Transcribe Hornaday, W. T. Letter to Ward, Henry A. (1879-12-02)

for me to with out a testimonial for myself than for you to write on in my favor. I do not know what you could say in my favor since I never knew you to admit that I had ever succeeded in anything in this matter of collecting. Almost any man can be pitiful and a hard worker, and millions of men do their best. I had better luck sometimes than many men would have had in place, and I attribute more than half my success to that. You used to say that some of my letters were interesting, and I daresay it would suit Mr Bliss purpose if you should say so again. And it would also be to my advantage if this public could be inducted to believe that my accounts if jungle experiences are not overdrawn, nor drawn from imagination either. The matter of this Iowa Collection will have to be decided very soon or it will decide itself. Apparently it is no use trying to create an enthusiasm there and keep it up not a