The St. Louis Republic., 1901-01-06

that of other farmers sons OF the period.
very little schooling and a-plenty Of hard
work on the farm. with the chores and the
! cattle. He succeeded. however. In getting
fairly good education. even TO a slight
/ knowledge OF Latin. but when, at Is years
OF age, his father died, he was unable TO
prosecute his studies further. and was
forced to take up with work In country
/ store
When but IS years old in 1856. young Hnn
set out to seek his fortune in the States as
SO many other young Canadian lads have
done. both before and since his time. He
remained for only q short period in the
East. and in July 1856. reached St Paul.
MINI. then a thriving little river town OF
5.0oe inhabitants in the remote Northwest.
No railroads bad penetrated to the city at
that time. and the only means OF reaching
! II was BY the broad. fat. stern-wheeled
steamboats, that piled the Mississippi. His
first employment was with the Dubuque
and 81. Paul Packet Company. the agent of
which at 81. Paul was the firm Of J. W.
Bass q Co. At this stage In his career
young Hill turned his hand to anything.
loading cargo a laborer. acting as clerk
and levee agent. az foreman Of gangs and
doing whatever presented Itself to be done.
He was indefatigable and obliging, and
mastered all the details of river transporta-
| tion. and in 1866 he was offered and accepted
the agency Of the Northwestern Packet
Company.
His Opportunity.
In the meanwhile railroad communication
had been opened with St. Paul. and Mr..
Hill. while sill continuing as a river trans-
portation agent. became agent OF the ST.
Paul and Pacific Railroad, handling all the
freight received from and transferred from
the river bank. In 1863 he formed the firm
of Hill. Grigss & Co.. which engaged in
both the transportation and fuel business.
and which brought to 81. Paul the first coal
ever used there for fuel. The partnership
lasted until 1876. and In the meanwhile. in
1870. Mr.. HUI embarked in the first venture
which was destined TO make him famous.
This was the establishment of the Red
River Transportation Company. which
opened up the first regular communication
between ST. Paul and Manitoba, and de-
veloped the great grain resources OF the
Red River Valley. the bread basket OF
the world"
The 81. Paul and Pacific Railroad. which
had been operated in connection with the
river lines in which Mr. Hill was inter-
ested. either as owner or agent. defaulted
on its bonds In 1s73. This afforded Mr. Hill
road development. He knew the vast re-
sources Of the Red River country and of
Manitoba. and he realized that water trans
portation was doomed. Many another man
in his position would have regarded the
failure OF the railroad as the failure OF a
system. or of an idea. and stuck to his
river steamboats,. But not so with Mr.. Hill
The fault. he concluded, was not with the
railroad, but with its shocking construc-
tion. worse management ana grossly exor-
bitant debt.
There are outstanding 81. 900. 600 OF bonds |
on the st. Paul and Pacific Railroad. a ma
Jority Of which were held In Amsterdam
Mr.. Hills fortune at the time amounted to |
about SlOo. 900. How to acquire the sz7 OoOG COO |
Of bonds with a capital of s1OO.o50 was the |
problem Mr.. Hill had to study. In his trans |
portation business 70 Manitoba County he |
had become acquainted with Sir Donald A |
Smith. chief commissioner of the Hudson |
Bay Company. To Sir Donald Smith he sub |
mitted the proposition and unfoldsd his |
plans The hypnotic power highly devel- |
oped in later years won the day. Sir Donald |
Smith became a warm adherent OF to prof. |
ect. So did George Stephen. president Of |
the Bank of Montreal and afterwards Lord |
Mount Stephen. and with them was associ- |
Building Up the system.
Mr.. HIS confidence in the undertaking l
was such that he invested every penny OF /
his fortune in the enterprise. For five years
he labored increasingly. and ct times it i
looked as though his 100000 was lost But /
he persevercd with his negotiations. and. |
finally. in 1873. had acquired control OF the
bonds Of the st. Paul and Pacific road. Then /
the mortgage was foreclosed and Mr.. Hill /
and his associates came into possession of 1
the property. which during the long re-
ownership had degenerated to a condition
little better than that predicted by Jay i
Gould Of a certain property, two streaks
of rust through the grass"
The road was promptly reorganized under
the name of the St Paul. Minneapolis and
Manitoba. and construction work went on
rapidly. pushing out and extending. tapping
a wheat country here and lumber country
there. and a lake port at some other place.
1t was at this time that Mr.. Hill introduced |
his main idea OF railroad construction. re-
ducing curves and grades wherever possible.
replacing wooden bridges with iron. BALLAST
ing and ditching IN the most improved style,
providing the heaviest steel rails and the
most powerful locomotives. and doing |
everything possible to fulfill the main idea
10 carry the biggest load In the quickest