Transcribe Hornaday, W. T. Letter to Ward, Henry A. (1882-01-27)

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satisfactory interview with them, & the subject was dis-
cussed in all its bearings. Baird asked me almost the
first thing whether you would be willing for me to go there,
and I told him just how you felt about such things, and
that you make it a point of honor to stand in the
way of the advancement of any of your young men. B. said
that was certainly very unselfish in you, and ^is^ more than
can be said of most men ! I told him that you would
probably find occasion to write him on the subject before
very long. Of course I did not know then about your letter to
him. Well, you see they are not yet just ready for a
taxidermist, because they are all topsy turvy getting their
economic collections (I that was the word) into the
new building and getting them into </s t > shape, and they are
not going to tackle the Zoological collections until these
are disposed of. At present those departments drain
all the funds, but when the are disposed of this will
cease, & the money will go to geology. they will want
me ! Even were I there now I would be mounting old
pottery on wire stands instead of working on Zoology. The
cases for Zoology will not be ready for four months yet.
I feel absolutely certain of the place because they
 have a mammal man soon. They want the
best, regardless of price, they are satisfied that my
work is the best they have yet seen, and they have
said that next July, when the next fiscal year begins &
they have their next appropriation at their command they
will talk further & more definitely with me about
an engagement." To save my life I co^u^ld get Baird
to say more than that, because he declared it would be a
misdemeanor for him to promise anything involving
the expenditure of money based upon an expected
appropriation. In spite of that, however, he talked quite
freely about the first animals I would have to mount
when I came & spoke of a certain lot of skins as being

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satisfactory interview with them, & the subject was dis- cussed in all its bearings. Baird asked me almost the first thing whether you would be willing for me to go there, and I told him just how you felt about such things, and that you make it a point of honor to stand in the way of the advancement of any of your young men. B. said that was certainly very unselfish in you, and ^is^ more than can be said of most men ! I told him that you would probably find occasion to write him on the subject before very long. Of course I did not know then about your letter to him. Well, you see they are not yet just ready for a taxidermist, because they are all topsy turvy getting their economic collections (I that was the word) into the new building and getting them into </s t > shape, and they are not going to tackle the Zoological collections until these are disposed of. At present those departments drain all the funds, but when the are disposed of this will cease, & the money will go to geology. they will want me ! Even were I there now I would be mounting old pottery on wire stands instead of working on Zoology. The cases for Zoology will not be ready for four months yet. I feel absolutely certain of the place because they have a mammal man soon. They want the best, regardless of price, they are satisfied that my work is the best they have yet seen, and they have said that next July, when the next fiscal year begins & they have their next appropriation at their command they will talk further & more definitely with me about an engagement." To save my life I co^u^ld get Baird to say more than that, because he declared it would be a misdemeanor for him to promise anything involving the expenditure of money based upon an expected appropriation. In spite of that, however, he talked quite freely about the first animals I would have to mount when I came & spoke of a certain lot of skins as being