Chapter 16 of Following the Equator finds Mark Twain and family in Melbourne, Australia. He is writing about the Melbourne Cup and the weeks long preparation for Melbourne's Supreme Holiday. He mentions that America has such a day of consuming excitement but that it occurs only every four years. I'm assuming he means the Presidential election but please correct me if this is incorrect. His discussion of the Melbourne Cup must be from conversation he had as he was actually in New Zealand on November 5 so could not have witnessed it first hand. -- There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. http://bscottholmes.com