356 CHAMP. 



some time he bade me close the door and bolt it. 

 When I had done so, he made the following state- 

 ments : 



"When I returned to the village at the close of 

 the war, I had very little money, but, thank the Lord, 

 a good stock of health, which has remained with me 

 from that day to this. Three years in the cavalry 

 gave me a fair idea of what a horse can do and what 

 he should look like in order to 'stand grief,' as the 

 expression goes. This knowledge carried me into 

 the livery and sale business, which I have followed 

 from that day to this. My first move was to purchase 

 the good will of a man that was leaving town. His 

 business was located in an old barn in the rear of the 

 hotel on the north corner of Main Street, where the 

 Post Office now stands. On making an inventory of 

 the stock I found he had half a dozen wagdns for light 

 driving and as rough a looking lot of horse stock as 

 ever eat hay and oats. Trading was his long suit, 

 and from the looks of things he had been getting the 

 hot end of the poker- 



"In order to even up matters, I auctioned the 

 whole lot and made a trip to Buffalo to buy three or 

 four good livery horses. I found what was wanted 

 and then added a pair of workers as a starter in the 

 sale business. After a week or two I let them go, 

 doubling my money, as in those days the farmers did 

 not breed as many mares as they do now. This gave 

 me an idea as to where the money was in the horse 

 business, and from that time on I always had a few 

 for sale. Then when I saw a fresh young horse that 

 I thought would suit the city trade, I bought it and 

 sent it on. By 1867 I was on my feet and had a little 



