One of the West's colorful old-timers passed away Saturday at the age of 88 and newspaper men as well as sportsmen inReno and vicinity will miss him.

Jack Bell was his name and if he ever used any other name besides "Jack," which might have been John when he was given a name in Pennsylvania where he was born in 1864, no one ever heard it around the newspaper offices.

Jack was in many respects a soldier of fortune and he engaged in many activities. He could write and write well. He was an expert fisherman and he was a detective of far more than ordinary ability. His detective work was done in the mining camps of Colorado and elsewhere around the turn of the century after he paid a visit to the Klondike.

As a lover and student of nature Jack was an authority on bird life and the habits of innumerable animals, as well as the lowly but respected rattlesnake.

He was a soldier, too, in two wars because he liked it. He served in the Spanish American War and in World War I and was thoroughly disgusted when at the age of 78 he was unable to enlist in the armed services in 1942.

Twenty-five years ago Jack Bell was a constant contributor to the sports columns of the Nevada State Journal and provided numerous feature stories, many of them dealing with his personal experiences as a detective, a guide, a prospector or a soldier. He wrote for several national magazines and had visions of writing a "best seller" but never got around to it.

Married late in life to a newspaper woman, Jack enjoyed ten years or more of home life which was terminated when Lola Bell died. He was lonely after that but came to Reno occasionally from his home in Verdi to see old friends and they visited him occasionally. The birds and even the rattlesnakes at his Verdi home were his friends, but when he was rejected for the armed services ten years ago he seemed to lose the fire and the interest that induced him every year to march in the Armistice Day parade carrying an American flag. The parades were always followed by a gathering of Spanish American and World War I veterans with Jack as the host. They were gatherings to be remembered.

Jack Bell will be buried here with military honors, well won and well deserved.