New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-29
Train Carrying Sed-
ative from Chicago
Sidetracks Traffic.
EMPIRE BUILDER
IN COMA AT TIMES
Patient Passes Unsatisfac-
tory Day and Suffers
Much Pain.

st. Paul, May 2s.-Passenger and
freight traffic on the Chicago, Burling-
ton e. Quincy Railroad between Chi
cago and this city was sidetrscked Sat
urday to give right of way to a special
train bearing a sedative for James j.
Hill, pioneer railroad builder, who is
critically i'll at his home here. Mr..
Hills condition to-day was pronounced
less satisfactory.
All speed records between the two
cities bowed to that established by the
specials run Saturday, the 431 miles
being made in eight hours and three
minutes, or an average of ffty-four
miles an hour. This surpassed by fifty
four minutes the record of December
20 last, when DR.. B. w. Sippey. of Chi
cago. was brought here over the Bur
lington by special train TO attend the
late Thomas Shevlin, noted Yale coach
and football player.
Mile a Minute on Stretch.
The Hill special consisted Of two
coaches and engine. II left Chicago AZ
l:ls p. m. and arrived at s:22. The trim
from Grand Crossing. at La Crosse
WIS, TO st. Paul, a distance ~ ,oe
miles, was made in two hours and six
minutes, or faster than sixty miles nm
hour.
One of the physicians in attendance
upon James j. Hill had intimated Sat
urGay morning that a certain infre-
quently used sedative might be Of
Doneht to the patient. Other doctors
present stated that none of il could he
ohtalned at any point nearer than Chi
cago.
Louis Hill, CHANGING 10 hear this cen
versation. instantly directed his secre-
tary TO call by telephone a firm Of
pharmaceutical chemists in Chicago
and ascertain II supply of this seds-
i've could be obtained there. When an
afhrmatlve reply was received Louis
hlll ordered the special train TO bring
the sedatiye. When the sedative was
delivered at the Hill residence the sur
geons had decided not to avail them
selves of it,
Passes Restless Day.
James j. Hill passed a restless day.
While his pulse was good. his tempera-
ture was high and he suffered consid-
cradle pain. lntermittently the patient
was unconscious. Members of the i'm
mediate family. together with the sur
glcal and medical staff gathered in St
Paul during the last few DAYS, kept al
most constantly at Mr. Hills bedside.
while number of business associates
were on hand much of the day. Shortly
after ] o'clock this afternoon waiting
newspaper men and others were aroused
sharply when the Rev. Father Thomas
j. Gibbons, Vicar General Of st. Paul
Archdiocese and pastor Of St. Paul Ca
thedral, hurried from the great ca
;hedral where he had been saying
mass, TO the Hill mansion. Just a square
dp Summit Avenue. At this timo il vas
reported that Mr. Hill had suffered a
slight sinking spell and that members
of the family had been called to the
sickroom. At O'Clock it was said
Nat Mr.. Hill had rallied somewhat.
dis pulse was reported better, but
high temperature continued. At s
O'Clock tonight the patients tempera-
ture was reported unchanged.
Late tonight DR.. Biggs and Or. Gil
fillan issued the following statement:
Condition tonight less favorable. and
on account of the patients age the out
look becomes extremely serious"
DR.. William J. Mayo said: "Mr. Hill
is very sick man"