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

idant of the Erie: L. E. Johnson. vice pres1-
dent of the Norfolk and Western. and f.
E. Brittin. the president Of the Cotton Belt
road, they are all graduates from the
Great Northern. e. w. McKenna. vice
president Of the Chicago. Milwaukee and
ST. Paul; David Miller, vice president Of the
Burlington, and Frederick Underwood,
president Of the Erie. all worked under
Jim Hill. It Is the same with John H. Ste
vens, who is now engineering the Pan
neer OF the Great Northern system. and
located Stevens Pass. through which that
system crosses the Cascade mountains.
The men who work for the Hill railroads
Northern Is sure of his position without ne
Is awake and doing his best Mr.. Hill sell
dom pardons failure: he has no sympathy
with incompetency. and he will dismiss any
one. from vice president to brakeman. upon
proyocation. He likes to have his men
plan out new schemes for increasing the
traffic. but he will not permit more than
one or two mistakes in management with
out discharge. He is often gruff to his
subordinates. dragging them roughshod
over the Goals as to their business. so as to
make them decidedly uncomfortable.
The Hill Boys.
Mr.. Hill has three boys, all Of whom are
employed in the railroad business. James
N. Hill, the Oldest. aged thirty-three, is
vice president Of the Northern Pacific:
Louis w. Hill. aged thirty-one. is first vice
president of the Great Northern. and Wal
ter H. Hill. aged Twenty-Five is its right
of-way agent. having been recently en-
ployed in purchasing the right Of way. Of a
new line between Sioux City and Omaha.
All these boys have been brought up In a
hard school. AS soon as they left college
they were placed in the auditing depart
ment Of the Great Northern, and after that
in its shops at st. Paul. They then be-
assistant rOadma
superintendent of various divisions, rising
step by step to their present positions. They
are all of good habits. and no scandal has
ever been attached to any of them.
Louis w. Hill will probably be his ia
theirs successor in the railroad world. He
Is now the executive head Of the Great
Northern, and arl told good one. He
has been over the road again and again;
and he Is saturated with his fathers meth
DDS and policy. All the employees report
to him direct. and although he is strict he
is popular with them. Like his father, he
is a developer and pusher. 1t Is through
him that the Massaba iron range was open
ed up and its transportation given to the
Great Northern system. Mr.. Louis Hill
persuaded his father. to build the road If
the owners Of the mines would give 1t the
hauling of their ore to Duluth This was
done, and 1t has proved profitable.
Mr.. Louis Hill frequently goes over the
Great Northern system and keeps in close
touch with its various communities. He
always carries fifty horsepower automo-
bile with him, having had a special COM
partment built for 1t in the end Of his pri-
vate car.
His arrangements are such that the auto
mobile can be easily shifted of and on. 1t
is ready for him soon as the train stops
and If he wishes to visit the mills, eleva-
tors, or take a trip out into the country
to look at the crop conditions he can thus
do 1t in the shortest possible time. under
stand that his father at first sneered at
the idea, but that he has since been out
with Louis a number OF times ard that
he uses the machine himself.
HILLS Big Farm.
James ]. Hill has a few hobbies outside
his railroads. He likes good pictures.
He has one of the finest art galleries of
the west and have been told that some Of
his paintings cost as much as $4,000. He
Is a connoisseur of precious stones and is
said to have a collection OF diamonds worth
something like $2.OOO,OO0 He likes fine
stock and he has 1O.OO0-acre farm within
ten miles Of st. Paul of which 1900 acres
are water. He pretends that the owner
makes money, but I am told that It costs
him about SIC, 600 every year.
Not long ago Miss Havemeyer, who owns
a farm about half as large, came IN to adj
wise with Mr.. Hill about her establishment.
telling him that 1t annually cost her $2t,O0O
more than she made. Mr.. Hill replied that
she ought to send her manager out to st.
Paul and see his farm and thereby learn
how to carry on Sucn an estate at a prOIt
For long time Mr.. Hill sent fire stock,
sneep, cattle and hogs from this fern 10
the various sections of his railroad, stipu-
lating that they be used for breeding pur-
poses. He always sold them at moderate
figure to one of the leading farmers. rarely
charging more than the freight l:om st.
Paul. Among other things he had very
fine hogs the offspring of some that he had
imported from the old country at several
hundred dollars each. These were sold for
about S. apiece. Not long ago when Mr..
Hill came into his office he found an old
farmer waiting for him. AS soon as he en-
tered the farmer said:
Mr.. Hill. have come down to do some
more business with YOU You will remember
/ bought boar of you ten months ago for
IS. Well, / now want to tell you that L
like 1t so we'll that 1 will take your whole
litter If you Will let me have them at that
price"
Mr.. Hill thereupon explained the phil
osophy of breeding. telling the OLD !s1mer
what the hogs had actually cost. The old
man said: II swami and went out with
his eyes as big as your fist.
FRANK q CARPENTER