As secretary of this
society he was made chiefly responsible for the success of the Dominion
Day picnic and, as with everything that he took hold of, Fatty toiled
at the business of preparation for this picnic with conscientious zeal,
giving to it all his spare hours and many of his working hours for the
three months preceding.
It was due solely to his efforts that so many distinguished county
magnates appeared eager to lend their patronage. It needed but a little
persuasion to secure the enthusiastic support of the Honourable J. J.
Patterson, M.P.P., and, incidentally, the handsome challenge cup
for hammer-throwing, for the honourable member of Parliament was a
full-blooded Highlander himself and an ardent supporter of "the games."
But only Fatty Freeman's finesse could have extracted from Dr. Kane, the
Opposition candidate for Provincial Parliamentary honours, the cup for
the hundred yards race, and other cups from other individuals more or
less deeply interested in Dominion, Provincial, and Municipal politics.
The prize list secured, it needed only a skillful manipulation of the
local press and a judicious but persistent personal correspondence
to swell the ranks of the competitors in the various events, and
thus ensure a monster attendance of the people from the neighbouring
townships and from the city near by.
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