Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-06-14
FLORA TEMPLE, SIRE OF.

MIR. Cleveland OF oanSerHelu, N. L.,
has claimed with much persistency that
the sire of Flora Temple was one of sew
eral Kentucky Hunter stations; and, al
though we have very little respect for
this sort of claim, when placed against
the word of a reputable breeder, we
went with Mr.. Cleveland to see several
witnesses, whom he claimed knew the
facts. AS Mr.. Parlin of the Cultvator
had published letters of this Mr.. Cleve-
land, and as Mr.. Chester has given one
of his versions in his works, there seemed
to be some reason to examine the grounds
of the statement, that Flora Temple was
by One-Eved Kentucky Hunter, or by
another kentucky Hunter unknown to
fame; instead of, as her breeder, Mr..
Welch, states, by LOOMS Bogus.
Mr.. Cleveland himself is IL persistent
actor, of gentlemanly manners, and with,
at times, "A decidedly bulldog expression
in his eye. He occupies, in this matter,
a position of great disadvantage, but
fights for it with much tenacity, and
dOuDlltsS DCllGNCS III IL hiihSCb' lis
claim is, that the dam of Flora Temple
was covered by One-Eyed Kentucky
Hunter, owned at the time by the Loom
is Bros, and afterward by another Ken
lucky Hunter, owned by some one on the
route between the first Kentucky Hunt
er and the home of Flora's dam. Mr..
Cleveland is hardly old enough, and does
not pretend to know anything about this
except from hearsay. a part of his wit
nesses are dead, but two of them are liv
ing, and he took me to see them. Sorry
witnesses they were, though both of them
were good-natured, and seemed to be
very DESTROYS of pleasing. They were a
little balky at first and inclined to deny
that they knew anything about it, but
after while Mr.. Cleveland encouraged
them to face the music. and one of them,
whose name, if got correctly, was Day,
said that when he was boy there were
three or four OF them who went fishing.
The dam of Flora Temple was owned by
lothian Chase of Sangerfield." Here he
stopped, and looked to Mr.. Cleveland as
If to see if that was right. Not being
corrected, he let the ownership stand
with Chase, and resumed his narrative,
which amounted to this: That on this
day when he went fishing Chase's mare
was covered by One-Eyed Kentucky
Hunter in Mr.. LOOMS barn. This he
saw from the outside by looking through
the cracks, as, for some unaccOuntable
reason, he was not permitted to enter the
barn. When asked if this was the year
previous to the birth of Flora Temple he
disclaimed knowing anything whatever
about that, and seemed quite relieved to
thus strike upon solid ground; but when
Mr.. Cleveland looked at him, he braced
mare was so covered, and when | sugges-
ted that lothian Chase never owned the
mare, and Mr.. Cleveland suggested that
Mr.. Welch did own her, he admitted the
high probability of both these correc-
tions and so, substituting Mr.. Welch for
Chase, stood by his original story.
The other witness name was Page. He
tried to say that he didn't know anything
about the matter, which would have been
evidently correct; indeed, he was proba-
bly, not old enough to know anything
about it; but Mr.. Cleveland's earnest ap.
pearance drove him from this position,
and he partly said that the mare had been
put to LOOMS One-Eyed Kentucky Hunt
er, and was afterward covered by anoth-
er Kentucky Hunter stallion, that his IA
ther owned.
We think if any one had ever had a
suspicion that these stories were true, this
sort of testimony would have entirely
dispelled it.
We now republish the letter received