The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-09-22
James ]. Hill.

/. rounded out his SlNtN-elShlH yea, aio
vet he is not an old man. lie Is IN
his prime. His mind is as active ana
as keen as it was years ago when he
was mere clerk on Mississippi river
steamboat. What a change has taken
place in those intervening years FROM
the dock to the position which he holds
in the TRANSPORTATION world and finan-
cial circles. As if by magic the man
of limited means becomes power IN the
land. 1t is but an illustration OF what
any other young man could do If he Is
possessed of the spirit, the energy and
the faculty to do things. Mr.. Hill Is
Canadian by birth and an American IN
all that the word implies. He came
across the border years ago when the
west was young and there was not
much in sight for anybody who made hls
home in the then uncultivated country.
A story Is told of how young Hill came
to head toward the land west of the
Mississippi Up near Guelph, Yelling
ton county, Ontario, where Mr.. Hill was
born, there is tree that bears a pla-
card across its half cut body, with the
inscription, The last tree chopped by
James j. Hill. Back of this there is
another story. 1t was Mr.. Hills earliest
ambition to study for the medical pro-
fession. He attended Rockwell academy,
a Quaker school, where he was care
fully instructed in mathematics and Lat
in until his fifteenth year. Then his
father died and he found employment
in the country. One day traveller
stopped at the house to take dinner and
left his horse at the gate. Mr.. Hill
saw the animal was tied and carried it
a bucket of water. When the stranger
. came out he was so pleased with the
boys thoughtfulness that he tossed him
a newspaper published in Minnesota and
called out gravely as he rode away:
Go out there, young man. That coun-
try needs youngsters of your spirit The
1t was a call for homeseekers and set
tiers, and gave glowing accounts OF
great opportunities The next morning
he awoke with a resolution. He walked
to the tree where he had left off work
the day before, and with blow from
his ak, exclaimed I've chopped my
last tree"
And then he started for the United
States and decided to settle in st. Paul,
where he entered a railroad system
whose growth is chapter in the world
history. From the first he was interest
ed in transportation problems and en-
gagged as shipping clerk with the j. w
Bass & Co., line of Mississippi river
steamboats,, and began the study of river
transportation especially that of fuel
Thus early in life he foresaw the won
derful possibilities of the great north
west, drove deep his stake and there be-
gan his remarkable career. The daily
routine of shipping clerk was good prac-
tice and he educated himself in all sub,
jects. He afterward arranged to pur-
chase the st. Paul and Pacific Railroad
(which consisted of some patch
es of track with an Indebtedness of $33,
100000
Other men called this step "HilI's fol
ly," but it was one that laid the corner
stone of the Northwest empire, and he
did it without the gift of dollar OIL
an acre of land. He refused to be beaten
by any obstacles, and had the ability tc
convince the men of the value OF
his project and to interest capital fol
the working of his prospects.
He persuaded men so well that the
Insignificant railway company on the
edge of the wilderness soon developed
into transcontinental line and insured
the great industrial and commercial
growth of the Northwest Territory.
"Hill's folly" proved venture SC
paying that interest on bonds and divi
dends on stock are as unfailimg as the
seasons. From the humblest vocation:
to the details of transportation he has
carried his enthusiasms and origina
ideas and made for himself its highest
living authority.
His theory has always been that as
business enterprise railroad can pay
only as it fosters and encourages the
patronage by which it lives, and he ha:
never pretended that he was urged by
spirit of philanthropy in his study of the
material interest of the settler.
He has advocated the education O.
the farmer and producer along their spe
cial lines; that larger crops, better cat
tie and more produce should be raised
and in doing this the road would have
more tonnage In view of this he ha.
organized an industrial department il
his railway system that sends out spe
cial trains at various times of the year
H. Iac Al L. L.,