The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-07-19

road had progressed sufficiently far,
1oakum and his associates engaged
Hill to contract for the purchase of
vast tracts of land for them. He was
well paid for this work and was able
to purchase outright the many thous-
ands of acres upon which he had Sc
cured options TO purchase on his &C
count. Then he got busy buying stuff
all along the proposed line of the raod
and at the proposed town sites.
The building of the railroad was be-
gun and as each mile of track was
completed, the land adjacent and ex-
tending back for several miles came
into demand for farming purposes,
and it's value doubled, trebled and
quadrupled in short space of time.
Meantime Hill was buying more land
and loading himself up with options
to purchase still more. TIE land which
he had bought for 81 and $3.50 an
acre went to So per acre before the
road had reached Brownsville. When
the line was finished and the influx
of investors and homeseekers began
land values mounted higher and high
err. The poor Indian became the big
gest man in all the country round. He
seemed to own everything that was
worth owning.
When Hill found that horses got too
slow and the passenger train did not
run at all times to suit him, he pur-
chased an automobile-thc first one
10 a
region. His landed possessions eX-
tend all the way from the internation-
al boundary stream to beyond Harlin-
gen for several miles. 1t is twenty
five miles from Harrington to Browns
vile. When this town was laid out
Hill established his home there. He
maintains an Office at Brownsville,
and the daily trips between the two
points are made by him in his auto
mobile. 1t is said that he has broken
all automobile records Of fast running
in his Journeys between his Office end
that the times these records have been
broken are almost innumerablc. When
he heard of a tract of land that could
perhaps be bought cheap. the auto
mobile was made to carry him to the
owner with all possible speed. Quickly
closing the deal he would be back in
his Office and attending to other bust
ness before investors who had intend
ed to make the purchase had got fairly
started on the trip to see the owner.
Hill is just now completing sys-
tenn Of irrigating canals and bitches
to irrigate 10000 acres of his land.
The main canal is more than twenty
five miles long and runs from the Rio
Grande to a point a short distance
ty-five miles of laterals are being
built All of this land is to be planted
in sugar cane. Three large sugar
mills, all of which will be located upon
this land, are to be erected to care
for the cane crop when the land is
placed in cultivation. Hill is already
an extensive grower Of sugar cane up
on other land which he owns. Sugar
cane in the Rio Grande Valley grows
to a height of twelve feet, and tests
show that each stock yields l 1-3
pounds of sugar. The cane does not
have to be replanted except every
duces an an average sixty tons of
cane each season. The cane is worth
about 81 per ton. One acre of cane
will make about 10000 pounds of
sugar, worth about cents per pound.
In addition to his vast landed hold
ings, Hill owns the townsite OF Har-
lington. This place is situated at the
/ junction of the main line of the st.
! Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Rail-
road and its branch line which runs
to Sam Fordyce. His enormous wealth
is not speculative or ION paper" He
has the land and other property to
show for it. His vast holdings are in
his own name and he has paid for
them.
The wildness OF this region when he
! first located here appealed to his In
dian nature, and he took the greatest
| delight in leading the primitive life
of his tribe. He still spends practical
ly all of his time in the open air, trav'
cling from one landed possession to
another. His integrity as man caves
him the highest standing among the
business element of the border region
| Tie 10 plain anu uupi elSAl1OuS III diNoe
and speech. He is absolutely fearless,
as has been proven on several occas
ions when he came into contact with
desperate border characters during his
residence in this region.
Hill is married He is devoted to
his wife and children. He has sur
rounded them with all the comforts
that is possible to obtain in place OF
this size. They occupy modest but
comfortable home. When asked con
corning his early life, Hill said
Il punched cattle in Indian Terri
| tory when a young man. l saw the
need of education and had acquired
fairly good knowledge from books
when l entered the University Of Tex
as. l was q years old when l began
to study law. l went through the Uni
versity of Texas and graduated in the
law department Of the University OF
Virginia"
The knowledge of law which Hill OBJ
tanned in his study and practice oil
the profession has stood him m good
stead in some of his business transac
tons down here, and he has never re-
| preffed that he onca ba10n opd to that