Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-02-22
AN OLD TINE EVENT.
How Washingt0n's Birthday was
Once Marked Here.
The First Train from Lake Michigan
70 the Mississippi Thirty-six Years
Ago Today...A Grand Joliincation
ana q Suggestion.

ana a Suggestion.
To-day being the 15Sth anniver
ar, OF the birth of the father o
his country, an event Of the great
est importance in our national his
story, is likewise the thirty sixth
anniversary of one of the creates
events in local history. On Wed
nesday. February 90. 1854. Rocl
Island and Davenport joined in Jolliflca
ton over the completion of the first rail-
road from the great lakes to the Mississippi
The cities were gaily decorated. flags
fiotted everywhere. cannon doomed, and
Everybody grstified a disposition to re-
Joice. AT night there was universal Il.
Illumination.
| The great Chicago & Rock Island rail-
road had been completed-the first great
span of its wonderful system. which has
since proven one of the most important
fac ors of our Interstate commerce. In
February, 1851, the legislature char
tered the company; in October of the
same year, the contracts for the con-
struciion and equipment were let in
April 1852. the first estimate for work
upon it was paid; in February 1854,
three years from the date of its charter,
and twenty-five months after ground
had been broken the work was cemplet-
ed, and trains commenced running its
entire length of 161 miles. Sheffield &
Fsrnam we're the contractors, and it was
under their contract that Mr.. John War
ner and the late W. Il. Whitman were
placed In the path that led them to Rock
Island.
On that noted twenty second of Feb :,
rusly. at $50 a. m, the mayor, common
council and large number of merchants
the party numbering 250-left Chicago
on the first train that ever started from
that city for the Mississippi nver. The
papers of that week were full of accounts
Of the celebration of the great triumph
The day was one of "the most delightful
of the season, and the genial sunshine
and the exhilerating atmosphere chimed
in With the exultant spirit which sparkled
In the eye and sbone on the countenance
Of every one of that goodly company
sale one sheet. The train was tastefully
ornimented with flags and evergreens,
and its arrival at the different towns along
the line was greeted with the shouts of
the people, and the firing of cannon. At
Joliet, Morris. Ottawa. LaSalle. Peru,
Tislilws, Geneseo and Moline, the ex-
cursion party received sccessions, and
when it arrived at Rock Island, the then
terminus, its passengers we're three hum
dreo and fifty in number.
TIE reception by Rock Island and Dav-
export was a magnificent spectacle"
said the Chicago Press at that time:
Thousands of people lined the streets,
and crowded the doors and windows as
the procession passed IN Rock Island; fair
ladies waved their hsndkerchiefs, and
stout men and youths shouted exuItingly,
viii ever and anon the thunder Of can
non doomed over the Mississippi, arous-
Ing the echoes from the majestic bluffs.
IL vas glorious day for Rock Island and
for Davenport. The citizens of those
places had looked forward to it for
years, some of them with fear and
trembling. lest their eyes should not
behold it. Hundreds of people from
the contiguous country in Illinois and
Iowa had come in to witness the scene,
and to mingle their shouts and congratu-
lstions with their city neighbors. Dele
cations were present from most of the
rive towns from Dubuque to St. Louis,
and some had come from the far interior
towns of Iowa, for they knew that the
arrival of the iron horse upon the banks
of the Mississippi was but an earnest of
his speedily appearing beyond it, and
sire ching away on his destined course
toward the Pacific. We think we are not
above the mark In estimating the number
present on the arrival of the train at from
Eve to six thousand
How well has that prophecy which was
made. as many often are, in the enthusiasm
Of the hour verified. The great iron
steed did not halt at Rock Island. In
less than a year after he had leaped
across the Mississippi and linked the
cities of Rock Island and Davenport. the
states of Illinois and Iowa, together with
"bs ads of steel" Still the iron horse did
not rest. Encouraged by the improve
ments that time made in his condition, he
spec on westward, first to Iowa City, then
to Des Moines. and in fifteen years he
was shaking his thirst in the Missouri and
in seventeen years he could have coursed
his way to the Pacific.
so that we can mingle with the patri-
otism that fills our hearts today, thoughts
that spring from home pride, and
while we give vent to onr joyous i'm
pulses let us stop for consideration of
this one sober thought What are we to-
day as a city and what are we to make
this season tell for us9 Are we to 60
ahead and build good streets and encour-
aye lasting improvements, OF are we to
relax into indifference and watch the
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