A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



The only other notice my verse received was from 

 an Arizona editor, who said: 



"The Armours are out with a very touching New Year's 

 poem to their customers, most of whom would have appre- 

 ciated more a reduction oi }i oi a cent per pound on hams 

 and bacon." 



The late Wm. R. Nelson, familiarly known as 

 "Baron Bill Nelson of Brush Creek," owner and 

 editor of The Kansas City Star, was the most remark- 

 able personality that I have ever known in the news- 

 paper world. He and Kirk B. Armour were close 

 friends. Mr. Nelson often accompanied us on our 

 herd inspections ; in fact, he was a neighbor, having 

 developed, just beyond Meadow Park Farm, a beau- 

 tiful tract, stocked with registered Shorthorns, of 

 which breed he was a life-long and consistent cham- 

 pion. The improvements in the way of barns, gran- 

 aries and the like were the best that I have ever seen. 

 It was not a mere plaything, as his constructive work 

 with Shorthorns at Sni-A-Bar demonstrates. A per- 

 sonality which could develop, in my memory, in a 

 moderate-sized inland city, an evening paper from a 

 struggling initiative to one of the recognized best 

 dailies in the United States, naturally left lasting im- 

 pressions on me, even during my limited association 

 with him. He was a picker of men. I wish that I 

 had the space in which to review the brilliant galaxy 

 which functioned in his office. 



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