The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-12
CONSUL FRANK ID. HILL
AS SEEN IN AMSTERDAM
Many Diverse Duties Are Imposed Upon Foreign Business
Of sam-The Confdant Also the
lations Of Perpatetio Countrymen.

nen.
now reads as easily as he does English.
There are histories Of Holland by the best
authorities and the latest books about So
cial Holland. There are papers and
magazines Of all kinds-the array is fair
" overwhelming. In fact. so thoroly in
terested In all things Dutch has Mr. Hill
become since his residence in Holland
that on his last trip to America this
spring he made a pilgrimage to all the old
Dutch landmarks OF New York.
The Consul Is Used to Walls Of Woe.
The ease with which my wall of woe
was handled comes from long experience.
Where I had appealed to the United
States consul because he was a Mime
sofa man and had slight personal .ac-
quaintance with him, hundreds and hun
dreds Of Americans invoke his aid be-
cause he Is "a consul Of the United
States and they think because Of that fact
he is necessarily bound to help them In all
Of their personal troubles while in the
country to which he is assigned. The
troubles poured into Mr.. Hills official
ears in year is as great in variety as
those that come up before Minneapolis
judge, and the variety is vastly different,
too. Frequently they are more delicate to
handle, for Americans who go abroad
have a way Of running on American
schedule and so come into contact with
the rough edges of all sorts of queer for
eign laws such as were never dreamed Of
in their American legal philosophy. If a
convivial American convivialiZes to the
scandal of the local authorities, it. Is the
United States consul whom he expectssto
plane down the exceedingly thorny path
of the transgressor Of Dutch law; If a
traveller finds himself stranded because
funds have failed to arrive on time, the
United States consul it Is to whom he
appeals to keep him out Of prison, for
they have a law, In Holland allowing I'M
prisonment for debt.
So Mr.. Iiill has had a little bit Of every
kind of trouble brought to him, from the
Strengthening out of marital troubles to
assisting In refunding money paid for a
water, color that never cdn,e. He period
Iically holds court in his private office and
has to act as judge, and that, too, accord
| ing to Dutch law, which has many odd
twists and turns to catch the unwary as
did the famous labyrinth. Because OF
this court side to his office Mr.. Hill espe-
cially values the services Of Mr.. Dozen,
secretary Of the consulate for the past
| thirty-fve years. Mr.. Dozen knows the
laws Of his country as the average man
knows his alphabet, and in legal cases
| Mr.. Hill frankly consults.. him. ) -
'It would be such a dreadful thing, fol
instance" said Mr.. Hill, with twinkle If
| his eyes, "for me to give wrong informa.
| ton as to the marriage laws Of Holland
| A Consul as a Bureau of information
The average consul has to be the com
pletest bureau of information going. lr
turn, he is a lawyer, a geographer, a bus
| mess directory not s only for American
inquirers, but for those of the country
to which he is assigned; a detective bu-
reau, a health department, "a moral ad.
wiser and physical restrainer and-bu
why go on? Added to this, he should
have, and frequently does have, the
special attributes which make the sue
cessful newspaper man--that Is, a "nosf
for news and the ability to write clear
forceful English, At all times he mus
be level-headed, have a clear under
standing of his rights, his prerogative.
and his limitations, and the back bone
to act accordingly in an emergency.
The first official work saw Mr.. Hill
engaged in was the act Of signing hi
I name. Not once, but dozens and dozens
, of times. It was sailing day from thu
| port of Amsterdam and there were man!
invoices to be signed. It took two o
them to do it, and the signature &C
was almost continuous performance
AS soon as the name had been written
the clerk slipped the invoice from unde
Mr.. Hills hand and slid another under 1t
, with the same motion plotting the frs
while the second was being written. "A
, there are about e,0o0,00 worth Of in
7 voices to be signed during year, it
: no wonder, perhaps, that the act of sign
{ ing them has been reduced to a fin
} art. OF these invoices, Sc, 100000 are 70
, diamonds and 100000 for tobacco.
The Contents OF noe Days Mall
! Nm the mail for one day the consul a
s. Amsterdam was asked to assist in tn
recovery Of an estate, which the writer
client claimed to- have lost thru a sen
tence wrongfully passed in 1876, Mr. Hi
being asked to act as lawyer because tn
!: client could not afford to employ Dutc
counsel; to give the names Of the Dutc
!. firms likely to take UP the introductto
Of machinery into Holland, and thi
means all Holland, not merely Amster
, dam; to furnish names Of the most prom
:. inent lawyers in Holland for legal die
: tionary; request by a publishing hous
Of biographies for certain figures an
data to be Incorporated into their lates
> edition; that he seek out Dutch rela
tive living somewhere in Holland, the ex
act place unknown, and announce til
: death Of a relative in America; informa
!, ton as to the opening for skilled "sten
q ographers and typewriters. All thes
;, from American correspondents.
! On the other hand Dutch bushes
: men, looking to the enlargement Of the
$ field, ask for the addresses of America
n firms likely to take up their manufat
j lures for Introduction into America.
( for the claimants Of supposed unclaime
n estates in Holland, their names are legio
e So numerous are they and 50 futile the
, claims that some years ago the Unite
Il States minister at The Hague prepared