Before the next year's fair I
had the whole arrangements well thrashed out, and when the eventful week
arrived, placed the working of the traffic under the sole control of my
principal outside men, with excellent results. In the course of a year
or two the directors opened the purse strings and considerably increased
the engine and wagon stock of the company which helped further, and by
that time I had in charge an official, of whose energy and ability it is
impossible to speak too highly, Thomas Elliott, then a promising young
assistant, now the competent Traffic Manager of the railway. Under his
management the work at Ballinasloe has for many years been conducted with
clock-work regularity.
In 1891 there were 25,000 sheep at the fair, 10,000 cattle and 1,500
horses, and the company ran 43 special trains loaded with stock. The
sheep fair is held in Garbally Park, on the estate of Lord Clancarty, and
the counting of the sheep through a certain narrow _gap_, and the
rapidity and accuracy with which it is done, is a sight to witness.
The hospitality part of the business was attended with the success it
deserved, and helped to smooth the difficulties of the situation.
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