Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1916-06-02
GREAT FINANCIER
LOSES LAST BATTLE
J. .. HILL, EMPIRE BUILDER. cue.
cuMBs TO ATTACK or BLOOD
POISONING.
Was Acknowledged 90 Vests Fore
most Railroad Builder and eual.
ness Han, Interested IN Aarleul-
ture, Art and Education.


ST. Paul. Minn.--James ]. nm. rail.
road builder and greatest flnaneier of
the west. died here May 20. from blood
poisoning. Mr.. Hin was in bis 18th
year.
In the passing OF James ]. Hin the
greatest constructive genius OF the
northwest Is gone. He was acknowl.
edged as Its foremost railroad builder
and business man.
lie was ever greatly interested In
agriculture, art and education. The
loss which his city, state and nation
has sustained through his death can.
not DO measured.
Mr.. Hill's wealths Is estimated be.
tween t2O0.0O0,0OO and s250. 900. 600.
As q mere roustabout lad OF IS. Hill
toured from Maine 10 Minnesota.
When. in 1866, he disemOarKed from
n Mississippi river packet at 81. Paul
that place was a frontier town OF
5000 inhabitants. At the sign OF w.
J. Bass \ Co, agents for the Dubuque
q St, Paul Packet company, he found
q Job as stevedore md clerk.
In the fifteen years that followed
he gathered no end OF experience and
little capital. with which he launch.
cd his own firm OF Hlll. Grias q Co,
which promptly displayed It's initla-
tive by bringing the frat load Of coal
into 81. Paul Two years later, with
a flat-bottomed steamer, he eatab.
lIshed the first regular communication
with SC. Paul and the Manitoba ports
OF the fertile Red River valley.
AZ about that time ST. Paul was
having rs FIRST experiment In railroad
building. Eighty miles had been laid
to sc. Cloud $40 miles IL Brecken.
ridge, both of which terminals were
Of the southern end OF the Red River
valley, and there were about 100 miles
OF track which began nowhere and
ended In that same indefinite spot. >"
This venture ran up q debt OF S33, 0O0,-
600 and collapsed, with lts only assets
being "a few streaks Of rust and
right Of way"
After Eve years Of financial dicker-
Ing, including the sac OF all hia ether
interests, which netted q fortune of
$4,000 Hill and a syndicate of three
others-Slr Donald A. Smith, George
| Stephen and Norman w. kittaon--ob-
tanned this property. The Sc. Paul,
Minnesota & Manitoba railway was
formed TO operate tho road, with Hili
as general manager. When IN 1853
Mr.. Hill was elected president he un.
deTto0k the extension OF the road from
It's Dakota and Minnesota homestead
TO the Pacific ocean. lie was con-
fronted by three great competitors 10
the south, each Of which had received
big bonuses AZ government aid, where
as the Manitoba" or the Great
Northern, a. Il came to Dc knqSn did
net have q dollar OF government sub.
sidy or an acre OF grant 10 forward
lis progress from the Minnesota
boundary 10 the sea. N this light.
Hills plan was widely deemed pure
folly, but he pressed II 10 conclusion
by building and popuiating as he built
While Mr.. Hill built up for himself
and his associates an immense for.
tune he also helped % create for the
settlers along his lines q wealth OF
over FIVE billion dollars Ia real prop.
erty, which 10 represented by tho
value Of the 100000 farms and their
$4,000 900 acres Of improved land.
Upon his retirement Il 90, tho
streak of rust he had bought thirty
/ years before had expanded 70 more
| than 5000 miles and Il was earning
gross profits OF more than sec, 900 900
year. and carrying IL 00e. 900 tons Of
freight annually. He still retained \
hand IN the Great NortheFn's policy
AZ chairman Of the board of directors
while his son Louis, who hsa woFke I
I'D from the humbleAf position OF his