214 AT THE SIGN OF THE STOCK YARD INN 



of wealthy and enterprising men in both Britain and 

 Canada, and the announcement of this dispersion 

 was the signal for the beginning of negotiations on 

 both sides of the water looking toward an inter- 

 national contest for the possession of this blood so 

 highly prized. The golden guineas of the British 

 were pitted against the "almighty dollar" of the 

 Americans, on the tenth day of September, 1873, in 

 a contest for the possession of these cattle, which 

 resulted, as has already been related, in the as- 

 tounding total of $381,990, an average of $3,504, 

 for the 109 head, with a top price of $40,600, bid 

 by one of the English commissioners for the 8th 

 Duchess of Geneva! 



The sensational success of this venture brought 

 Mr. GIBSON into a prominence on both sides of the 

 water that rendered him thenceforth a conspicuous 

 figure in stock-breeding circles at home and abroad, 

 and enabled him to engage in various important 

 enterprises of his own. He embarked for a time 

 in the importation and exportation of Shorthorns, 

 selling 33 head at Chicago in April, 1882, for 

 $24,300, and 20 head a year later at the same 

 place for $20,330. On removing his family from 

 the United States he had leased a farm at Ilderton, 

 Ont., and in 1883 purchased Belvoir, on the River 



