The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-07-14

know of in real life2 Per
haps. Yet they do not do It
always. Not love story Of them ali
is more tender and attractive. more out
Of the common, than the true romance
OF James J. Sin and Mary Michigan. his
wife.
It is common for biographers of the
great railroad president TO slide over
that romance lightly. revealing only a
/ glimpse Of It, thinking maynap it win
not have good sound in that high life
( which mankind assumes all rich Ameri-
! cans aspire 10 enter. And here the hi
( osraphers so dead wrong. That ro-
nance is the bravest, brightest. sweet
est episode in the career Of Jim Hill
It is more than an episode. It runs
/ through ali the strong. steady current
Of his life. If have been successful,
he said once in a public speech. 1T is
/ because I have never had to fight a fire
] in the rear"
Jim HiFs love tale is exactly the sort
of story that touches and vibrates the
/ chord Of romance which lives forever in
the hearts Of all-oId boys and girls as
well as young.
Conceal that story? Rather exalt It.
Linger with loving touch on this TO-
nance and lesson in one. It is a credit
10 Mr.. Hilfs moral nature. and it shows
no less than his long headed railroad
schemes do his sagacity in building for
the future. And here it is:
Hin was mud clerk" on the st. Paul
Ievee. The mud clerk, in steamboat
lingo, is the young man who stands at
the landings in all weathers and checks
off freight passing to and from steam
ers. He frequently gets his feet mud
dy. HnTs father, up in Canada, was
north of Ireland man: his mother was a
Dunbar, descended from the royal Stu
arts of Scotland. The family in the old
country were, however, strong Protest
ants, and it was owing to troubles with
their Catholic neighbors at the time OF
the Stuart rebellion that the ancestors
of Hill came TO Canada. EiITs family
in Canada were Presbyterians. and he
was a Presbyterian in the blood. Why
7 mention this you shall see.
He came TO the States because Can
ada was not large enough to hold him. |
IN 1856 ne settled as mud clerk in St.
Paul. lie settled. but he did not settle
down. His knowledge OF steamboat and /
freight business enabled him to start a /
coal and wood carrying enterprise. He /
lived meanwhile at a house called the !
Merchants hotel, and here he met sweet /
Mary Michigan. Some say she was 1
scrubbing the front steps the first time /
he saw her. She was a waitress in the /
Merchants hotel, womanIy dignity and
purity vibrating out from her and in 1
folding her like a garment There was
10 coarse chatting of Mary Michigan by
the boarders. They knew better. She
was irish, Catholic and beautiful. but
that she was a waitress the biographers
slur over. Why should they? The sto-
~ shows what men and women may be
and do in the United States.
Young Hill was powerfully attracted
TO the girl. But he knew already that
ne was TO be a millionaire and a great
man, although he was only a little mast
20 and mud clerk. The maid must be
educated UP to the plane Of King Co
phetua. Nary Michigan left the dining
room Of the hotel and became a student
in a convent school according 10 her
faith, though Hill was a Presbyterian.
She had a brilliant. acquisitive mind.
She entered the convent ignorant Of the
lore of books. though she had learned /
Tic ltaNt e 4A-tllNA tsaA4N Af-crLI now 70 earn
an honest living and preserve her self
respect under trying circumstances.
She came out OF the convent a era
cious. accomplished woman. one who
could hold her own socially with the
best. Beautiful She had been when she
went 70 the school. When she came
out she and Mr. Bin were married
While she was at school Bin was not
wasting his time. a learned man one
day went into a bookstore in ST. Paul
and saw upon The counter a Pile OF
heavy scientific volumes being wrapped
up for delivery. He picked them Up
one after the other. looked at their IL
ties and asked the dealer. Who reads
these books2" "A mud clerk on the
levee Of the name Of Jim Hili.T replied
the dealer.
The young couple began housekeeD-