Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-06-02
OBITUARY
Died, May 29th.-Jas. ]. Hill, a great
and good man.

dAu SOOu HAL.
From boy surrounded by the keen
est kind of poverty to the man worth
$500,000,000, in one lifetime is surely
an achievement worth of attention and
thought. Such was the record of Jas.
j. Hill, who recently passed over the
Great Divide"
James Jerome Hill was born on a
farm near Guelph, Ont, in 1888, of
Scotch-1rish parents. Under the hard
work of the farm he grew up sturdy
and healthy. Between the age of Z
and IA he attended an academy near
his home, where he developed mark
ed aptitude for reading and study. His
fathers death when he was IA years
of age made it necessary for him to
go to work as a clerk in the village
store.
In 1865 he found himself on the
steamboat docks at St. Paul, where he
obtained employment as a shipping
clerk. He thus became identified up.
on his first arrival in the Northwest
with transportation there; and he also
from the first manifested the keenest
interest in all that pertained to com.
merce and agriculture.
Mr.. Hill began his wonderful ca
reer as railroad genius with his &C.
ceptance of the agency of the st. Paul
and Pacific railway. The railroads of
the Northwest at that time were in
a wretched financial condition. He
interested Sir Donald Smith and other
Canadian bankers and took the road
off the hands of the Amsterdam secur-
ity holders. The road was rechristen.
ed the st. Paul, Minneapolis and Man.
itoba and began an aggressive march
into the fertile wheat region, with the
Pacific Coast as the ultimate terminal.
In 1898 came the formal opening of
the Great Northern line from Duluth
to the ocean. Later he acquired con.
trolling interest in the Northern Pa
cif1c and Burlington systems, until his
transportation interests were greater
than that of any other one man on
the continent. Later he acquired
steamship lines on the Great Lakes
and established regular service con-
Meeting his Pacific terminals with
China and Japan.
In 1912 Mr.. Hill retired from the
active duties of executive head of the
Great Northern and other of his COM
panies after 80 years of active rail-
reading. He remained member of
the executive committee, but was sue
ceeded as chairman of the board by
his son, Louis w. Hill.
OF many rich men you hear slur-
ring remarks, hard statements of
greed, rascality, predatory wealth,
cunning, sharp dealing and much that
shows they are condemned by the
public-but never word was ever
heard of this character against Jas. j.
Hill. He was noble man, peace to
his SOUL
Walter Carlson, s9-year-old son of
Mr.. and Mrs. F. o. Carlson, 1917 West
Hume street, was drowned in the
Chehalis river some time between 2
p. m, May 20, and yesterday, June 1,
when his body was found in the water
at the Grays Harbor Shipbuilding COM
pany docks. The father, who is engi.
neer at the shipyards, had made an
untiring search for his boy, who was
a bright and lovable lad and until
the last moment had hoped that Wal
ter had merely taken an extended ride
on an auto truck going to the east
end of the county, and that he had be-
come lost in the woods on the return
trip home.
Funeral services were held May 80 at
the Whitside chapel for the infant son
of Mr.. and Mrs. Steve Musulin, GA
Polk street.
William Stacie of Hoquiam, painter
met death May 81 when staging on
which he and two companions were