St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-08

ing and the attention it attracted. One
day the learned DR.. Day entered lead
ing book store and saw pile of books
on the most intricate scientific subjects
done up on the counter, and asked
whom they were for.
"A mud clerk on the levee by name
Of jim Hill," replied the proprietor,
'but what he wants of Grey's Anatomy
is more than can tell. A new suit OF
clothes would be better for him than
those books"
1t will be seen that from the first the
thoughts and attention of young Hill
were directed to transportation, and,
though in the succeeding few years he
was diverted into mercantile pursuits,
he returned tQ his great idea and carried
it through. For eight years he head
quartered upon the wharf, spending
three with Brunson, Lewis & White,
one year with Temple & Beaupre and
four with Borup & Champlin, who were
agents for the old Galena Packet COM
pany and the Davidson line. During
this period the war came on, and Hill,
with z. Y. Shelley, raised a cavalry
company and prepared to go to the
front, but the service of the company
was not accepted by the state, and the
company. under Capt. Shelley, was at
tached to an Iowa cavalry regiment.
leaving young Hill in business in st.
Paul.
In 1865. Hill was given the st. Paul
agency Of the Northwestern Packet COM
pany, which had succeeded the Galena
company, and this position he held un-
til the Northwestern and Davidson
lines consolidated in 1867, when he went
into the general transportation and fuel
business. In 1869 the firm of Hill, Griggs
q Co. was organized for general trans
portation business, and for six years
were agents and consignees for the st.
Paul u Pacific railroad. 1t will be OBJ
served that in the meantime the first
railroad had been built in the state. and
the prophetic eye of Hill was never far
from it. Transportation was his hobby,
and he had made 1t an intelligent and
exhaustive study. He saw the vast pos
sibilities of the country to the north
west, if once means of communication
could be established. In the absence
of railroads, the Red river naturally
attracted his attention, and in 1870
he established the Red River
Transportation company and opened up
for the first time regular and direct
communication between st. Paul and
Fort Garry. A year later the company
was consolidated with the Kittson line
and daily line between Moorhead and
Winnipeg established. This association
controlled the navigation of the Red
river, and continued until the compile
ton of the railroad to st. Vincent.
About this time Mr.. Hill. in connection
with E. N. Saunders, G. w. Griggs and
William Rhodes, established the North
western Fuel company; but Mr.. Hill's
time was given to the transportation
company, and in 1878 he sold the fuel
company to Saunders and the late Hon.
William l.. Scott, of Erie.
This rough outline, the filling of which
is really told in the sketchy portions of
the history of Mr.. Hill, brings his life
up to the time when he began the climb.
in railroad sense, toward the zenith of
his fame and prosperity. This latter
part Of his life is also merely sketched
in silhouette, as the real story is told in
the history of the great railroad system
given elsewhere in this issue.