Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-20
Elements in the Making of a Greater
Rock Island.

acClFlC1eS OF the ROCK Island Club and
the Rock Island Industrial commission,
are materializing so rapidly these days
as to almost surpass belief. And the
beauty of 1t all is that the achievement
which was the foundation of it all, the
raising of the booster fund a little over
two years ago, was contamination in
which all the people participated.
While it had its origin in an organiza-
ton devoted to the industrial and COM
mercial development of Rock Island,
the accomplishment belonged to the
people as whole. 1t became the peo-
pies project from the first, and it was
only through the public spirit and lib
erality, not of any class of citizens, but
of the great body of the citizenship of
Rock Island, that the undertaking was
made success. AS was said then, is
true still: The man who gave accord
ing to his means, $780, proved himself
in act and in reality as much a booster,
as much a contributor to the upbuild-
ing of Rock Island, as the man of great
er opportunities who put his name
down for 1000. Notwithstanding the
fact that many instances have already
been shown of how much that accom-
plishment meant for Rock Island, time
will tell that those men who contribu-
ted to that fund, no matter how little
or how much, builded far better than
they knew. They showed what Rock
Island was capable of doing, and is
still capable of doing, when the patriot
ism of its citizens and their loyalty to
their city is appealed to. To apply latter
day expression, those men were there
with the goods" They made a record
for the city that awakened both the
surprise and the admiration of other
cities, and thus they laid the fOunda-
tiCn for attracting the attention of in
vestoTs that is now beginning to bear
abundant fruit. Great things are not
accomplished in a night, but events
have demonstrated that since the rails
ing Of that booster fund Rock Island
has been making substantial gains.
The steady, unfaltering step has de-
yeloped into a stride, and there has
come march OF progress that is bound
to land Rock Island among the fore
most cities of the state. This is just
as certain as the day follows the night.
When II. z. Casteel secured for the
Industrial commission what is known
now as the industrial tract in the west
end and placed it in the hands of the
industrial commission for the encour-
agement of new factories, the way was
opened for the bringing in of factories.
And they have come. The Standard
oil cloth company. the butter tub works,
the neck yoke factory and the tool COM
pany-the latter which, although passing
through period of depression, is again
on it's fetal these institutions are
here through the efforts of the Rock
Island Club, the Rock Island Industrial
commission and the cooperative spirit
that provided the industrial addition
and at the same time furnished the
impetus to the bringing of other fac
tories here.
With the practical certainty of the
completion of the belt line destined to
open the door to additional railroads
and to afford the means for interurbans
coming into the city from territory
contiguous to Rock Island; with one of
Moline's great plow companies having
already completed arrangements to
locate branch plant in the upper end
of town, and another ready to estab-
lish one on the industrial tract in the
west end, Rock Island is brought to
a realization of what is in store for It
as the direct result of the progressive
spirit evinced by the people in general |
when they gave of their holdings by |
common subscription to the Greater |
Rock Island development fund. The |
men to whose judgment the expendi- |
ture of this fund was entrusted have |
not been sleeping They have been |
conservative in it's expenditure, but |
they have accomplished much. And |
while the coming Of the two Moline |
plants does not involve the outlay Of |
any of this money, 1t was the wide
awake spirit shown at the time the |
money was raised that made Rock Is |
land look mighty good" not only In the |
eyes of neighboring cities, but to the |
country in general Disappointment |
and encouragement and ofttimes re-
verses attend every great movement,
but in the end it is the sum total that |
counts; and when, in short space of
time, Rock Island balances up it's
books, it will be found that the spirit |
manifested in the raising of the Great |
er Rock Island industrial fund, and the
booster and the t-together-and-push |
sentiment then created, has brought n
harvest in which all will share. 1t |
will be shown that the booster and not |
the knocker has won the day.
And there is another side to the |
latest developments in the location of |
new factories in Rock Island through |
the establishment of plants kindred TO |
great Moline establishments. The