The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-07-05
THE FINISHED ROAD.
The Great Northern Grew From,
Small Beginnings.
RAPID EXTENSION roTnE COAST.


con tiuGuial railroad which bAe the cay -
In tesnzinus. FOR twenty years Seattle
haw bern hoping and striving for dirset
eonnsefion sith the East BY means OF .
SssiSoad which sould recognise u - the
natural terminus Of . road 20 Pzset sound.
and q last her desire IL realized by the
compls:ion Of the Great Northern road.
The Great Northern differs from other
tssuscon tirensal railroad systems in being
The steady growth OF years and In bssng
the work essentially Of one nan--JamesJ.
HslI. its president The Whole plan Of the
soAds which parallel the Great Northern
vss determined before . shovsifui
oe earth hsd bsen moved IN their
construction. and 10 was followed
eat With bu; eight Interruptions 70 COM
piefton, There IL another striking
Point 81 difference between this and the
other roads In that. with the exception OF
Che comparatively short stretch OF line
which ferns its nucleus. the Great North
svn Vas built entirely without government
aid in the wsy Of cash or land grantA IL
Vas purely business enterprise. with no
other stimulus than the trafhc 70 b
slsosdsd By the country which IL would
traverse.
The history Of the growth Of the Great
Northern railroad system 10 practically
che history Ut the life os Mr.. Hill from tbs
sisae when no reached mstuse manhood.
d 10 the outgrowsh Of the ~. Paul Il Pacshc
road. which hsd been partially built with
she aid Of . government land grant from
%. Paai into the Red river valley when
settlers we're spreading over the then vir-
gin lands Of Minne,ofA ft had line Ill
miles long from 80. Pani 10 Meirose. MINI.
and smother Of fifty~fye miles from Fergus
Fails 20 GlyEdon and fargo. besides several
branches. For the SIX years previous TO
1873 Ms. Hill had teen engaged in the
Steamboat business on the Mississippi and
Rsd rivers and ny exchanging trsfhc With
the 81. Paul 4 Pecibc road had become
familiar with its business. From 1851 70
16fB he WAS the agent and consignee Of
the road under . contract BY which he
transferred freight from steamboats, 20 the
railroad and received from the road oil
freight FOE steamer. In 1sB Chauncsy
w. Gri0s. nov Of Tacoma, became his
partner In the firm Of HilI, 6rig9s 4 Co..
which sdded the fuel 20 the Steamboat
busisess. In 1870 he established the Red
River transportation Company. TO run
steamers 70 Winnipeg. then Fort Garry,
and In the following year this company
was consolidated with another owned by
Norman w. 'Kittson and Donald A.
Smith. II wss his ASSOCIATION with the -
tvo men that largely enabled him 30 carry
through the designs he shoetly Afterwards
form I'd.
In 1874 the 81 Paul 4 Pacific road VAS
driven BY the panic into the hands Of .
receiver. having failed 70 pay the interest
% it, bonda. Mr.. Hill knew the extent
q the business Of the rood and how IL had
grown, he knew tho wealth Of the country
tt trsvsrsed and boz rapidly IL Wa bsing
eettisd and developed. He fosesaw that
This BANKRUPT rosd was destined to b one
81 the most profitable properties Of il
Hind In the country and he determined 10
get possession Of IL, knowing that it was
then about 70 enter on IN era OF pros.
parity. But the task he had ses himself Was
NO easy one. Thers wers outstanding
some e27 .o00. 90 Of the defsuited bonds Of
various eiasses. mostly held in Amsterdam
by committee appointed by the Dutch
stockholders to represent their interests,
and they we're OF small value lie
proceeded 70 interest Msssrs. Kittson and
Smith In this project. and the latter Was
favorable TO u. A. IL Vas to the interest Of
the Hudson bay Company. OF which he
wss the agent at Winnipeg. But they
could not raise the money and foe three
years. though Mr.. HUI chung tsnaeiously
- has pet scheme. IL slept for lack Of means
IN carry IL out At last in is7e negotiations
With the Dusch committee were opened
With view 10 finding on. ., what price
the bonds coaid be secured. In 1871 the
aid 81 t;eorwe stephen. president Of the
Rnn af I'D
February. ISIS. the purchase OF ali the
bonds held by the Dutch committee.
asasiy all Of those outstanding was con-
eiud~d.
: This Was no sooner done than. while the
road Was st,il in the hands Of ihe receiver
the nes owners began the construction OF
extensions under orders of court Itxa
mrs. extended from Melrase TO Alexandria.
thirty three miles. thea extended from
IGlyndon 30 81. Vincent on the boundary.
~ miles. and finally the gap between the
boundary and ~. Paul Was closed by tn.
leons,ruesion of the line from Alexandra
so Fergus fslis. for,y-tive miles, making.
With branches. total of tao sniies. In
Nay aaa June. is19. the mortgages by
which the bonds were secured were fore
closed and the bondbotders, thus becomi n :
psny under the name Of the 81. fsul. Min.
nespolis 4 Manitoba Railroad COMPANY.
with George Stephen as president and
James j. Hil "a general manager. In
iss1 Mr., HUI became vice president and
In the foglowing year president. Since
then extensions have been rapid unssf tho
systew embraces 4 s.5 miles of ROAD an 4
s~sehss from She Mississippi river TO Puses
a.apusi ~. ~. k... .. ,h. -.
1nv districts oG Montana. III. wheat land,
end iron mines ~ Minnesota. the whea,
fields and stock ranges os North and
South Dakota and the forests aud farms
cf washing ten. Ii ha. a steamer line on
the Great Lakes by which IL enters Bufsal q
end ell ere long have steamers cross "a .
che Pacific ocean Ia Asia
The present tss~as Northern RAILWAY
Company Was chartered in ls>s aud ou
January Il. iSsa. all the lines ~ the =,
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba ~crs
leased for .sa years. IN. new company as
canning ali the obligations and guar.
snteeins dividends al the rate 81
. Ter cent per aanana- In that vsar
an issue OF &aoa,ou Of ret
cont bonsis VAS made for the eonstrac.
VcR ot The faelne extension. the hTs. ti0,
oc.co wsTv placed hy the Earrings preyieG,
N sAelr failure and the balance eoaxht hy
the Stockholders IL has recently issued
bonds ~ the amount OF 81, aks. eso At ~ re:
4xat. ga thu consolidated mortgage.
THIS makes the to.a. funded deb.
: Ut the present s.a1e s.. sxA 40 and
. abe annual interest charge s.. Ssl is. The
capital stock ~ she ~ paui M.nnearo,is
6 Manitoba IL ss3tss' 80. and the pre-
TERED stock @; tAs Great Nuyla~ tasss.