Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-09-27
GATES At CROSSINGS
Supt. Rice Says First One Will
Be Installed at Twentieth
Street.
FENCE TO BE BUILT AT oNoB
But Not so Frank As to the
Clock..About Freak
Baggage.

L. u. h'ce, superintendent or the
Illinois lines of the Burlington road.
was in the city today. having arrived
from Chicago during the night and
leaving this afternoon with his special
car attached to the afternoon train
for the south. While here he was
asked by an ARGUS reporter 10 re-
gard to the long promised crossing
gates, Twentieth street wall or fence
and the tower clock.
In regard to the gates the superin-
ordered and that the first to go in
would be the one on Twentieth
street Just how far work had pro
gressed upon them he was unable to
say. The fence south of the station
to be butt for the purpose of cutting
of the unsightly view of the coal
tracks. and which was to have been
built two months ago he said. will
be constructed within the next 80
days.
When asked about the clock in the
big tower that stands idly pointiug
skyward, the superintendent looked
up at the pile of brick and said: Il
don't know anythiug about that.
There is not much need for a clock
here any way, for we all have watches.
The dial places up there are all
bricked over, so there is no place for
a clock"
The pubic will be slow to believe
that after all the promises and re-
iterations on the part of the Burling-
ton from General Manager Brown
down-and including Supt- Rice him
, self. Division Agent Mack and others
that the company now proposes to
break faith'witn the people of Rock
Island. That clock was specified in
the original plans. and when at the
time of the construction of the build
| ing it was not provided. the assur-
ances were offered by all the officials
that 1t would come in the spring. Still
it is not there, and THE ARGUS re-
grets indeed to see this latest atti-
tude with reference to it. There is
no way to make the Burlington keep
! its promises, bat The ARGUS believes
that in city rs kindly dis posed to-
ward it as Rock Island, it cIuuot
afford to break its promises.
As to Freak baggage.
A
manufacturers of typewriters. cash
registers aud computing scales by
action taken by general passenger
agents of western roads yesterday in
agreeing to defer until Jan. the new
rule prohibiting the checking of these
articles as baggage.
For soz-e time the express COM
panies operating over the roads in
the territory west of Chicago have
been protesting to officers of the lat
ter over the custom of checking sam
pie typewriters. cash registers and
scales. The express people alleged
tina. the railroads were violating their
contracts with the former by check
ing articles as baggage that should go
as express matter. By this custom,
or courtesy, on the part of the rail-
ways. the express companies, their
officers allege. have been losing in the
aggregate several hundred thousand
dollars yearly, while the transporta-
ton lines have gained nothing finan-
cially.
Officers of the railroads have hesi-
t4ted to make any change in the
time-honored concession, being APP
prehensive of offending the army of
travelling statesmen whose patronage
in the way of ticket sales and subse-
queut shi pmsnts of freight was worth |
more than the aPPeasing of the *
press companies.
Notwithstanding these reasons for |
declining to sC ,ede to the dem tnds of |
the express companies the railroad |
people were in favor of turning the !
.ntire business over to the former.
The princi pal objection on the part of |
railroad officials to the checking of
ANYTHING but trunks aud valises was !
their consequent liability for every
thing checked as baggage. Type |
writer's, cash registers, scales, school |
desks and many other articles that |
have been going as baggage were |
being continually broken while in the |
custody of railroads and the latter |
were being constantly called upon to
pay damages.
Recently the passenger agents of
these roads in meeting agreed to
abandon the practice of checking any
Of these arti, les or anything else not
strictly baggage, but to refer the
owners to the express companies
Manufacturers in all parts of the
country Immediately filed protests at
the contemplated action and so strong
have been the objections that the rail
road officers at conference in Chicago
yesterday agreed to defer putting the
new rules in effect until Jan. l. the |
intervening time being given to the |
m anufactHrers to better prepare fer
the coming restriction.
working Night and Day.
The busiest and mightiest little /