Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1898-04-09
ALWAYS IN THE LEAD
AN ILLINOIS TOWN THAT KEEPS
ABREAST OF PROGRESS.

Rock Island is up to date progressive
and always ON the lookout for some inn
provement or enterprise that will add to
her beauty or enhance her industrial
worth, writes a correspondent of the
Chicago Chronicle. Her people are not
slow either. They are huStling, ener.
getic and ambitious, always, of course,
looking for the best Of it, but ever Civ
ing consideration to the needy and help
less. Let the enterprlslng men OF this
town learn of Il factory hunting new
location, in less time than it takes to
tell it they are making arrangements
for an interview with the prOprietors of
the concern. and if after Il thorough in
vCstigatiun they find it is Il promising
concern they are ready with PROPOSE
ton which will land if the other fellows
really mean business.
This onterprising spirit on the part
Of her people is what has helped to
mako Rock Island famous. The name is
as we'll known i'll some localities on the
other side of the water us here i'll Amer
lea. North. south, east or west, wher-
ever you 90, you are sure to run up
against tho name of Rock Island. Here
is situated Uncle Sans great arsenal !;
here is the terminus of the Hennepin
canal; here the great Rock Island route
centcrs; here the Illinois Western Hos
pital For the Insane.
OF pretty homes Rock Island has quite
Il few, and III this respect can hold her
own with the rest of the cities of her
size Rock Island S Improvements are
source of satisfaction and pride to every
one who lives there who is old enough to
appreciate them. With paved and boule-
varded streets by the mile, excellent
Sidewalks high and dry and cool drives,
stately trees, pretty parks and one OF
the most beautiful summer resorts
| Black Hawks watch tower-and a fine
street car system, the people of this city
are happy, contented and feel they do
not have to go away from home to enjoy
themselves, and by that it should not be
inferred that they are clannish and
think no other city has a license to
boast of its beauty. Rock Island people
are not built that way. They think, as
every one who loves his home and town
should, that they are living i'll about
the prcttiest spot ON earth. People here
do IA deal of travelling too. They go
away to see what other towns are doing.
1t has truly been said that Rock
Island is not seeking a boom such as
characterized the alleged phenomenal
advancement of many western cities Of
late. She is not building air castles or
erecting tlimsy structures on IL founda
ton of sand for the winds and floods to
destroy, but it is upon her worth and
material advantages as center OF trade
and industry, Il city of honest value,
| buildcd upon rock, that Rock Island
seeks consideration. If this city We're to
| ask attention upon the strength of her
name, it would be i'll Il spirit of pride
| long felt and we'll founded. Her advance
mcnt has Ieen so sure and so marked
and enduring that an impetus to still
| greater efforts has been the result, and
now Rock Island basls i'll the sunshine
of perpetual prosperity. Rock Island
takes great pride as to her location. This
is her greatest advantage, for nature has
been specially kind i'll laying the foun-
dation upon which human skill, perse-
verance, thrift, industry and enterprise
have buildcd the structure.
Situated in latitude Of Al degrees
30 minutes north, longitude 80 degrees
80 minutes west at IL point on the Mis-
| siSsippi almost cQuidiStant from Chica-
| go and Omaha, st. Louis and ST. Paul,
| Milwaukee and Kansas City, there could
| Il n,
| sirahlo as u center of commercial I'M
| pOrtanCe The city rests on the south
shore Of the Mississippi, whose refresh
ing breezcs vie with those which ripple
| down the hillsides south Of the city in
| keeping the populace refreshed III the
sWcltcring days of summer.
Three Of the great trunk lines of the
west enter hore--the Chicago, Rock Is
land and Pacific the Chicago, Burling-
, ton and Quincy and the Chicago, Mil
waukec and st. Paul, together with the
direct route to the southeast, the Rock
Island and Peoria, which latter cOmpa-
ny has its headquarters here. The Dia-
mond 10 packets pass up and down the
Mississippi, which is daily traversed at
! this point BY numerous excursion and
raft boats.
/ Rock Island is active in manufactur-
ing enterprises, She has upward of 30
| important industries and various small
CT ones, with capital invested of fully
! $1,000, 600. The aggregate business
amounts to $40, 600, 600 annually, and
employment is given to 5000 men,
whose wages aggregate 81, 800, 600,
PlOws, carriages and shoes are made
| here and are to be found i'll all the inn
| portant markets Of the country. Rock
Island has extensive lumber interests,
there being three sawmills here aside
from sash and door manufactory.
The government arsenal at Rock Is,
land has found Il new incentive III the
disposition of Uncle Sam to add a small
arms department of ordnance to the va
ri0us other army accouterments manu-
featured here The arsenal now gives
employment to 500 men, and the pros
poets are for the doubling Of that mum
Der. Captain Stanhope +. Blunt is the
present commanding officer. He was re.
Gently transferred from Watervliet arse
nal and is full of ambition and energy,
! and it will not be his fault if things do
not hum at the arsenal. The other de-
partment of army service here is that
! for the Improvement of the Mississippi
from its source - the mouth of the Mis-
souri, river. This work, which is under
the engineer department OF the United