Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-15

water-level grade. which will reduce
the time between those two points about
twelve hours. The Burlington system
will eventually be extended to San Fran
cisco. and altogether the northern hair
Of our great west will not soon slip from
this mans hands.
Some Hill Methods.
Mr.. Hill is a wonder as a railroad builder
and manager. He knows the United States
better than his Bible. and he has gone over
every part of the northwest looking up the
possibilities for new traffic. When he ex-
tended his line to the Pacific. he Travelled
over every inch of the route on foot and
on horseback making a thorough study OF
what was under the soil as well as what
was In It, Before he built through the Reo
River valley he went over that country IN
an OK cart studying the soil and Its posi-
biiities, and when he bought the old st.
Paul and Pacific of the Dutch bondholders.
he knew just what he could make out OF IT,
That road had been very extensively DULL
but Hill tore up the tracks, reduced the
grades, and SO made one locomotive DO the
work Of three.
In building the Great Northern Mr. Hill
based his probable success on the differ
ence In grades which that road had In lts
favor over the other transpacifc lines! He
made 1t cross the mountains at lower pass
than any other, and built 1t better and
cheaper. The result was he could carry
freight more cheapfy, and, by study or
the traffic, was able to keep his cars fun
going and coming. 1t was through him
that lumber was first shipped from the
west to the east, and by his steamships ne
. Is now building up a great traffic in freight
from the east to the west to go on to the
orient.
Is Hill Extravaganza
Some railroad men think Mr.. Hill ex-
travagant, and others tell me that he IS
the stingest man on earth. / have known
many who worked for him and some who
have been discharged. He is close and
lust the reverse He believes In economy
as to the smallest details, and he cuts ex-
penses down to the last degree. At the
same time he will spend millions to reduce
grades and save motive power. He has
been operating the Great Northern for
years at from 40 to 81 per cent Of its gross
earnings, record that no other railroad in
the country has. He has the grades 80 cut
that only per cent Of them between his
eastern and western terminals requires
double-header engines, while on other trans
continental lines such engines are needed
on more than 10 per cent of the grades.
On Mr.. Hills railroads all the receipts
come to him. He does not believe In dtvfd-
ing with other companies. He has the ex-
press business the sleeping cars, the dining
and parlor cars and all form sources of rev.
enue. AT the same time he is ready to spend
money to build up trade. For years he fur
nished blooded live stock. seed wheat and
other grains to different farming communi-
ties and he Is ready to invest money in irri-
CATION projects for the sake OF the traffic he
can get out of them. He loans cars and
equipments to logging roads in order that
they may increase the timber traffic and
give more freight to the Great Northern.
Speaking of Irrigation. during my visit to
the Wenatchee valley last year. State Sena-
tor Gum told me how. during the panic Of
$685. he called on Jim Hill In st. Paul, and
asked for a loan to irrigate that valley.
Mr.. Hill had never met him. but within half
an hour he had lent him $4,000, and taken
the bonds of his company as security Mr.
Gum told me that that money dug the
ditch which started the population of the
Wenatchee valley. 1t was the corner stone
of a community which is now supplying
some of the most expensive fruit of the
eastern markets, and which gives the Great
Northern a shipment of twenty cars of
wheat per day during the season. l under.
stand that Hill has not yet gotten back all
the money advanced, but that he will have
1t soon, and at the same time he has re-
ceived many times that in the increased
business of his railroad.
Jim Hill's Memory.
Railroad men tell me that Mr.. Hill has a
phenomenal memory. He never forgets a
man or thing. A few years ago one Of the
editors of a little paper along the Great
Northern route came in to get a mileage
book, such as Is given to country newspa-
pers for publishing the railroad time ia
bles He had been supplied and had start
ed out, when he met Mr.. Hill coming in,
and the two talked together for a moment.
During the conversation the editor said
something that Mr.. Hill did not like, and
Mr. Hill remarked:
"I suppose you came in for a pass"
The editor replied: No. 1 have one al
ready" and he thereupon pulled out the
mileage book. AS soon as he left Mr.. Hill
went into the general passenger agent and
asked him how he happened to give mile
age book to that fellow. The officer replied
that it was according to custom to give such
books in exchange for advertising, where
upon Mr.. Hill said:
well. you may omit the rule as far as
that man Is concerned. He has a little six
by nine paper 1877 miles from here When
he started 1t gave him pass and trans
ported all his machinery for nothing. That
was twenty-six years ago. 1t is now eigh-
teen years since he gave me a roast In his
paper and 1 don't want any more passes
given to him."
The mind that could remember an Incl
dent like that down to the year and the
day, and at the same time supply the trans
portation for half a continent Is, to say the
least remarkable.
Hill as an Educator.
The Great Northern railroad has. / am
told. been a training school for the most
prominent railroad mea Of the country. Mr..
Hills methods are SO strict that a man who
succeeds with him is fitted to do for others;
and Hills graduates are always In demand
among the financiers. Take. for instance.
w. +. Newman. the president OF the Van
derbilt lines; w. w. Finley, vice president
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