444 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 
—I remember the exact number that he told me he had 
received—and the next forenoon after breakfast he called 
in his stenographer for the purpose of answering them. 
As I very naturally rose to leave the room he kindly 
invited me to remain and be seated, and I shall never 
forget the impression which the subsequent answering of 
those letters left on me. 
Assuming his customary attitude, when on his feet, 
of holding his hands behind him, one wrist grasped by 
the other hand, he leisurely walked up and down the room, 
dictating to the stenographer the answers, one after 
another, to all his letters. He did not, to my knowledge, 
refer to one of the letters he had received, either to ascer- 
tain its contents or to get the address of the writer, but 
proceeded from one letter to another till all were finished. 
And, further, during this time he never showed the slight- 
est hesitation, nor did his countenance betray any signs 
of mental effort or confusion. It was a remarkable feat 
of memory, and a methodical dispatch of business details 
which I cannot forbear to. mention. 
In our subsequent acquaintance and correspondence, 
which was very extended, both personal and official, his 
letters were always marked by great kindness of heart 
and thoughtful consideration, which, it is needless to say, 
warmly endeared him to me. It is a great pleasure to 
me now to think that the United States Fish Commission 
station, that I located and built up three successive times, 
on the McCloud River in California, has kept the name 
which I gave many years ago to the little postoffice on the 
river, and, as Baird Station, contributes its mite toward 
perpetuating the name of the great first United States 
Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 
