Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-27

Tonight.
and every bed in the house contains
box springs with an expensive hair
mattress. Nearly all the rooms con-
tain running water and there are 40
bathrooms. most of which are in con-
nection with suites or rooms
Most of the furnishings, fixtures
and equipment for the hotel were Sc
cured through the following local
firms: Clemann & Salzmann, furni-
ture; L. S McCabe, Young & Nc
Combs and Ramser. The latter
firm supplied the silverware and ham
mered brass fixtures; the linen came
through Young & McCombs and Nc
Cabe's secured the chinaware.
The lessees have already expended
about three-fourths as much as the
consideration by which the present
owner acquired it. the property hav-
ing been turned over to the lessees
soon after it was acquired without in
provement.
stock Company I'm Control.
The new hotel is controlled by q
stock company which Manager Carl
Mueller organized soon after tak;ag
a lease on the property. w. P. Bet
tendorf is the president of the con-
pany which is known as the New Har
per Hotel company. Captain H. a. j.
Mcdonald is vice president and Alec
Anderson is treasurer. Mr.. NuHrer is
secretary of the company and manager
of the house.
Carl Mueller, manager of the New
Harper, is an excellent man for the
conduct OF such an enterprise. He
was born. and raised in this city and
is one of the well known and progress
sive young men of the city. His abil-
ity and temperament fit him well for
the duties he has taken up and he de
serves the best that the world affords
in the hotel line.
Manager Mueller has been fortunate
in his selection of the men who are
to aid him in conducting the affairs
OF the hotel. R. c. Willsrton. the vet
eran, will continue as chief cl;,'I and
his assistants will be George Martin
and Harvey Humphrey. both expert
enced and competent men. Edward
Olson is chief steward, which means
that this department is in 2omper snt
hands. as Mr.. Olsons experience at
the Hotel Davenport and at other
hotels where he has been engaged as
sures the management of this. Alec
Anderson of cant lose" fame is in
| charge of che cigar stand.
Mr. WiIlerton, the chief clerk, has
been with the Harper house since the
{ - d.,
and he is well known among the trav-
cling fraternity.
Harper House Wen Known.
The Harper house is well known
throughout the west, it having existed
for many years and earned an enviable
reputation for itself. The late Ben
Harper built the house in 1870 and it
was formally opened to the public
Feb. %, 1871. Mr. Harper managed
it until his death in 1887 and then it
was managed IN turn by the late
Homer J. Lowery, T. R. Harper, and
in 1891 ]. E. Montrose became the
lessee. In 1895 Charles McHugh be-
came part owner of the lease in con-
junction with Mr.. Montrose and the
two conducted the business under the
firm name of Montrose & McHugh,
securing a second lease for 10 years in
1899, at which time the house was en-
tirely remodeled and the lobby and
Office lowered to the ground floor. Other
improvements and additions to the
building were made from time to time
at considerable expense and an effort
was made to keep the hotel at the
head of the list where it had started.
This effort has had it's elimination
under the management of Carl Muell-
er, and it is evident that the New Har-
per is to fully maintain the excellent
reputation it gained and maintained
under the successive arrangements oS
Ben Harper, ]. E. Montrose and
Charles McHugh.
Manager Mueller completed arrange
ments for the leasing of the building
soon after it had been sold by the
Harper estate to DR.. Joseph De Silva
This sale occurred June II and the
lease held by McHugh & Montrose ter
minated July l.. The new company
took possession as soon as the lease
expired and the remodeling of the
structure began at once and has finally
been completed. m
Young Girls Are Victims
of headache. as wen as older women,
-