Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-10-20
THE GUN FA Glory BOARD
The Arguments on Behalf of the
Tri-Cities.
me Banquet and Other saci,,btiit,-s
"' Davenpor,-On for the pac,ac
Coasr.

Ihe tri-city delegations which met the
gun factory board at Col. Whittemore' :
quarters at Rock Island arsenal Saturday
were: Messrs. A. c. Dart, George Mix.
ter VIM. Jackson. John Peeiz E. II.
aayer, DIR. j. w. Stewart, Oliver Olsen.
mayor McConochie. DR.. w. A. Paul and
j. Nj. Blakesley. of Rock Island Charles
d. Deere. Morris Rosenfield, ]. w. At
kinson' ii. A Ainsworth and 8. 81. We
ie' OF Moline; and Mayor Flick, Robert
hsause, MAJ. L. NJ Marks, Col G ,orpe
W. French. Hon. Nsth. F. ech, w. F..
Ross. +. s. Hammatt. II. NJ. Henley,
John Hoyt aud B. F. Tillinghaat. of D,>
vehport. After Col CraiohilI. president
OF the board. had taken his position at a
table with his associates abou. him. he
spoke few words of welcome, and re
marked that he had been informed that i,
was The wish of some of the gentlemen
present TO present some oral arguments
IN favor of the establishment OF the foun-
ury and factory at this station. and that
the board would gladly listen to ANYTHING
OF interest that might be so advanced.
Judge Nathaniel French. of ID avenport
mad been selected by the joint local CONS
mtttees to present the advantages of the
locality and he did so in very compre.
henslve manner. He spoke first of the
location as being secure from the possible
intrusion of hostile armies, and upon
| which furthermore the supplies of fuel
material and labor cannot be cut off. He
called attention to the iuexhau 5tible sun.
plies of fuel for the coal mines of Illinois
and Iowa near at hand. lion ore comes
from all directions. The Lake Superior
| district furnishes US with superior ores
Tor the manufacture of steel, or will if
the government should choose to engage
IN that line of work; and other sources of
supply are Alabama. Texas, Missouri,
Tennessee and Georgia. with The regions
| of the east,
In point of labor facilities another very
| important element is the man ufscture of
artillery, Judge French thought his was
one of the best places in the entire coun-
| try. At this point alone there are not
less than 10000 skilled laborers, and fully
| one half that number are men accustomed
to the manufacture of iron and steel in
their various forms. The industries of
this point are steadily increasing their
operatives. and the number at these arti-
| sans is continually waxing greater. He
spoke also of the, transportation facilities,
The three great highways of the north
west coming into Rock Island the
Burlington. the Rock Island and Milwau-
kee systems, and connections soon to be
made with the Northwestern He also
spoke OF the direct commun icstion with
Peoria By the Rock Island & Peoria
and also dwelt ut length on the water
communication afforded By the Missis>
sippi and the soon to be built Hennepin
canal. touching upon the value of the
canal in sfJrding speedy access to the
great lakes, teYond which dwells a
great foreign power. srd the cap
abilities of the river to carry sll the |
load that can be laced upon it was given
with some degree of ininutie He cited |
facts with regard to the stage of water. Its |
variability, its average volume, its lowest |
ebt, and its carrying power under the |
least favorable circumsts noes, and his |
statement of facts on this point, al of |
them reliable and easily proven BY the |
st .tistics in the United States engineers |
office under Maj Mackenzie's charge. He |
cited many points of interest and value |
with reference to this locs ity, and called |
attention to the heredosis slough as af> |
fording the very thing desi red for a prac, |
tice range.
Some discussion followed on the anes, |
ton OF the amount of power that can be |
depended upon from the dam now in pro- |
cess of construction. participated in by |
Col. WhittemOTe. Engineer Otto Gronen. |
Col Burlington snd Others including Dir. |
Deere. Various matters of Information |
were asked by the commits sioners to be in
dAsded in the abstract of advantages TO be |
presented to the commission.
The Davenport Democrat further res |
ports the proceedings on that side of the |
river:
Immediately after the meeting was |
over the commissioners ana the aCcom> |
panying citizens took carriages and came |
to this side of the river They were !
drawn to the rooms of the Davenport |
Bus mess Mems association where other |
citizens of Davenport were waiting to |
receive them. After short time spent |
in becoming agreesbly acquainted the |
doors of the banquet room were thrown |
open and the distinguis he'd que SITS were |
shown to a scene that as certainly very
satisfactory to men who had tasted moth.
ing since breakfast. for it was then half |
past o'clock. Under the competent di- |
rectiOn of MIR. A. w. Vanderveer. as
sisted by MIR. Jas. p. Donahue, the hall |
bad been converted into scene truly |
festive. Elaborate tables were tasteful ly |
arranged, garnished with the most boun
tiful and tasteful collation. that could be |
arranged with all the skill of Chicago |
cooks and Davenport caterers. Flags |
and banners, and strea mers adorned the |
walls and depended from the ceiling, and |
magnificent floral piece occupied cen
trail position. 1t was large-siZed can
non, composed of roses and white carna, |
ton piDks. mounted upon base of ev
ergreens in lieu of carriage, and bear !
ing the inscription in darker flowers. |
Rock Island Arsenal. Exquisite roses |
at each plate filled the role of bouton-
nieres. and large vases of fine roses gar
nisbed the tables in profusion. And the |
eatables were there without end while an |
| orchestra in the anteroom played de- |
| lightfnl music.
There was nothing formal about the |
affair. There were no toasts nor speeches |
to bore people and consume time. but
each one of the CUES is was free to eut. |
drink and chat with those about him and |
feel easy. At the conclusion of the
l.,p 90 H.