The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-02-11
HINC JIM, THE FIRST
Special Correspondence to The Press

Special Correspondence to The Press
ST. PAUL, Mimi, Feb. 11.-Jim
Hill, sometimes known as j. J. Hill
and also the man of the west" said
the other day that he was thinking
about retiring shortly.
Retire. Can a king retire? He
can die, but never retire. So it
will be with Jim Hill, the king of
all the railroad men on the Ameri-
can hemisphere.
Unlike Hartman, who Is a rail-
road general whose battles are
fought in stock brokers' offices, Hill
is a railroad man from the ballast
under his ties up to the lingering of
a s50,000,000 appropriation. He
knows his own road, the Great
Northern. as man knows his baby,
and then some. He knows all about
the other railroads, too, and he is
grand cordoned savant in the art of
transportation.
Mr.. Hill is a man of hobbies and
eccentricities, and. aside from his
wonderful faculty of organization
and foresight, is a subject on whom
an interesting volume could be
written.
There are few men in the world
possessing such an unfailing men,
DRY as that of the western magnate.
Recently one of the big traffic men
of the Great Northern was called
into consultation with Mr.. Hill re-
garding certain rates throughout
eastern territory.
What's the rate on steel rails
from -, Pa, to Scatter" asked
the Great Northern magnate.
OF course the unfortunate official
didn't know. That rate had never
entered into discussion before and
probably would never be thought of
again.
IN call my chief clerk" said the
traits man
What for?' inquired Mr.. Hill,
brusquely. You ought to know
that-thats your business. Let me
see: the rate from Pittsburg is so
much. and - is IS miles murth-
er east"
In a few seconds Mr. Hill had fig
ured it out to his satisfaction and
answered his own question.
He never forgets faces. One day
in New York he was accosted by an
old gentleman, who said:
you don't remember me. do you,
Mr.. Hill?"
Mr.. Hill peered sharply at the
speaker from beneath the bushy
eyebrows, and said:
1T was about IL years ago when
you and your wife called at my
house and looked at my picture
gallery. Your wife is German, and
| remember well her foreign accent.
Isn't your name Fishbech?"
And, incidentally, Mr.. Hill is a
no mean connoisseur of paintings.
His gallery in his beautiful st. Paul
home is one of the finest in Amer
lea, and he buys the canvass him
self His weakness for good pic
lures is known to every newspaper
man in the country, and many of
them have secured audiences with
the magnate by first ingratiating
themselves into his good will by
discussing famous artists and ia
nous paintings.
Aside from his costly pictures,
his steam yacht, a big farm near st.
Paul that loses a small fortune each
year, Mr.. Hill is man of very dem.
ocratic habits and anything but ex-
travagant. He very seldom drives,
preferring the street cars, and al
ways walks from his office to his
club and back, a distance of a half
mile or more. He cares about as
much for clothes as the Russian
does for a Japanese kimono. Neces-
sity drives him to his tailor several
times a year, and his visits are linn
tied to about two minutes, during
which the followinfi dialog takes
place: