Major John J. Hill, F.R.C.I.

              FigureMajor John J. Hill, F. R. C. I. 

Special Lecturer for the Extension Division, University of Minnesota. Engineer, Contractor, Soldier and Lecturer.




MERRIAM PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH—St. Paul Rev. William E. Steckel, Minister




Dear Major Hill:  I am eager to commend you and your remarkable address to anyone who in any place wishes to have a new kind of narrative about a little-known land, and its entrancing history and native customs, and about that ponderous personality and pioneer, Cecil Rhodes.  Our men here have never had so fascinating a narrative given them and never have they clamored for more and more as they did when you addressed them.  I am looking forward with undiminished expectancy to your address at the Midway Lunch Club the coming Wednesday.  And my only wish is that many in various parts may have from your lips this compeling[siccompelling] and realistic story that you reveal from your own life and experience in Africa.




Most heartily and hopefully yours,
William E. Steckel.



October 9, 1925.




Figure

A ZULU FAMILY


Figure


An African Witch Doctor

Figure


A Zwazi Flapper



Figure

Matabele Headmen, varying from 6 feet 6 inches to 7 ft. 6 inches



RESUME OF MAJOR HILL'S RECORD




John J. Hill, born in Halifax, N. S., educated in the Province of Quebec.  He went to South Africa, joined the engineering staff of Cecil Rhodes, who, at that time was commencing the survey of the Cape Town to Cairo Ry.




On account of difficulties with the natives, it was found necessary to send a pioneer ahead of the location party.  Hill was selected for this position.  After spending 3 years in reconnaissance he returned to the southern part of Africa in time to take part in the Jamieson Raid, when Dr. Jamieson attempted to take the Transvaal from the Boers with 500 men; the Raid was a failure and was followed by the Matabele war and the Mashonaland Rebellion, Hill taking part in both.  He then returned to the pioneering work, ceasing only long enough to participate in the Boer War which lasted two and a half years.  For his pioneer work he was made a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute; has held several commissions in the British Army, during the World War was liaison officer, joining the force in 1914.  Mr. Hill came to the United States in 1923 and is engaged in lecturing to schools and lyceum work; was a contempory[siccontemporary] of John Hays Hammond, Dr. Jamieson, Sir Henry Johnson and Sir Charles Metcalfe, all very closely connected with the expansion of Africa.  His knowledge of Africa is reckoned second only to that of Dr. David Livingston.




As the South African Press Saw Him in 1895



Standard & Diggers News. Johanesburg, South Africa, May 7, 1895.



Last night Mr. John J. Hill was entertained by the Rand and Engineers Clubs at Goldfields Hotel, about 200 being present.


Mr. Hill has just returned from the North after a four-year exploration trip for the British South Africa Company, going as far north as the equator.  He held his audience for nearly three hours describing the country he had traversed and reciting the wonderful possibilities there are for capital.




As Mr. Hill is on his way to Cape Town to report to the Rhodes interest by whom he is employed, there is no doubt that 
the half was never told,
 but he proved a very interesting speaker and it is hoped that after his Company has used the knowledge which he has of the Northland, it will be published in book form.




Johnesburg Times. Johanesburg, South Africa, May 7, 1895.



At a banquet given last night to Mr. John J. Hill at the Goldfields Hotel, 200 members of the Engineers and Rand Clubs listened to the most interesting description of that section of Africa south of the equator, that has ever fallen to their lot to listen to, for as he described the wonderful Victoria Falls, the enormous copper deposits in the Congo, the coal deposits in Matabeleland pictured the various tribes that he had seen and their impressions of him, his being the first white man whom they had ever seen, his listeners sat entranced for the whole evening.


Mr. Hill has just returned from a four-year exploration trip on behalf of the British South Africa Company, it is believed to be mainly in connection with a railway to be constructed north from Kimberley.





Cape Argus, Cape Town, South Africa. May 13, 1895.



In an interview today by one of our reporters with Mr. John J. Hill, of the British South Africa Company, he disclosed that the wealth of the Rand and Kimberley was entirely eclipsed in what he had discovered north of the Transvaal.


Mr. Hill has just returned from a four-year trip through the land of the Matabele, Mashona and Barotse and expects to spend three months in Cape Town compiling his notes.  He has promised the Argus several articles that will certainly be enjoyed by the public.







What They Say About Major Hill



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.—White Bear.




To Whom it May Concern:  Mr. John J. Hill delivered a lecture or travel talk on Africa last winter at the local theatre, which was both entertaining and instructive, and met with a most cordial reception from the large audience present.  Speaking from personal knowledge of the great Continent, based upon his long residence there, the speaker created a personal interest in the men who have been the 
Makers of Africa
 in the past decades.  Listening to him as he talks of that far away region, we realize to some extent the dream of Cecil Rhodes and other great pioneers.  We see the Cape to Cairo Railway slowly reaching across the wilderness; we stand in awe before the unlimited riches of Kimberley; learn something of the inner workings of the mind of the 
Witch Doctors;
 glimpse the beauty of the great rivers and the vast forests; marvel at the growth of the cities and the expansion of industries.  Mr. Hill speaks in a conversational tone with no attempt at oratory and holds the attention of his hearers from start to finish.  His 
stuff
 is all original and for that reason is a delightful relief after hearing so many 
canned
 lectures and travel talks from men who have gathered their facts from books and the efforts of others. Mr. Hill's lectures, in my judgment, should prove of real value to the people of America where so little is really known about the 
Dark Continent.




Sincerely,
Clair B. Latimer, Pastor.


Sept. 21, 1925.




STATE OF MINNESOTA
Department of Education


My dear Major Hill:  I wish to take this occasion to express my own appreciation, as well as that of the men and boys of our church, for your most interesting and instructive lecture on your travels and explorations in Africa.




Everybody was delighted.  It was an unusual and unique lecture springing as it did from intimate personal experiences and knowledge that can be obtained only by years of travel and explorations, and punctuated with sufficient quiet humor to add a little spice which is always enjoyable.



You gave us an evening of real enjoyment and education entirely out of the commonplace, and I hope that we may have the privilege of having you with us again.




P. C. TONING, Deputy Comr.



THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA




Extension Service.




My dear Major:  The talk was intimate, interesting, and containing, as it did, first hand information, is far better than many of the traditional travel lectures.



IRVING W. JONES, Director of Recreation and Ass't.  Director of Summer School, University of Minnesota.




RAMSEY COUNTY




Office of Superintendent of Schools.



Dear Mr. Hill:  Your lectures on Africa certainly contributed greatly to the study of the world and its people.  The teachers, pupils and parents enjoyed and profited by your excellent organized subject.  Let me say we liked the manner in which you enthused and interested the audience.  Your reference to various books and authorities acquaints people with advance thoughts in the field of travel.  Please come again.




Respectfully,
April 28, 1925.  GEO. H. REIFF, Superintendent.


WHITE BEAR PUBLIC SCHOOLS




This talk proved most instructive and interesting and in my opinion it is very worth while to engage Mr. Hill to speak on a subject with which he is so familiar.  The grade pupils as well as High School could appreciate this talk.



J. D. THOMAS, Principal.




Lecture was so much enjoyed by the children of the High School that some of them said to me 
I wished he would have talked still longer than the hour.
  Mr. Hill spoke at our church on the 
Palestine of Today
 and his lecture was listened to with intense interest by the entire congregation.  Surely, no one who has heard Mr. Hill will ever forget his stimulating lectures.
—Chas. J. Schoufuss, Congregational Church, Hopkins, Minnesota.



Mr. Hill has a rich background of experience for an address of this kind in that he spent 12 years on the continent of Africa. There is a personal touch in the manner of delivery that holds the interest of the audience.  I gladly recommend this lecture to anyone desirous of firsthand information of a geographical nature concerning the 
dark continent.
—F. E. Heinenman, Superintendent of Wayzata Schools.



A vivid and living picture.  Major Hill has my hearty endorsement.
—H. W. Small, Supt.  Excelsior Schools.




Glad to recommend him to any high school.
—Robert E. Scott, Supt. St. Louis Park Schools.



Owing to lack of space it has been necessary to omit press mentions, volumes of which are in Mr. Hill's possession.  Suffice it to say, however, he has the unqualified endorsement of the press everywhere.


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