198 



H1STOKY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



most practical men and as good a j udge of .any 

 kind of animal as I know, and he stood as high 

 as a Cotswold breeder as any in England, being 

 a son-in-law of Mr. Wm. Hewer, Sr., of whom 

 he secured a part of his Herefords and Cots- 

 wolds; he was a school-fellow of mine, and we 

 traveled much together in younger days to the 

 different sales of Cotswolds in Gloucestershire 

 and in Herefordshire to examine the Herefords. 

 I need not say anything in favor of his substan- 

 tial mind, as the letter is sufficient proof. When 

 I imported the Herefords there was no Here- 

 ford Herd Book, but I had full and correct 

 pedigrees of all I imported and kept them 

 strictly so, but the great fire at Chicago, 1871, 

 destroyed the whole of my records, with all of 



my furniture. 



* * * 



PAET VII. 



Soon after the New York Mills sale of Short- 

 horns Mr. Cassius M. Clay published a chal- 

 lenge in the "Country Gentleman" that he and 

 his brother Brutus would show a herd of one 

 bull and seven Shorthorn cows and two yearling 

 heifers against any two breeders of Herefords 

 in the United States. My anxiety was great to 

 accept that challenge, but I had not the means 

 to meet it. 



Mr. Frederick Pumpelly of Owego, N. Y., of 



whom I rented my 

 farm, saw the 

 challenge and 

 came to see me. 

 "Why/' said he, 

 "you ought to ac- 

 cept that. Your 

 cattle look well 

 enough to show 

 anywhere." I told 

 him I had not the 

 means to meet the 

 $200 deposit, or 

 the money to get 

 them in order fit 

 for show. "Call 

 upon me for all 

 the money you 

 want for expenses, 



and I will deposit $200 in the bank at Louis- 

 ville, Ky., where he proposes to meet you at the 

 National Show." I immediately accepted the 

 challenge. 



My cattle, having lately come from the flats, 

 were in excellent store condition. I fed them 

 corn and oats ground together, in addition to 

 their pastures, to harden them for the journey. 

 1 took one aged bull, seven cows, two yearling 



F. p. CRANE, 



CHICAGO, ILL., 

 of firm of A. A. Crane & Son. 



heifers, three bull calves and one yearling bull, 

 supposing I might sell all of the latter. 



I had at that time never met Mr. Cassius M. 

 Clay, (fl 99) I had the Herefords nicely fixed 

 in their stalls on the show ground and left my 

 man and a young friend of mine from Boston, 

 who accompanied me to witness the contest, and 

 who felt as much interested as if they were his 

 own cattle. I went to the Gault House and 

 engaged a room for the week, and then entered 

 my cattle in the different classes of the Here- 

 ford department. 



The late Mr. Robert Alexanders (j[ 100) 

 Shorthorns were there, loaded in flesh to ex- 

 treme. I learnt subsequently that the two of 

 the highest character (Bates) had not had a 

 calf for two years, and as they walked the blub- 

 ber shook under their thin hides as if in a jelly 

 bag. Thinks I to myself, "I am in for it now. 

 I might as well have put my head into a hor- 

 net's nest as to have come to Kentucky, the 

 home of the Shorthorns." 



I had shown the Herefords at the national 

 shows previously, and had become familiarly 

 acquainted with Col. Wilder of Boston, who 

 was president of that society. The Colonel used 

 to always call me "Billy;" that was before I 

 was old enough to be called "Uncle Billy." I 

 went to his room at the Gault House; he took 

 me by the hand and said: "Well, Billy, I am 

 mighty glad to see you. I suppose you have 

 brought the Herefords here to meet Brutus and 

 Cassius M. Clay?" I said I had, but I thought 

 it almost an impossibility for me to have justice 

 here in the midst of so much opposition. "Never 

 mind, Billy," said the Colonel, "you shall have 

 justice to the utmost, as far as I am concerned ; 

 and the Kentucky breeders are honorable men. 

 Keep up your former courage and all will come 

 out right." "I am aware of the honor and in- 

 tegrity of the Shorthorn breeders," I answered, 

 "but a case like this is out of the common way. 

 There is much interest at stake, and I am here 

 alone to contend against so many rich men, 

 whose influence is great. What can I do among 

 so many?" "Keep up your natural courage, 

 Billy," "said the Colonel, "and you will go 

 through." 



In the morning I left for the show grounds, 

 and I saw a gentleman sitting in a buggy in 

 front of my stalls. As I was looking through 

 the stock this gentleman descended from his 

 buggy and came to me. "Is this your stock, 

 sir ?"" said he. "It is, sir, when it is paid for," 

 I remarked. "Is your name Sotham?" "That 

 is my name, sir." "My name is C. M. Clay." 

 We shook hands and congratulated each other 

 on the meeting. 



