CHAPTER V 



"billy" cummings: an all-round 

 cattleman 



AMONG the men who stand out in my memory 

 . as all-round cattlemen, "Billy" Cummings, 

 cowbuyer for the Armour Packing Co., holds the 

 record. He came to the packinghouse end from the 

 farm through a long novitiate of feeding and trad- 

 ing, and was probably as well liked by rangemen 

 as any buyer ever in the yards. He was a wizard 

 for getting "first" on trainloads of range cows. His 

 knowledge of values was almost uncanny, since he 

 almost invariably paid a price satisfactory to pro- 

 ducers and with a killing test in line with killers' 

 marginal averages. His purchases rarely showed 

 either large profits or heavy losses. He had the 

 rangeman's instinct for averages. 



I was thrown into close association with him in 

 the early days of the Armour registered herd. He 

 handled the private sales ; I handled the public sales 

 and general publicity. Few men are equally good 

 in selling and buying. "Billy" was one of the few. 

 His methods were not those of most salesmen, who 

 suggest or lead. He pointed out, if possible, all his 

 wares, without making a price, watched his cus- 



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