolts and other things that daddy i liked to keep Handy. I it in t Here mum j told him. It s got to be there. I Al ways keep it daddy s voice was going up a notch. Never mind she soothed him. Ill Light a match for so by the Light of match after match daddy pulled up the floor mat and took out the Little Square trapdoor and tied the Battery Back in place with a kind of rope Bas Ket that he made. Rather than try to set up the tent in the dark. Daddy decided to drive All night. By morning he was hunched Over the wheel leaning on it a bit with his eyes propped open. We ate by the Roadside on the Little Coleman stove. Mum got out the frying pan and opened the ice Box and we had Fried egg and Bacon sandwiches and milk. We could t find a sheltered spot so in desperation daddy had just skidded to a Stop on the gravel and said we eat As the afternoon wore on we got hungry and tired. Daddy kidded us along and kept us singing songs and told us that As soon As we found a Good place to Camp we would set up the stove and Cook supper. But we could t find a place big enough. Finally daddy decided to Branch off onto a Side Road. By now it was pitch dark. We drove along a rutted Road then onto a wide one which curved just a Little. That in itself was something new. We had been going in a straight line across the Prai Rie for so Long we welcomed the slightest change. After a few minutes we came to an other curve then a Long straight stretch. Another curve and another then another straight piece. Mum had her face pressed to the window. Silly i think we passed that Little House Over there be fore i m sure we did daddy peered out but kept driving. When we passed the same House a third time How Ever he stopped to take a look. It was an Odd Little House away up in the air. He climbed Over mum and we sat and waited. It was very quiet and eerie without the comforting sound of the motor. All we could hear were the crickets and the frogs in a nearby Pori and daddy s footsteps fading away in the gravel. Billy where Are mum called out scared. A Little Light shone w ii k n daddy struck a match and we could hear him chuckling As he came Back. He sat Down on the stuff on the running Board and laughed and laughed. Finally he wiped the tears from his eyes with the Edge of his coat sleeve and gasped out we be been going around we be been going round and round a Racetrack for the last and then he hooted with laughter again. Daddy said we might just As Well Camp there for the night because it was deserted any Way. So up went the tent and into bed we crawled with just a cold Sandwich in our Stom Achs. It was a Chilly night and Ken and Bob and i fought Over the covers even in our sleep. Mum and dad slept one on each Side to Anchor the covers Down and to keep me from wandering away in the night because i walked in my sleep. When morning came daddy decided we should have a Good Hearty breakfast in a restaurant so we packed up everything and drove into town. There was Only one Dusty Street and Only one restaurant. It was closed. We waited for someone to open it. Mum and i combed our hair and tried to talk the boys into combing theirs. The Street was deserted. Just when we had begun to think perhaps the whole town was abandoned a Young girl dressed in a splotches White uniform came shuffling into sight. She merely turned the Knob and entered. We Fol Lowed. The girl silently took the Broom from the Corner and swept the floor of last night s cigarette Butts and bottle tops. She had a set routine to Fol Low each Day and had no in Tention of changing it just for customers. When she finished sweep ing she wiped her hands on the front of her uniform Slid behind the counter and took our orders As if she had just that minute seen us. Of said daddy rub Bing his hands together. Or Der something that will stick to your ribs but they wore out of practically everything. We finally had cold Cereal and milk and mum and daddy settled for cold Coffee and hard Toast plus a piece of Pound cake each to eat in the car. We were getting into country that had been hit hard by the drought. Most of the oars we met were even older than ours Anil had All kinds of things tied on them. They carried people leaving their dust bowl farms in disgust. We passed House after House that was deserted and boarded up or just left with doors hanging half open the dust and Tumbleweed piled up Over the door Sill. The wind was terrible. Sometimes the car seemed to continued Overleaf the klan s Cross once blazed in Western Canada by d. R. P. Coats we northerners May be feeling pretty smug and righteous As we read of happenings in the Southern United states and see on our to screens some of the antics of the Kun flux klan including the burning of the fiery Cross. We forget or perhaps we Are unaware that the a Gallant knights of the White Nightgown and Eye holed hoods had branches in Canada some 30 Odd years ago. I do not recall their having committed any acts of violence though i do remember when there was much whispered gossip that they were plot Ting unpleasant retaliation against catholics jews and negroes for having the presumption to dwell among us. I recollect being told by people muttering through their fingers that this storekeeper was a Klansman that another businessman attended nocturnal gatherings of the hooded fanatics and that a certain mild mannered respected citizen was one of the most Rabid leaders of the sect. I was inclined to disbelieve the stories on the ground that it could t happen Here until i drove out one evening in one of hundreds of cars heading bumper to bumper for a Hill on the outskirts of Moose jaw where we had been told a full dress meeting of the klan was to be held. It was in the summer of 1927. Cars were moving in from All directions until the entire him was covered with them except for a rope enclosed acre or so reserved for the doings we were about to see. In the Centre was a deep sloping Trench in which Lay the Long member of what was to be come the fiery Cross. It comprised two Telephone poles lashed end to end with another pole fastened at right angles. The entire contraption was wrap Ped around with Burlap. Ropes and Pulley blocks were attached in readiness to elevate the Structure so that it would stand in the deep end of the Trench. A dozen White Clad klansmen were Busy with these preparations while some scores of others took up positions facing inwards in a Circle. As dark Ness approached the ceremonies began. There were hymns and prayers though i was interested less in what was Sung and said than in anticipation of what we were about to see. The klansmen lit torches cans of gasoline were emptied Over the Burlap wrappings and then some husky klansmen hauled on the ropes and raised the Cross High. The Trench was filled the tackle removed and a Torch put to the Burlap. The flames quickly enveloped the Cross bathing the whole scene in flickering Light shining on the Robes of the encircling klansmen and on the faces of what appeared to be thousands of spectators. Hymns and incantations mingled with the crackling of burning Wood adding to the Eer iness of the spectacle on that Hill which had seen nothing like it before. Soon the flames died Down leaving the Cross a thing of shimmering blood red Beauty. As the crowd began to return to their cars i looked up past the Cross to the stars beyond i had seen a victim crucified that night it was peace on Earth Goodwill to men. Fay Bill Grant he called himself world citizen no. 1. And As a prototype of the Ordinary Man the raw material with which ambitious countries fight other ambitious coun tries he carried the role Well. He was aged 26, a former american bomber Pilot Wiio still wore a shabby flying jacket. His name Garry Dav is soon to become the Best known Ordinary Man in the world. He became a world citizen 15 years ago by the simple process of tearing up his pass port and renouncing his Amer ican citizenship. He made the announcement in Paris. He wanted he said to focus the attention of Man on the vital need for a world government to Avert the coming today the world has been on the Brink of War so Long and it has endured so Many hollow homilies in the name of International understand ing that Davis s comment sounds a bit Patitu Dingus. But at the time it represented the feeling of Many Mil Lions of people who with the War barely three years Over despairingly witnessed the sight of old allies threatening to wipe each other out. Moreover everyone s heart goes out to a lonesome fighter. After three months in France Davis s visa ran out. To avoid expulsion he camped on the porch of the United nations restaurant by the palais de Chaillot where the United nations were then meeting. This claimed Davis was International territory. He said he would Camp there until a world government was set up. Large crowds turned up each Day to see m. Be Cit Oyen do Monde and Davis was Given a guard of two gendarmes so that he would not be Dis Turbed. Sympathizers brought him wine and food. This lasted a week. Then j called by United nations officials a French police Van Drew up at Davis s Camp seized his tent sleeping bag Rucksack and cooking equip ment and arrested him. He was released went Back to the palais was arrested again released again and again returned to the palais. Davis was an embarrassment to authority. They would have dearly loved to have drowned him in the Seine but he had become top famous to do that. One United nations official explaining Why they did t want Davis camping at the palais said lamely we did t want him to catch Davis finally settled the matter. His movement was getting too big to accommodate in a tent. With Money sent by Well wishers he set up a world citizen Headquarters in offices on the Paris left Bank. He somehow acquired five press attaches As Well As a staff of 50. He addressed mass meetings in the biggest Halls in Paris. He met the presi Dent of France and United nations officials. He had the backing of a powerful group of French intellectuals and of half a dozen French papers and periodicals. Einstein was one his Many supporters. He was getting 500 letters a Day from All Over the world. Britain s Tough foreign Secre tary Ernie Bevin Salid i m just like Garry Davis i Don t like passports but one of the rights of a world citizen should be that he is allowed to move around the world and this Davis proceeded to do. As a tramp illegal immigrant and propagandist he went to most coun tries of Europe including a Short trip Over the Iron cur Tain to East Germany he was thrown out after two hours. He went to India and pakis Tan. He went Back for a time to his native America where he married an actress called Audrey Peters they had one child Are now he was usually in trouble often arrested sometimes examined by police psychologists who in variably pronounced him sane. The russians called him an agent of imperialism. Right Wing groups said he was a communist. He printed his own world currency and on a visit to Britain in 1961 tried to pay his hotel Bill with it the hotel politely declined. In his absence from Paris Davis s world citizen movement crumbled. Without him there was t the Momen Tum for it and anyway the world s idealistic mood for world citizenry was passing. However Davis has had his successes. His own world passport which he printed himself is filled with visas and police Stamps of a dozen countries All of which he regards As tokens of Victory for the cause. Three countries Ecuador Laos and the Yemen h a v e actually written to him in response to his enquiries to say they re prepared to recognize a world passport. Today at-41, after years of living on air he is smartly dressed and Well groomed and Garry Davis displaying i world citizenship flog in front of the United nations build ing new York in 7954. With no apparent psychology Cal bruises from the countless prison cells he has been in. He has also settled for a certain status. Last year Britain is sued him with a stateless per son s travel document he still regards himself As a world citizen but his 15-year Odyssey has t accomplished much. The world is still the Beaupit it was in 1948. But at least it is Nice to know there Are some people who have the tenacity and courage to try to make it a Little better ;