444 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



I remember the exact number that he told me he had 

 received and the next forenoon after breakfast he called 

 in his stenographer for the purpose of answering them. 

 As I very naturally rose to leave the room he kindly 

 invited me to remain and be seated, and I shall never 

 forget the impression which the subsequent answering of 

 those letters left on me. 



Assuming his customary attitude, when on his feet, 

 of holding his hands behind him, one wrist grasped by 

 the other hand, he leisurely walked up and down the room, 

 dictating to the stenographer the answers, one after 

 another, to all his letters. He did not, to my knowledge, 

 refer to one of the letters he had received, either to ascer- 

 tain its contents or to get the address of the writer, but 

 proceeded from one letter to another till all were finished. 

 And, further, during this time he never showed the slight- 

 est hesitation, nor did his countenance betray any signs 

 of mental effort or confusion. It was a remarkable feat 

 of memory, and a methodical dispatch of business details 

 which I cannot forbear to mention. 



In our subsequent acquaintance and correspondence, 

 which was very extended, both personal and official, his 

 letters were always marked by great kindness of heart 

 and thoughtful consideration, which, it is needless to say, 

 warmly endeared him to me. It is a great pleasure to 

 me now to think that the United States Fish Commission 

 station, that I located and built up three successive times, 

 on the McCloud River in California, has kept the name 

 which I gave many years ago to the little postoffice on the 

 river, and, as Baird Station, contributes its mite toward 

 perpetuating the name of the great first United States 

 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 



