Hill, James J.

One hears little more of this project . James J. Hill ‘ the empire builder’ was a St. Paul man, who had died less than two years before. Interest in the man would have been great at that time, and Lewis’s presence in St. Paul would have facilitated his researches. th eproject may even have been in his motive in living that year in St. Paul. Among the several ideas for novels that he carried through his lifetime, one was a ‘railroad novel’ abd in 1924, at dinner with Arnold Bennett in London, Lewis reffered indirectly to the Jim Hill novel. The talk had turned to old railroading days, to the careers of the famous Van Hoorn and Ji, Hill. Lewis thought of it as an idea for a novel: what i should say it was – Bennett, journals, Vol. III P. 21 See Subject File VVE Railway GN Railway Kettle Valley