FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



was, by the blessing of Providence, no loss of life 

 or limb, and only two or three very minor casual- 

 ties, attended to on the spot, were reported. Two 

 or three cattle got loose, but were speedily re- 

 captured. Another gratifying circumstance was 

 the good-temper and consideration shown by 

 everybody, even by those who had suffered in- 

 convenience and loss. It was realized that the 

 situation was due to natural causes, for which 

 no one could be blamed, and that everything 

 possible had been done by those who had any 

 responsibility in the matter. 



The gale did not limit its attentions to the 

 show yard, although that being on high ground 

 suffered most. When, at the end of the day, I 

 returned to the Society's headquarters at the 

 hotel, which was on quite a low level, I found 

 the large, old-fashioned casement-window of my 

 bedroom had been blown clean out into the street 

 and deposited in the main thoroughfare. Happily, 

 the good fortune which spared life and limb in 

 the show yard, was operative outside it, for, 

 notwithstanding the street was thronged with 

 visitors, only the casement suffered any injury 

 from the downfall. 



Doran has told us that " a good dinner sharpens 

 wit, while it softens the heart," and Stowell, 

 more prosaically, has laid it down that " it 

 lubricates business." Both propositions being so 

 generally admitted, the early disciples of the 

 Bath and West Society, seem to have exercised 

 some self-denial, not very common, either, in 

 those days or in ours, inasmuch as they waited 

 from 1777, when the Society was founded, until 



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