The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-10-11
MEMORY OF
JANIS JOHN HA6fRMAN
CONTINUED from First Page.)


emily me in Chicago, when he invit-
ed me to a k a trip with hin N oae
of the Ward steamers. Unhappily I
was unable to accept the invitation.
He had risen from the cierkship OF
the small steamboat, of whicn l have
spoken, to the practical control of one
of the best crafts on the lakes. Dur
ing the winter when navigation was
closed he was kept busy in New York,
Boston. Montreal and Chicago with
Capt. Warts transportation inter
ests.
BY this tine ne had so demonstrate
ed his business ability. and so risen
in the confidence of his employers,
that when the Milwaukee Iron Com
pany was organized for the production
of railroad iron he was made Secre-
tary of the company and gene- II rep
resentative OF Capt. Ward $ Interests.
He was made general of the
company in 1863, and in 1874 on the
death of Capt. Ward he became pres
ident. The tremendous strain of the
panicky years of 1S73-4-5 and . ser
iously impaired his health. In 1876
he organized the Menoninee Mining
Company TO mine iron ore in Men1mi-
nee county. Michigan. A RAILROAD was
built to the mines, and in 1859 The
company shipped a million ;on of
ore.
There is a interesting story about
these mines, but l have not he TINE
nor the information to rell IL now. Il
is enough to say that if ne was not
the actual discoverer, be certainly
was the man who developed them, for
with a pick in mis- own hands ne mark
ed the cad of those prop. -ties which
arc now in Tho hands nf Tho Uraat
Steel Trust. Blu the fearful strain be-
gan TO tell and his health and vigor
were much broken. About this time on
a business trip to Cleveland ne was
taken seriously i'll. His intimate friend
the late Senator Mark Hanna, o
him TO his own home and for months
cared for him like a brother. II was
now evident that ii was absolutely
imperative that he should have a rest.
and in 1881 he went to Europe with
his family and remained there nearly
three years. On his retr1In his physi-
clans advised him to leave the lake
region, and he ven 10 Colorado n
made his home in Colorado Springs.
He built one of the finest residences
in that city, from the veranda of
which one could look out on the
Garden of the Gods" After a ear
of comparative idleness his business
blood began to warm again, and he
took up the building of the Colorado
Midland railroad, one of the greatest
engineering feats in the country. n
carried ii to successful completion.
This road will always be a reminder
of his genius. During these years he
had active business citations with
such men as Hanna. Carnegie, Gould
Russell Sage and with the Governor
Of the Bank of England. which vas
something for a boy who started in
making window sash by hand.
After the Colorado Midland road he
turned his attention to gold and sill
yer mining, and for a time some OF
his properties were the wonder, and
perhaps the envy, of the whole coun-
try. In 1883 Mr.. Hagerman became
interested in that terra ~incognita,
the Pecos Valley of New Mexico. |
have always been anxious to know
who first attracted his attention to
| this region. / have heard many n
hicting statements in regard to ii but
| did not know until very lately thai
il was Robert w. Tansill, whom some
| of you remember.
1t seems almost put of place for
| ne TO speak to you OF he has
dom tor this valley and what we owe
% him for its development. This yoI
know as well as l. n can hardly go
| out of doors without seeing some evil
/ dence OF his enthusiasm and generos-
| ity. Travel for a hundred miles in al
most n direction and you will fad
the whole way marked by his
prescience and liberality. The railroad
which EOS him a desperate struggle
TO build in the hard times of 81. The
Northern Canal which has made this
valley beautiful and bountiful for If
y miles. This canal is regarded by
the Interior Department as the best
| equipped and most successful irrigat-
ing plant in the United States. The
communications which Mr.. HageInan
has sent TO Washington in regard TO
IL. and what he has written about ir
rigation are now being used in text
books in the Reclamation Service
Tile Hondo Reservoir which he sold
to the government was his concep
ton. What a splendid Secretary o.
the Interior he would have made? He
fenced and stocked with cattle a
goodly portion of what the old geog
raphies marked as the Great Amer
lean Desert. His last enterprise was
The sinking of a well on the "Staked
Plains" to the depth of 5000 feet In
search for oil. IL was a failure, but
had he lived those plains would still
have been troubled with his investi
cations. The extensive grounds on
which the Military Institute, q pride
Of your city. now stands was donates
by him. Before ais advent Roswell
was little more than a blacksmith
shop with a saloon attachment. II /:
now a beautiful city with wide streets
lined with trees M miles and mile.
of concrete walks, beautiful wei
kept homes with lawns, vine'
and flowers. great school buildings
and commercial houses. banks an,
factories, and its streets swarm witt
a busy and prosperous people Wlei
IL first came here in the autumn o
, %. | ode in a hack from Miller, nov
II A rtcSia and In all that sWean of hal