442 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



and energy. This made congressmen vote him all the 

 appropriations that he asked for; for it was a common 

 saying at Washington that Congress gave Prof. Baird 

 everything that he wanted. Like a good general, he had 

 the personal welfare of his men at heart while he was 

 Fish Commissioner, and they in turn wanted to do every- 

 thing in their power for him, which, doubtless, was one 

 of the secrets of his great success. It is a fact that his 

 employes in the Fish Commission would voluntarily 

 work a great deal harder for Prof. Baird than they would 

 for themselves. This fact accounts for another saying 

 prevalent at Washington at that time, that Prof. Baird's 

 men were the busiest workers in all the departments. It 

 was the inspiration of this patient, disinterested, tireless, 

 kind-hearted and lovable man whose work they were 

 doing, that made them work so well, and also made their 

 work a pleasure. 



It is unnecessary to say that Prof. Baird possessed 

 extraordinary mental endowments, but I perhaps may 

 mention one or two, as they are so rare. He had a quick- 

 ness of apprehension that sometimes seemed almost super- 

 natural. For instance, he would glance down a printed 

 page and comprehend in a moment what would take 

 others several minutes to read. 



He had a marvelous memory, not only retentive of 

 everything intrusted to it, but quick to call up anything 

 that was wanted when it was wanted a quality which 

 most of us know well how to appreciate. His mind was 

 also of the clearest type. No complications ever seemed 

 to confuse him; he never became involved during his 

 conversation, no matter what were the intricacies of the 

 subject. His mind, like his placid temper, never seemed 



