Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-17


years ago.-George Enos Throop, in ST..
Nicholas for July.
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL. -.
"A Beautiful Spot W here Cannon and
Shot are Made.
AS the name implies, Rock island ar
senal is located on an Island, one of the
many thousands the Mississippi guards
with it's waters. Going down stream, on
the right of Iowa side is Davenport, a
pleasantly situated little city Of some
$4,000 people. On the Illinois shore,
directly opposite, is the town of Rock
Island, but little smaller than Daven-
port. Like all river towns made by the
river, they are, now that the railroads
have taken about all the commerce from
the boats, frightfully dull, merely hold
ing their own, and will do little better
until manufacturing lends aid to start
them once again on the way to prosperi-
ty and greatness. Early this morning,
ere the sun had grown oppressive. a
friend and I, armed with passes, OBJ
| tanned through the courtesy Of our hotel,
started for the island, using the grand
iron bridge Uncle Sam has caused US to
stretch from shore to shore. Reaching
! the island and turning up the long stone
walk, shady and cool in the
| early morning air, we presented passes
to the guard at the lodge, re-
turned the military salute, and passed
| through the large iron gates and up to
| the long boulevard to the gun yards and
arsenal proper All around is a beauti-
| full lawn covered with grand old trees,
| with charming drives. and everywhere
little glimpses of the Mississippi shining
through the leaves, making park hard
! to rival After Il walk of nearly a mile,
we reach one Of the many huge stone
buildings, and agreeable to orders, hay
| ing gotten our passes counterslgned by
| the officer of the day, we were at liberty
! t. .amDle ground OF course the first
| object of interest we sought was the gun
| wards. Imagine if you can an acre Of
cannon, lying snugly side by side on a
sort of an iron bier, so to put it, like
dead men, all in rows, like soldiers
massed in a solid square with fence-a
| wall is better-of cannon balls cunnlngly
piled and surrounding the whole. Here
are guns of all kinds, size, and workman.
! u.
old. There are "long Toms whose
slimness make their fifteen feet length
seem much MOLE to the eye, and every
size from that down to the stubby little
| 1nortars that look more like an
old fashioned churn than anything
else. But what interested US most
| was the TROPHIES" dozens Of cannon
captured by our boys in blue in the diff
! ferent wars of our history. Among them
were some taken at Saratoga and York
| ton during the revolution, and from
| Fort Niagara; some old French pieces,
taken years ago by the French by their
English victors, and thus through the
vicissitudes of battle coming to us; there
| were four brass pieces, twelve Founders,
captured from the English at New Or
leans, that were cast nearly hundred
years ago for the French commune ''La
Public Franchise" was the motto craven
on their brazen sides, and some further
inscription that was too much tor my
French But I could not think how
they had played their part-a deadly
sE;s J daresav, iii that cruel French
revolution, dragged through the streets
of Paris, mayhap, by the trenZied pop
ulace and made to deal with death and
misery, their grim mouths guarding the
guillotine where poor Louis and Mary
AntoiIette We're beheaded, and then
they had heard the tickle crowd as it
cried, ''Vive u Empcreur," helped earn
Napoleon's greatness, doomed for JOY
when victory sat on his eagles, and lent
sad echoes to hills when his star was
darkened; they had seen his tri-
umphs, seen his fall for they were
at Waterloo, and there left the
tricolor for England's bars and crown n.
and crossing the Atlantic found benin
the cotton bales at the crescent city TIL
| flag in whose shade they have rested
ever since. Farther along in the row
| some cannon, large ones, captured at
Vera Cruz in 1857. And my companion,
a gentleman from Kentucky, who served
| four years on the other side during the
when we came to a lot Of pieces captured
at Vicksburg.
The government occupied this island
in 1916, Col. Davenport then building a
! small log fort on the southern end this
was then the far, far western frontier,
! This fort was maintained until after the
| Black Hawk war Then it dwindled to
mere military fort Of little moment,
during the rebellion it again assumed
| prominence, being used as a military
! prison, there being some twenty five
Thousand confederate prisoners upon it
at one time, and it is the last camping
ground for some two thousand yet.
Some time in the ZOOS commissions ap-
pointed by the government selected
! this point FOR the main and central ar
senal Of the country, and the entire
| island was purchased, the state Of I'LL
nois relinauishing jurisdiction, and the
island is governed the same
as the District of Columbia,
directly by congress. Since then the
government has spent nearly SIC, 600, 900
of money here, and it makes a good
| substantial, being all constructed of
yellow limestone, equally devoid Of or.
nament or any superhuous designs that
might feed fire or decay. The shops for
making war machinery and everything
! pertaining to war are vast, complete and
adapted to their object; the storehouses
| are perfectly fire proof and we'll guarded.
/ They cover many acres and to novice
! there seems to be guns and amunltiOrs
| of war enough to Kill the whole world.
The entire island, which is over two
! miles long by one wide, and containing
some thousand acres, is now occupied by
| the government. By the erection of a
! large stone wall, wedge shaped, across
tue Illinois channel abundant water
| power is obtained to run the machinery
in the shops and for the waterworks
| AS before mentioned, there are many
| pretty drives and walks upon the island
that are free to all provided with passes
only conditioned that holder does not
smoke or get on the grass. This is now
the only arsenal in the United States,
all the others being abandoned. The
command consists Of colonel, five COM
missioned officers and fifty regulars.
Some twenty-six civilians are EN-; oloyed