The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-07-25
1T is COMPLETED.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
Depot on First Avenue.
The Painters Complete Their Work
and Speed Away---The Roster.

had nothing to do whatever with the road
The name of the road at that time was
the Rock Island. Rockford & St. Louis
railway. The road ran from this city to
Rockford, and from there on to St
Louis Rockford was the middle divis-
ion of the road. and the stopping over
place for most Of the men who ran on the
road. The general offices of the road were
in this city. Before the present depot was
built the officers of the road had their
headquarters at Rockford, but it was
determined TO move the offices 10 this
city, and depot was ordered to be built.
suited for occupancy by the officers. II
took about eleven months to build the
depot, and it was in May, 1870 that the
general offices of the road were moved
here. The depot, being new at that time,
presented handsome appearance. All
the rooms up stairs were occupied by
officers Of the road, and were handsomely
set off with fine furniture, pictures, and
the floors covered with costly carpeting.
The roster at that time was as follows:
President, vice president general mana
ger, treasurer, general passenger agent,
and host of other minor officers. The
road was emphatically a Rock Island
road. All the determinations that were
made were in favor of Rock Island. But
somehow or another the road never paid i.
Whether it was because the general man
ager of the road didn't know much about
railroading or not, we are not prepared
to say, but it is matter of fact that the
road had a hard time In the course of
human events the road passed into the
hands of the %" folks. From the time
they took hold of it the road began TO
prosper, though fate itself seemed to com
bine and unite against it. The general
offices were moved to Chicago. Some of
the officers were retained and some OF
them were given good letters and sent
adrift. The depot began 10 show its age
Try as hard as the employees could the
building began to present a seedy appear
ance, until 1t presented but the ghost OF
an appearance of its former self. Agent
Mack. who is as genial a soul as evel
existed, determined to have the depo
| fixed up, if it was possible. He called tn,
attention of the % managers to The
fact that the depot needed fixing up. HI
told them that Rock Island was too larg,
city, and too good q tributary to thu
20" system of railroad to be ignored
! The people of Rock Island had right Il
expect of the %" folks depot tina
would be an honor to the city. For long
time no heed was paid to Mr. Mack
protestations, until at last he prevailed
upon several of the officials to visit th,
city and IKE look at Thu
depot aud judge for themselves
They came aud with their own eye
beheld and were convinced that wha
| Agent Mack had written them vas true
and promised him that that the depo
should be looked after In about two
weeks after the officials had gone hom
a gang of painters arrived and set to worl
on the depot. The first thing they dil
was to change the color of the depot OIL
the outside. This they did, and every
one who gazed at the big pile of bricl
were we'll pleased with their work The,
were artists of the first water and hat
done a good job. Then they transferred
their labor to the inside of the building
and from room TO room they went, unit
at last the inside like the outsid,
was done Tue transformation was com
plete The ceiling was kalsomined unit
it presented whiteness that rivalleC
alabaster. In fact, the change in appear
ance. for the better, was so great, tina
one could hardly tell it was the sam
place. Everything looked fresh and a
bright as q new born daisy. We congrat
ulute the boys in the boys in the depo
over their Improvement The 90 boy
are dandy set. They are as genial ant
sociable as the day is long. The follow
ing is the list of gentlemen employed il
the depot: Agent, Mr.. II. c. Mack, room
/; day tram dispatcher, Mr.. P. McCune
night train dispatcher, Mr.. VIM. McErvin
room 2; assistant ticket agent, Mr.. s. p
Lyman, room 1 Car accountant, MI
Mark Thomas, room 3; cashier, Mr.. H ?
Custer, room A. bill clerk, Mr.. F. c. Leo
nard, loom 5; superintendent locomotIv
department Mr. B. J. Dempsey, room Z
road master, Mr.. j. Murphy, room s
yard master, Mr.. Hardy Htaton, room 8
Besides these gentlemen there are mum
Der of others employed in the building
The conductors have a room in the thir
story which is devoted exclusively t
their use. 1t is intended to make thi
room general reading room, and to tha
end books and periodicals will be pu
there and Of course the Daily ARGUS ca
be found there at all times, for the "a
road boys like the ARGUS because it ha
all the railroad news. To Agent Mac
the ARGUS extends its congratulation
and best wishes for his futrue success
1t is all owing to his persevering DISPOSE
ton that we now have depot that i
appearance is an honor to the town. |
conclusion we will not forget to exten
the thanks of the citizens of Rock Islam
to the managers of the great %" road fC
their generosity in giving in this cit
what we have been signing for. May 20
all live long, wax fat and prosper.