The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-07-09
PEORIA a ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD.

rumor in circulation that the "actng direct.
or" on that side of the river had determined
to take but $4,000 of stock in the Peoria
q Rock Island Railroad company, notwith.
standing the large coal interest which he |
was said to have secured on his favorite
route by Moline, and that there was but one
other man on that side Of the river ready to
take even that much stock.
We appealed to the Gazette to put us at
ease on that subject by Aauy contradichng
the rumor and telling US exactly where Dav.
export would be found. 1t has paid no atten.
ton to our appeal and given US no informa
ton on that subject, unless its publcation,ou
the 18th inst, Of letter signed "W. II. h.,
which the Gdzette seems to endorse by cal
ling it a "pungen. letter. can be considered
an answer to our interrogatories, and which
letter was published in the Rock Island Il
Moline Union Of Monday last.
The "pungeut letter" starts of with the
assertion that our estimate Of the value Of
Mr.. Cables offer was too large by $3.50 900,
its utmost value not exceeding, if equaling,
$4,000. 1t seems to Us that the value Of
this offer is not now worth considering, for
We have oil gone in for the Moline route,
thus settling the location of the road, and
the proposition has been Withdrawn, so that
Cable now has nothing to do with the mat.
ter. In justice to ourselves, however, we
wish to say that, Mr.. Cable offered to com.
plete his road to the Henry county line
| (which would have constituted over one.sixth
Of the entire distsnce) and then to accept
such an amount Of stock and bonds Of the
company therefor a. disinterested referees
should cay was reasonable aud fair, which
referees should also determine how much he
should pay per ton for the use Of the track,
on the time table Of the company, for the
transportation Of his coal, the company be.
ing free to transport coal Tor all others at
any rates it pleased. The amount he would
have paid for the use Of the track for
been fully equal to the interest he would
have received on his bonds, aud rs the en-.
gineer Of the company estimated the entire
cost Of the road at about $2l0O,OOO, we es.
timated his proposition at 100000. If we
made mistake in our estimate We insist it |
was no fault of ours, for we simply took the
estimates Of the engineer and divided them
by sir, on account Of the proportiouate dis,
tance, and figured out $l00 900 as the an.
swer, and knowing that the Coal Valley road
cost over 100000 in gold times, we honest.
ly thought we were correct. Besides all
this, we were told, by an "arient Moline
reuter- who Is supposed to have some rail.
road sense, that $4,000 would not buy the
necessary depot grounds in this city (even
if located up by SINNERS mill secure the
right Of way and build the bridges over
Rock aud Green rivers.
The author of the "pungent letter. was
not at home and hence we could not consult |
him, and as he had not then announced that |
"the offer Of the three cities ($ljO,OOO)
twas sufficient to build an entire new track |
as near to Peoria as the Coal Valley |
railroad now runs we think we should be
excused for our blundcr.
1t must be remembered, too, that we were
| new converts to the Moline route and there.
| fore perhaps too jealous in the cause and too
anxious to furnish the directors with ample !
means to complete the work Immediately,
but We now humbly confess that we set our
pegs too high and promise, hcnceforth, to
devote all our energies to getting Davenport |
to come up to the scratch with her $4,000, |
having now got the cue that that is all that
is wanted.
We only occupy back seat in the syna
gogue, but we hope we may be pardoned for
suggesting, if the engineer Of the company
still insists on the correctness of his estim.
ate8, that he be deposed from the position as
unfit for the place, if not digloyM Ia tie
cause, and the author Of the 'pungent let,
ter appointed in his stead. as we would
thereby save over million of dollars and
secure a cheap road as well as "cheup coal,
cheap transportation, and free ride to Pc.
oria'
The author Of the "puugont letter" tells
us that he has "no personal dislike to Mr..
Cable and that he is after him only as the
o~"cr Of the Coal Valley road. His likes
and dislikes are doubtless matters of great
public interest, but the nice distinction he
draws between M. Gable and the ooner of
the Coal Valley road, is what particularly
concerns us.
When we abandoned Mr.. Cables mono.
poly and our tnvorite route by Coal Valley
and went in for 'cheap coal, cheap transpor-
taton and free ride to PEORIA" we thought
it was necessary for us to sour on Gable and
We resolved TO do il without fnching
Many others "of the rank and file" did the
same thing, but, if it is really unnecessary,
we would like to know it. We therefore
have to ask the author of the "pungent let.
ter, whom we all recognize MS our leader
and chief .tNgleman, whether he would have
been after 1.-THE acting director on the other
side of the river" with the same sharp stick.
if he had succeeded in his late efforts TO
buy up the road and the monopoly too? If
yea, and if forty or any other number of
men should buy the property and continue
to produce coal 90 cheaply that nobody
could compete with them, would he get after
them personally or merely az tile owners Of
the property II only as owners of the prop.