Going to a neighbour; Mr. john Dawson, who lived close by, they asked him to go for Dr. j.T. jenkins, a leading surgeon of that time. Mr. Dawson had just come home from Victoria, a distance of eight miles, with a heavy load of mud, making sixteen miles for the round trip. He had a grey mare named Sam Slick who weighed about nine hundred pounds. He took her out of the mud sleigh, gave her a feed of oats, had his dinner and started on his long errand of mercy. Arriving in Town, he went to the doc-
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14f _.._ L L tor’s office and made Ak-Bar, a half Arabian Gelding imported from Ontario know” his ewand- The doc- ridden by owner Gerald Dixon, grandson of Fred A. tor said, “Put your mare in Leard, in 1978 during a show day at McFadden’s the stable and we will take
Arena, Summerside. Sheldon Dixon collection. my more on the return
tri ”.
Dawson said, “No, there is not a horse in town thiit can go back as fast as this mare and every minute counts. ”He gave her an oatmeal drink and the two heavy men, with buffalo wraps around them, hitched the horse to the heavy sleigh, such as was in use at that time, and started on the return journey. "
The day was bitterly cold with a low ground drift blowing. Facinga biting wind, this gallant little mare started the return trip on the road winding through the fields and going through snowdrifis that were knee deep. Through Cornwall, New Haven, and Bonshaw they went. It required a stout heart but the little mare showed that she had what it took. 0n through Hampton, Crapaud, and Lower Tryon she never faltered, landing them in North Tryon. Her actual time on the road for the round trip being less than five hours, which entitles her to a place on the scroll of fame as one of the unsung heroes of the past. The doctor on arriving did what he could for the unfortunate man but, due to first aid methods not being so efiicient as at the present time and due to a loss of blood and shock, Mr. Thomson passed away on the following morning despite all the surgeon could do.
When you take into consideration that the mare covered sixteen miles with a heavy load and then sixty miles to town and back under very difficult conditions, it stands out unparalleled in the history of this province.
The writer is indebted to Mr. DJ. Thomson, a son of the deceased for
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