A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



him. All caught his trade-getting instinct, and took 

 all the hurdles. It was fast company. He had that 

 most wonderful of all business faculties : the faculty 

 of eliminating jealousies and building team-work. 

 Behind it all there was a personal love, almost wor- 

 ship, and loyalty to the last ditch. In the twelve 

 years during which I was under him I never heard 

 a single employee criticise him. I meet men all over 

 the United States still in the business or in other 

 fields, and it is always with reverence that his name 

 is mentioned by them. Sometimes a number of us 

 have chanced to foregather and exchange recollec- 

 tions of the old days. There will be some Individual 

 anecdote or beautiful memory; a voice will grow 

 husky; there will be a halting of speech, a choke, 

 and the story goes unfinished. Eyes will fill, some- 

 one will brush his cheek or hastily arise to get a 

 glass of water; then we talk of other things. But 

 out of the grave of it all comes the sweet peace of 

 memories, golden threads woven into life's more som- 

 ber raiment. 



Some twenty-five years ago an effort was made 

 to consolidate the great range industry into a cattle 

 trust. I do not recall its exact nature, but Mr. 

 Armour stood out at that time as having a broad, 

 personal acquaintance with rangemen, and I shall 

 always think that no man has been so vital in his 

 relation to the improvement of cattle or the exten- 

 sion of meat products sales round the world. One 



[92] 



