The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-02-08
he ought not to have done Now not
ing gets away from him.
Expert at Showing Freight.


After reaching this country the boy
fooled around in the east till he lost
all his moving money, then struck OUT
for the west. 1t is said he tramped
into ST. Paul without dollar in his
pocket. Somehow all these captains OF
industry do that way walk into town
without cent. After they have beeh
on the ground long enough to let thei1'
marvellous instincts get into play most
everybody else walks out of town with
out !; cent. The captain of industry
has it ALL 1t took Hill a long time to
when he did learn it the public pocket
book knew that it was either an annex
alton OF a foot race. In the meantime
he was first roustabout on Missis-
sippi steamboat and then a mud clerk
Now, Il mud clerk is man who stands
around at the landing and checks OH
merchandise at the loading or unload
ing of boats, occasionally taking a
hand and riistling a box OF q barrel
! himself. It-is ayerred that Jim Hill
became an expert at showing freight
even before he had a railroad to shove
it over. He kept at mud clerking sew
eral years, but all the time he was
gritting his teeth and resolving that
he would not work for other people
forever. Now everybody is working
for him.
Cy Warman says that Hill never got
out of the lowly walks of life until he
received an inheritance of a few hun
dred dollars from home, but this may
be only another Of Warrants railroad
rOmances. At any rate, Hill got pos.
session Of some steamboats, and ran
them up the Red River Of the North
. Then he became railroad agent at ST.
Paul and worked scheme Of reform
ing things in the traffic generally. Ev-
erybody regarded his plan as so chi
merical that he was generally called
"Crazy Jim" Hill those days, but when
he succeeded the name was dropped.
A successful crazy man Is genius.
Two Streaks of Rust.
Shortly after this the st. Paul and
Pacific railroad was on the verge Of
bankruptcy. 1t had large name, but
that was the only big thing about it ex
cept its debts. The road itself was
two streaks of rust, ending no place in
particular. Originally it was intended
to push it through to Manitoba OF even
to the coast, but the thing had become
discouraged after 200 or 800 miles and
stopped in the middle of a prairie
"CraZy JIM Hill sized up that dilap-
dated debt producer and decided that
here was the opportunity Of his life.
He told his story to Scotch friend
who had money and after he was
through received the cheerful informa-
ton, ''Jem, you are fool" But he
isn't the sort that stops at small re-
Bluffs, and at last he got some Canadian
bankers interested, and they furnished
enough money to buy the road
Then Hill began one Of the most phe-
nomenal feats ever accomplished in
American railroading. Without cent
Of subsidy he pushed that line through
to the Pacific. His plan Of campaign
was something new to railway men.
He made the trade Of the road pay for
building it onward. Every new mile
must become q revenue producer to
build the next mile. When 1t Is re-
dected that he was traversing pract-
cally an uninhabited waste the difficult
ty of this undertaking may be con-
ceived. There was nothing to do but
to build up the country as he went
along. To effect this result he adver-
tised it, induced immigration, gave the
farmers blooded cattle and bought
town sites and induced settlers to take
them off his hands. In short, he not
only constructed his road, but erected
an empire to support 1t,
At the same time the Northern Pa
cific and the Canadian Pacific were be-
ing built, both with large government
subsidies. Now, in military affairs
there are two methods Of subsisting an
supplies, SO that the home government
can ship in provisions. This is the
usual method The other plan, which
is not only more unusual, but more
hazardous, is to cut loose and forage
off the enemy. Sherman did this In
his march to the sea. Hill could not
cut loose from a government line of
supplies, for he had none, but he could
and did forage off the enemy. He
made the country feed and support
him as he went forward to subdue it.
Daring In Big Enterprises.
It has been said that no railroad was
ever built SO cheaply as Hill built the
Great Northern He cut corners and
economical at every turn, yet he secur-
ed a splendid roadbed and the best Of
rolling stock One Of the first things
on which he insisted was that all space
in freight cars should be utilized, that
no empties should be hauled either way
il possible to avoid it. To keep his cars
loaded in both directions, he first es-
tablished line Of steamers from st.
Paul to Buffalo, through the great
lakes. On the other end, he hunted for
a market until he found it in Japan,