— 473 — 



champion of his profession, I feel that I am only giving words to the 

 minds of this audience. Mr. Gleason, I accept with pleasure this beau- 

 tiful gold-headed cane, and thank you heartily for the same.'" 



Professor Gleason continued his exhibitions in his academy for 14 

 consecutive nights. The horsemen of the city of Boston presented to 

 him a gold watch, of which event the Boston Herald of February 27th, 

 1886, makes the following mention : 



"An audience of about 500 ladies and gentlemen were present at 

 Professor Gleason's equine school (Boston Riding School) last evening 

 to witness his handling of vicious horses and were treated to a little act 

 which was not on the published programme. After working unceas- 

 ingly for over an hour with an especially vicious animal, the Professor 

 took an intermission of perhaps 15 minutes previous to exhibiting some 

 trick horses which he has in charge. As he stepped into the arena at 

 the close of the intermission, he called to his attendants to bring in 

 one of the horses, an elegant animal owned by a South-end stable- 

 keeper, but instead of the horse being led into the ring, ex-Councilman 

 Charles W. Whitcomb stepped to the centre, and in a witty speech pre- 

 sented to Mr. Gleason an elegant gold hunting-case first quality 

 Howard watch and chain. Professor Gleason was completely taken 

 by surprise. In expressing his thanks to the donors he announced that 

 this w^ould not be his last appearance in Boston, as was expected, for, 

 owing to the large number of horses he had been called upon to train, 

 and also from the fact that he had arranged to teach a number of 

 horses tricks, he had decided to remain in Boston a month longer. 

 The watch bears on the front case the monogram ' O. R. G.,' and on 

 the reverse is an engraving of a horse, which is said to be an excellent 

 likeness of Jerome Eddy, a stallion having a record of 2.16*. On the 

 inside of the case is the following inscription : ' Presented to Professor 

 O. R. Gleason by his friends in Boston, February 27th, 1886.'" 



On the evening of this presentation Professor Gleason also received 

 a testimonial, couched in these terms : 



" We, the undersigned, have attended Professor O. R. Gleason's ex- 

 hibitions and have been greatly instructed and much pleased. His 

 wonderful success proves that his methods far surpass all others, and 

 the practical illustration of the same receives our hearty indorsement. 

 No abuse of nor acts of cruelty to the dumb animals in his hands has 



