The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-08-29

Kelly q WOMAN whom Fiji has znge-sa
n sorna way stabbed him VITA a penkni.A
Hill Himself wzs rot tough He fgur-
sc prominently y al tas big n<1rng
matches. and as ate az 1851 himself wrss-
tied Zo-asr Lane ~ ire Thaater ccnsaue.
ard defeated Lane. n tbs famous 1g1-
between Nike 1Lrcooi ar1 ice Co5urn-
Harry Hill lad charge OK AcCoos ard So
cured Australian Kelly and Dan keTrlx&n
70 train his man
As Harry Hill got older his general rep
utatson for wsA4sh and squarenass made
him = fsyorsrs stakeholder an ne big pu-
giltstlc encounters He rad pro5s1fy held
II his hands over sl.o09.es Of stakes vag-
cred IL contests OF skin slad strength, and
Wgs never known 10 break fa3sa- He Was
one or Billy EDWARDS hackers when Ed
wards fought Sam Collyer at Cone River
Va. for S1.euo and tha lightweight cham
Psonship- When, IN 1874 Jern Mace and
jos Coburn signed articles 10 fight for
s. nc Harry Hi was stakeholder. In the
blg fight between Sullivan and Ryan. al
Mississippi CITY. Hin held over $1,000 IN
stakes, a good share OF which was de-
posted with him by men who wers strang-
ers 10 him. He used 10 enjoy a repufa-
ton for taking drunken meas money away
from them and returning IL TO them when
they were sober. Il Is said thar on one
occasion a drunken stranger gave him
sss.ot9 10 take care OF, and that the money,
after the stranger had been on a weeks
spree. was returned 10 the owner.
Hin took great pride In the real earn
est" character OF the athletic contests at
his place. and in the native vocal and
dramatic talent that he DEVELOPED on
the little stage In his place ever boxer
and wrestler OF any note in twenty-four
years contende6. and from that stage
graduated scores OF variety actors and
singers who became famous.
Harry Hill had the reputation o. having
accumulated great deal OF money Ia MS
business. All sorts OF big stories wers
told about the big sums Of money he was
worth. A common statement made TO pee-
pie visiting the city was that Harry Hill
was worth S1.o00. 90. That Harry Hlil
was once wealthy man, there IS no
doubt. That his wealth. was grossly ex-
aggerased thsre Is just as little DOUBT
Harry Hin once said that he was worth
$50 600. But there Is reason TO believe that
he very much overestimated what he was
worth. II was a grand thing for him IN
his business, of course. TO have the rep
utatfon Of being worth a million or two.
AT least Il added very much TO the Pc
culiar characteristics of his place and
himself People in Harry Hills used to
love to watch the old man, with his
strongly marked face. silent and watchful
eyed, with an enormous diamond In his
shirt frin. The sports used 10 like TO look
AZ him and say 10 each other:
''He is worth q million dollars.
Harry Hin did have a great deal OF
pI operty once He owned a big stock
farm at Flushing, and a fine line OF steam
boats which did d good business between
Flushing and New York city. In Flush
ing he owned two hotels. He had fine
residence in Flushing. which was sur
rounded by beautiful grounds. On his
stock farm he had score of fine horses,
IN exercising and driving Which he found
almost his chief pleasure. He had fine
Durham and Alderney cattle and about
100 fancy bred pigs. He had chickens,
peacocl1s, pigeons and the like in abund-
aEce. and nearly 100 dogs OF all kinds.
He bred his horses largely for the market,
and once did a good business in this par
ticular. He raised Iron Duke, VINO trot-
ted in 2:2o: Sweepstakes, the brown stall
lion who trotted in 2:20, and Curiosity,
the hump-back chestnut. who trotted IN
2:3e. In the cellar of his house were
vaults filed with old ales and wines and
liquors. The walls of the house We're
hung with paintinge. He had many OF
Hogarth's sketches. A son Of Harry Hin
lives In Flushing and carries on there tina
business that WAS once his fathers.
Harry Hill was OF medium height, stur-
Oily built, but not corpuient, had curly
hair and pair of keen brown eyes. lie
had a countenance that used to seem 10
smile continually, but OF late years IL had
lest this popularity.
In all the years that Harry Hill sue
cessfully ran a saloon In New York, he d.
viaed his income with the police. In an
evil hour he refused 10 continue his pay
ments, and then the police ruined sairn-
He alleged that he was made &c pay al
together too much TO the police for his
protection. He made kick d the big
eest kind and charged PoiiSs Captain
Murphy and Detective Moran. Of the
Irince street station. with levying large
blackman upon him. There @as a hot
time for a while. the Lrsao; OF the whole
matter being that Capt. Murphy and his
detective were transferred 10 the West
One Hundredth stres. station, and Harry
Hurs place was ordered closed up Tor
good-that is. he was not allowed 10 keep
his famous hall open after O'Clock a. M
under any circumstances. TNat meant
that he might as Wei not keep open at
ALI. Then the excise board refused to
grant Harry HUI a license, and his place
was shut ND In dead earnest Then the 1
building IN which Harry Hill had his han
was torn down. and today big warehouse
occupies its place. Harry HlH declared
that he was banhrupted when ne left. but
II was believed that he still had money
Harry HIN went up TO Harlem and built
a quaint little structure on piles at the
southeast corner CT Harlem bridge. IL
Was not a profitable yer ure. and tie 20
lice were contin iIlly interfering Win IL
keepers we're constantly arrested. 'Po-
lice protection" was denied 20 him from
me outset. He had no chance 10 build
up a business anything Ike bis old one.
He finally had 10 quit, impoverished har-
~ uul told his story on the witness stand
before the Lexow investigating committee
4 friend of Harry Hill in New York
recently told the following story OF his
reversss:
Harry I'M was certainly worth as
much as s4o00o0 ar one time. lie bought
asa acres OF land In Flashing, extending
from the town OF Flushing almost 70 Bow
cry bav. The property contained The most
valuable deposits OF building sand in the
world. The trouble was that Hin was an
nllterafe man and knew almost nothing
of business methods. On his property ne
huilt a very fine country house and also
4 hotel known as the Flushing Hotel.
Working the sand deposits. which he sold
20 almost anybody on credit without aas-
sI1iate security. necessitated buying tugs
and building small railroad. From own
fn< tugs HUl hranched ont as steam
hrst nroprietor HIS ambition was 10
band up the town OF Flushing by estao-
fghfvg a steam ferry line for passengers
between his landing Ia that pace and the
foot of Fulton street Ia this city. In this
venture hc sunk thousands OF dollars.
The ferry is now owned by Boyer & Co.
ara IS usca only as IRE. ght route.
seeing tbs. the ferry business was not
sosa- go succce3, Harry HHl rented his
boats for excursions. one q them. the
Harry HIN. is BOW plying on the Indian
river ia Florida and IS the most palstial
vegse! ln those waters These vessels cost
many thousands. and when HEl parted
ufth chem he Sos back olly a fraction OF