James J. Hill Promises the Great Northern Will Reach the East by November — and Denies Any San Francisco Line

President Hill, of the Great Northern Railroad, arrived in the city yesterday in his private car, coming on a special train from Everett. He was accompanied by his two sons and his two daughters, Chief Engineer E. H. Beckler, H. P. Upham, president of the First National Bank of St. Paul, and W. H. Dunwoody, owner of a Minneapolis mill. Mr. Hill spent a large part of the afternoon examining the terminal grounds of his road, the right-of-way on the water front, and other properties of the Great Northern. He also spent some time in consultation with Judge Burke, the Great Northern's attorney.

In a hurried interview with a POST-INTELLIGENCER reporter, Mr. Hill said:

'I came over the line across the mountains and found the graders only four miles apart on the summit. I think the track will reach the summit by September 10, and we shall push it as we come. Between November 1 and 5 we shall connect track through to the East, but it will take a month or six weeks more to complete the road before we can put on through train service.

'We have tried in every way to settle the terminal difficulties in Seattle, but have not succeeded. We are always ready to agree to go into a terminal company for the transfer of business, but cannot surrender our business to it. We cannot hand over our franchise to a terminal company, because we want to handle our own business. We are willing to join in any arrangement for the transfer of business, but we think we can do our own business more cheaply than others can do it for us.'

When asked about the probability that work would soon be resumed on the Portland branch road, Mr. Hill said: 'We shall finish the main line from the East before we do anything. You will see that this will be a different kind of road from any other road that ever crossed the mountains.'

When asked about the report that he intended to build a line from Butte to San Francisco through Boise, he answered: 'We have no intention of building a line to San Francisco. We have no more thought of it than we have of building a line to Bering Straits.'

Mr. Hill said the question as to the location of the shops was a difficult one, and was not yet settled.

Mr. Upham last visited the city just before the fire, and left here the night before that event. He was interested in trying to get his bearings in the transformed city.

Mr. Hill and his party left for the East on the Northern Pacific train at 10:15 o'clock last night. Mr. Beckler, who came over the mountains with him, will leave the train at Ellensburg and go thence to Wenatchee to look after work through the mountains.