WEATHERING A STORM 



the bird if it were not his. There were several 

 such cases, but exhibitors were 'most prompt in 

 acting upon the request, and every bird ultimately 

 reached its rightful possessor, and we had no case 

 of either loss or damage. It took the secretary's 

 office a fortnight to render everybody content, 

 some birds having made three separate journeys 

 before they reached their proper home. 



To anyone acquainted with shows, the most 

 remarkable, as well as the most satisfactory, 

 feature of it all was the celerity and efficiency 

 with which each emergency was dealt with, not- 

 withstanding the suddenness of the call upon 

 the Society's resources. The strain upon the 

 works department in the matter of repairs, etc., 

 was successfully met, and by the following day, 

 the concluding one of the show, the only depart- 

 ment which was not in working order and open 

 to the public, was the horticultural, which was 

 wrecked beyond redemption. The general manage- 

 ment of a show stands or falls by the way in which 

 it weathers a storm meteorological or otherwise 

 suddenly arising and calling for expert and 

 prompt treatment. The Society in this instance 

 stood the test, because every steward responsible 

 for a department not only had the knowledge and 

 experience of what was required to meet an 

 emergency, but, although he had no premonitory 

 warning of what was impending, was at his post 

 ready to deal with whatever arose. With some- 

 thing like a hurricane raging in the midst of some 

 miles of timber erections, housing some thousands 

 of valuable live-stock, and with a great crowd 

 of holiday-folk swarming all over the place, there 



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