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


ner with all acceptance OF his pfopo-
sition to buy. This was long before he
had turned his attention to transporta-
the man. His first managerial
ability was displayed al superin-
tendent Of the Red River Trans
portation company. The meager facll-,,
tiles for trade on the river and the
great possibilities had been carefully
considered, and finally a boat was!
bought for $4,000 and entered In the
trade. The very first year profit of
$4,000 was shown. but nottill after Hill
had spent TWO months on the boat, going
over every detail and familiarizing him
self with the smalles minutia of the
business. This knowledge enabled him
afterward to freeze out competition
from Canada and make himself master
of the situation. After all, the key
stone in the arch of Hill's success may
be expressed in the statement that he
made it point always to put himself
in possession OF every fact,
every detail, and to thoroughly
the matter under consideration.
system, while he makes subordinates
responsible for the performance of the
duties, there is no detail which he does
not throughly comprehend. From the
cost of a piece of section work up to the
construction of an engine. he knows it
all. Ii proposal to grade ten miles OF
land for track in the heart Of Montana
were to be laid before him, he could tell
the character of the land, the necessary
grade, the probable cost, where the
ballast could be cheapest obtained and
how long the work should occupy the
contractor. The cost per mile of fuel,
oil and waste and the mathematics Of a
differential are to him familiar as the
A b G. Stored away In his comprehen-
sive brain and labeled with the care of
an apothecary's shop, SO as to be as
easily reached are the gems which his
exploring mind has brought from the
caves OF knowledge, and the great
weapon with which he baff1ed difficulty
and compelled success is: II know"
Frank Carpenter exploits this faculty in
a story OF the construction Of some
engines desired for one of the extern
sions. There is probably nothing con-
nected with railroad building that Mr..
Hill does not know. He has mind
which grasps a subject in all its details,
and he has made such study of rail
roads and railroad management that he
can tell today just how long each part
OF one of his engines will last, and to
pound just the amount Of work it will
do. A record is kept in the office of
the Great Northern Of the life and
work of each part of every piece
OF machinery connected with the
road, and though Hill could probably
not build an engine himself, | venture
he could direct the construction of one.
Not long ago he was in New York, and
during his stay there he contracted for
fifty-Seyen engines for his road. These
engines cost about $4,000 apiece. and
the contract represented considerable
money. In awarding he asked for bids
from the different car works. and five
great companies submitted bids and
specifications. Their agents brought in
these bids. They were sealed, of course,
ence of the agents and looked them
over. After a few minutes his
brow began to knit, and at
the end Of half an hour he said: "Gen-
tlemen, there is something wrong about
these bids. You have combined to-
gether in the making of them, and this
is a put-up job. Now. L want to tell
you you can't do work for me in that
way, and you can take your bids and
yourselves out Of the room." And with
that he threw their papers to them and
showed them to the door. He then had
his own engineers draw up specifica-
ti0ns of just the kind of locomotives he
wanted, and he went to the companies
and told them If they wanted to bid
honestly on them they could do so, but
he would have nothing more to do with
their agents, and they must have honest
bids OF he would send the work else
where. g
Samuel Hill, son-in-law of Mr.. Hill
and president of the Montana Central
road, tells several stories which serve to
further illustrate the wonderful execu-
tive ability of the great manager. "We
were sitting one day." said he, sin Mr..
HIPS house in st. Paul, when he asked
me If didn't want to go West for
and asked when lie wanted to go. He
said Right away and thereupon tele-
phoned to have my bag sent over from
Minneapolis, and in the course of an
hour we were on his special train and
going out to the far West. We stopped
at point in the mountains in Montana,
and Eere got off the road and rode forty
miles by stage with relays of horses.
We then slept and rode forty miles fur
ther and stopped at tavern. MIR. Hill
tramped around all day over the eoun-
try, and came back in the evening and
had supper. After supper he said,
Il think we could reach the car If
we took the horses tonight and de
had them harnessed up and cut acros
to the track. 1t was long ride and
dark night, and we came to the road at
station above the one which we had
expected to strike. Just as we got
there a freight train from Butte City
was pulled in with flames bursting out
of its side. AS 1t pulled up at the sta
tion Mr.. Hill saw it, and his voice rang
out in the darkness:
"'Where's the cond uctor of this
tramp
Here was the reply, in a gruff
"'What rate are you running"
"'About eighteen miles an hour
said the man, rather resenting the ques
tiOn.
"'You are not telling the truth re-
piled Mr.. Hill. You have been running
over thirty miles an hour, and your
orders are not to run more than twelve.
You are discharged this instant, and |
will have another conductor to take
your place. When that conductor left
Butte City Mr.. Hill was sitting in his
Office in st. Paul, and 1t must have
scared the man almost to death to find
him away out there in the heart of Mon
tana."
Another instance Of Mr.. HIPS prompt
discharge of An inefficient empIoye was
at famous trestle bridge on the line.
A man was kept to patrol this bridge
after every passing train. He was ex-
pected to have bucket of water in his
hand, and he was there to put out any
sparks that might fall from the engine.
One night a freight train had just gone
over. and as it left the bridge Mr.. Hi lPs
special Car shot out through the dark
ness and came over it. During his rides
over his road he spent good deal of
time on the outside Of the car, and he
was standing On the platform as he
came to the bridge. The moon at this
point shone through a cloud, and he
saw the man who was expected to take
care of the sparks throw his bucket
over his shoulder. and as he did SO his
eye noted the fact that there was hole
in it. He stopped his car and discharged
the man from work. He insists upon
discipline. and no man can work for
him who will not obey orders,
And these stories might be multiplied