Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-04-16
BERRY TO REMAIN
Report He is TO Leave the Bur
Iington Railway Company
is Erroneous
HIS TERRITORY IS INCREASED
Jacksonville & 81. Louis Is Added &c
His Diyision-GasOIine for
Motive Power.

HC ICJOIl SUM out II III NAAANS4= -
and printed II number of the news
( papers giving Inference that l.. W.
Berry. superintendent of the Rock Isl
and < st. Louis division of the Bur
| lington. had severed his connection
with that company. is misleading.
Mr.. Perry remains with the Burling-
ton and is to have additional territory.
The Jacksonville x ST LouiS. a line
liz miles in length and operating be
| tween Jacksonville and Centralia. has
been added to his division. and he be
comes superintendent Of both.
The jacksonville K st. Louis road
was acquired enc year ago by the Bur
lington. 1t operates through a pro-
ductive coal country, and will be look
ed TO in future to supply the Q. sys-
TEN with fuel
Since the line was purchased by the
burlington there has been built a CON
nection between Concord and Jack
sonville. This gives Rock Island con-
nection with jacksonville
Gasoline for Motive Power.
Inc Burlington railway may substi-
tute gasoline for steam as 4 motive
power for passenger traffic on certain
portions of its system. Experiments
which have been made with gasoline
motor car are said to have been salts
factory.
The motor is the invention of w. 0.
Worth. whose system Is called friction
transmission. For some time the Bur
lington has been using one of the cars
on the Tabor & Northern. between
Tabor and Malvern. Iowa. n distance
Of nine miles. The road i exceedingly
billy and the conditions eNacting. yet
it has been found that the motor saves
20 per cent in operation over steam
and is capable Of hauling large loads
easily at a rate of 30 miles an hour.
Robert McCIelland. president Of the
Tabor & Northern. expresses belief
mat gasoline is destined to supplant
electricity as motive power.
Difficult Engineering Feat.
\ difficult problem confronts the G..
Z. &, Q. engineers who are construct
ing the FentOn & Thomson railroad in
Whitesidr county. Work across the
peat beds. or the Cat Tail slough,
near Union Grove, commenced Nov. 1.
After the holidays a track was built
on the frozen ground, commencing at
the point where the Mendoza branch
of the burlington track crosses the
town line between Fenton and Union
Grove, and running northwest Il dis
tance of over five miles. The first
three miles of this track is built over
the peat beds.
The only season in the year in
which this work can be accomplished
! with any degree of certainty is dur
! ing the winter mCnthS while the
| ground is frozen. as it is underlaid
with bed Of peat that extends from
the surface to a depth of from Il to
| 80 feet. Small cars were brought into
| service and earth was hauled on them
! by teams and the track was ballasted
| up so that a work train and steam
/ While the ground remained frozen the
work train could move and get out
onto the Mendoza branch TO Denrocll
/ for coal and water. When the frost
! began TO leave the ground. about
/ March !. il was plainly seen that the
peat beds would be so soft and DOGGY
that it would be impossible to move
cars over that part of the track. The
greater part Of the earth that was
! hauled in during the winter to make
the fill across the bog was frozen.
When this thawed out the track in
many places sunk down so that il is
unsafe to run ears over. The WORK
train and a gang of about $50 men are
now at work on the north end of this
stretch Of track.