The museum officials of Kansas City were frankly baffled by the young man with the booming laugh. But they had to admit that he did seem to have a plan. The city had just become heir to a 74-room mansion, and 26-year-old John Ripley Forbes had driven all the way from Boston just to present a scheme for putting it to use. Working without pay ("until you can afford me"), Forbes raised $18,000, stocked the mansion with 160,000 specimens of everything from butterflies to a stuffed buffalo. By the end of four months, Kansas...
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