OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 151 



A MONARCH OF THE FEEDLOT 



58. The most extensive maker of beef and mutton America 

 has ever produced, was T. B. HoRD of Central City, Nebr. His 

 grasslands covered some 20,000 acres in the richest section of 

 the Comhusker state, and he annually marketed between 10,000 

 and 15,000 cattle, a similar number of sheep and over 10,000 

 hogs. Whole trainloads of Central City cattle were picked up 

 on his switches, which lined the Union Pacific for many miles. 

 Each of his eleven separate feeding stations turned out more 

 livestock in a year than were finished by the average of the big 

 Nebraska feeders. Mr. Hord was a daring operator, frequently 

 being a heavy loser. More than once he faced financial disaster, 

 but he never faltered. His maxim for pertinacity was, "A man 

 is never whipped until he's whipped inside." This combined 

 with his second maxim, never to "make the same mistake twice," 

 made him almost invincible. 



T. B. HoRD was born at Marion, Ohio, June 15, 1850, and 

 after a life of gigantic achievements, suddenly nipped by paraly- 

 sis, he was there interred following his demise in Minneapolis, 

 December 15, 1910. The day before his death he had left 

 Central City to seek a noted Northwest specialist on nervous 

 disturbances and paralytic strokes. 



Mr. Hord afforded the greatest single market for grain and 

 hay in the central west. Annually such enormous quantities as 

 10,000 tons of hay and 1,000,000 bushels of com were fed in 

 his yards. Of this amount only 5,000 tons of hay and 75,000 

 bushels of corn were produced by him and the remainder had 

 to be purchased. His demands made a lucrative business for 

 several grain dealers and elevator operators, but having become 

 established, they made the mistake of trying to crowd prices on 

 him too concertedly, and he secured the capital, not only to buy 

 them out, but to obtain a string of elevators all across Nebraska 

 and Iowa on the main trunk lines. 



