CLEARING SKIES 657 



breast, Cedric and the rest of that comely company 

 locked horns at Chicago in 1885. The two-year-old 

 class at Omaha will indeed be long remembered by 

 all who were so fortmiate as to be present when 

 the lines were formed. Mr. Nave's Dale 66481 has 

 already had his portrait painted in these columns 

 this season in the warmest colors at our command 

 He came here with Sir Bredwell's scalp at his belt — 

 presented by Imboden in the three-year-old class at 

 Springfield — prepared to meet Sotham's other well 

 equipped champion Thickset, chief of all bulls of his 

 age of any beef breed at Hamline. He came to meet 

 also that other 'warrior bold,' Scott & March's great 

 Hesiod 29th, brought out by Mr. Godfrey at this 

 show in astonishing form and bloom. He struck also 

 the shield of Sunny Slope's well clad knight Keep 

 On — fetched all the way from Herefordshire to test 

 the mettle of our western Herefords. And if by 

 chance he were able to successfully run the gauntlet 

 of these his most powerful adversaries, there still 

 remained to be dealt with Gudgell & Simpson's Don 

 Carlos bull Douglas, and two sons of the World's 

 Fair champion Ancient Briton. It was a daring 

 undertaking, this single-handed challenge of Dale 

 against the flower of all the great trans-Mississippi 

 herds. Thickset alone of all his foes had been, like 

 himself, doing the grand circuit. The rest had been 

 held in reserve all season for this attack; For weeks 

 and months preparation for this day had been going 

 steadily forward. All the arts known to the feeder's 

 and fitter's craft had been exhausted in an effort to 

 place these favorites in the arena in the pink of 

 perfection; and right here The Gazette desires to 

 pay a passing tribute of respect to the capacity, in- 

 telligence and fidelity of the men who had in their 

 immediate charge the 'making up' of these bulls. 

 Such patience, skill and judgment as has been dis- 



