Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-05-07

will require careful judgment and
consideration. l believe realize in
q measure the duties devolving upon
the Mayor and assure You that 1 will
try ana perform them to the best of
my ability ever bearing In mind the
best interests of the city. aud in the
! performance of which, gentlemen,
ask your hearty cooperation and sup.
port.
1t is hardly necessary for me to
state that my sympathies are in favor
of public improvements. Those Of
you who are acquainted with me are
aware Of this and my record in the
Council for four years speaks for It.
self. expect SO long as am a resi-
dent of Rock Island to labor for it's
advancemenc Here I wish to call
the attention. of the Council
to the poor brick paving
in our city which needs to be looked
to, and If the city has guarantee for
| five years, to at once call the attcn-
| tion of the contractors to this paving.
Property holders do not wish to fad
fault without grounds for so doing,
| but can not and should not be ex-
pected to pave again in five or six
years, but it looks SO in great many
| places in our city, for instance Third
avenue near the Y. M. G. A.
building and Fourth avenue; also
Twentieth street and num-
| Der of other places which
I will not mention this evening. 1
hope the new Council will give this
subject their earnest attention. In
regard to the paving Of alleys l am
very much opposed to this move.
ment when the property holders OF
our city have been so heavily taxed
for street paving. think the alleys
ought to be brought to grade where
necessary and macadamised by the
general tax Of the city.
The financial condition of the city
you will perceive by the report of the
City Clerk and City Treasurer. l
think the Finance committee ought
TO make report every six months
and condition of the city's funds and
be paid extra for this work. The
business Of city the size OF Rock
Island where so much money is
handled by the City Clerk and Treas
urer requires our Finance Com mittee
Ia derate too much time to receive no
compensation for this extra time.
wish to call your attention to the
difference in grades given for side
walks in various parts OF our city.
This onght to be attended to because
property holders in building side.
walks do not want after once putting
down brick or tile sidewalks to have
to raise or lower as the grades change
from year to year. Where the fault
lies do not know bat I hope to find
out. One engineer gives grade and
the next one changes it. This is
great injustice to many property
holders. 1 would recon neLd q con
tinuance Of enforcing the sidewalk
ordinance in the various parts of the
city and the repair Of some brick
walks that have been poorly con-
structed. There is no improvement
in the city which receives SO many
favorable comments by strangers and
our own citizens as the good side
walks. hope this i'm provement will
continue.
Sanitary c'nditiops of our city will
require careful attention and hope
we may have no cholera or small pox
to attend to this gear. The city
should be kept clean. Nothing speaks
SO we'll for city as cleanliness. =
Our fire dep Artment is we'll equip.
ed and the great expense such as ap-
paratue, horses aud houses will not
come before us this year. 1t is q
great expense. true enough to equip
fire department like ours. but it is
something every man ought to be
proud ofS~Promptness at a fire is
the main question. When you hear
the fire alarm in the still hours of the
night. II the fire is not warming
your own walls you scarcely arise
from your bed. Why? Because our
city has established a paid fire de-
partment and you trust to them to do
their work creditsbly and feel safe to
know that my property and yours
alike will if need be receive protec-
ton at their hands.
wish to call the attention of the
new Council to the iron bridge on he
bluff near the head of wenty-eighth
or Twenty ninth street on Thirteenth
avenue which was purchased by the
city about year ago and never cree.
ted but is piled up in heap near the
place it was intended to span. I hope
you will arrange to have the
bridge put in place at the earliest
time possible before parts Of it are
carried away and the replacing Of
the missing parts cost almost as
much as new bridge.
l do not wish to tire you with q
lengthy address as We have a great
amount of important business to at.
tend this evening. \ I desire to extend
my thanks to the retiring Mayor Mr.
Medill, for the many c,urtesies 81 own
me and ] hope and trust tina. pros
perity may attend him in all of his
walks Of life and that our friendship
may still continue in the future.
Also to the retiring aldermen. Gem
tlemen / wish Won all succ-sa in