A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



tomers carefully for indications of their preferences, 

 and worked to round lots, often pricing animals 

 which they did not appear to fancy at high prices, 

 but always making fair prices on those which they 

 fancied. Where a selection was left to him he in- 

 variably took a little the worst of it, on the theory 

 that no advertisement is so effective as a pleased 

 customer. Any one who did not know the business 

 was absolutely safe in his hands. "Billy's" wide 

 acquaintance with rangemen and his reputation for 

 fair dealing were vital influences in the Armour 

 establishment. Both Kirk B. Armour and "Billy" 

 Cummings were distinct traders, and often gave me 

 both the headache and heartache in disposing of 

 something I wanted to keep for breeding purposes. 

 Mr. Armour often said, "You know, Frank, I like 

 to buy and sell, and we will buy anything you want 

 to keep things going, from a breeding standpoint; 

 but you will have to get accustomed to a jolt now 

 and then when it makes a good trade." 



"Billy" liked to buy good ones. He startled the 

 breeding world when he visited the Elmendorf herd 

 at Kearney, Neb., in 1897 and bought the Hereford 

 show bull St. Louis at $800, the show cow Lady 

 Laurel at $1,000 and Dimple, a daughter of Lady 

 Daylight, at $700. Lady Laurel, after bringing 

 the bull calf Laurette, sold in Armour's first public 

 sale to T. F. B. Sotham for $1,000. The bull calf 

 Laurette by Headlight sold in the same sale to D. W. 



[43] 



