Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-25
SHOULD Be MADE
MUTUAL AFFAIR
City and Country Equally Inter
ested in Promoting Lower
End Interurban.
BENEFITS ARE LIMITLESS
Farmers Want Privilege of Selling
What City Residents Want
Privilege of Buying.

The people of the west end of Rock
island county and the nearby portion
of Mercer county have for sale almost
unlimited produce that the people of
Rock Island want to buy At present
they are compelled to haul their butt
\ ter, eggs poultry,' fruit, etc. long dis,
tances to sell in inferior markets, while
their grain and hay they must sell to
shippers at figure that will give n
middleman's profit. Rock ISLAND con
sumers. if they get the products of the
farms of their own county, Hzist now
pay that niddleman's profit Thefei.
! fore, the building of an ipteFurpangts
matter of MUTUAL <iaterest> tol-the
farmers. and the ordinary conSumsrs in
the city. In-other words, everylody IN
the cityeof Rock .IsIahd, as &SlI ,as
everybody. IN thu lower epk Of RSck
Island county. has a personal inteSesC
in having the sead built, and built Is
Rock Island.
Much Mineral WEALTH.
Not only are there farm products to
be. brought.sto market, but. there are
considerable deposits of mineral wealth
in the region that the road would pass
through. 1t is the general belief among
those who have given theamatter most
careful attention, that there is a big
coal field in Buffalo Prairie and Anda-
lusia townships that is awaiting devel-
opment An additional source of fuel
supply having its principal outlet
through Rock Island would give this
city the benefit of lower prices. That
- of not
only the ordinary citizen, but to fac
tories having power plants.
In addition to coal there are large
deposits. of fine potter's clay and glass
sand and different kinds of stone. The
clay and sand have at different times
been hauled eight or ten miles to
railroad and shipped long distances to
be used. With rail facilities at hand,
they. would without doubt furnish the
basis of new local industries.
Would Tap Bay District.
Should the proposed road be extend
ed through Rock Island county into
the western end of Mercer county, it
would reach a district of unlimited fer
tility and one possible of great devel-
.opment. In the Boston bay bottoms
there is a tract Of $4,000 acres of land
now practically unpopulated, but which
will shortly be protected from high
water by dykes. This vast area will
in a few years be divided into farms,
improved with buildings and roads, and
will be producing great quantities Of
grain and other products of the soil.
For 20 miles along the Mississippi
river Boston bay extends with no ship
ping point between Muscatine and New
Boston. It's only transportation ia
cilities are by water, and it is COM
pletely cut off in the winter With
out doubt a town will be built some
where in the district. In fact, a move
ment is already on foot for the cree
ton Of large grain elevator on the
bank Of the river near the county line.
If there were direct rail facilities the
tri-cities would be the leading market.
The benefit that an interurban such
as is proposed would be to the coun-
try reached and to the city of Rock
Island would be almost unlimited.
AIny Select Engineer Soon.
While no engineer has as yet been
selected to survey the road, It is likely
that the work will be placed in some
ones hands before long. The commit.
tee appointed at the Buffalo Prairie
meeting, which has been given charge
of the matter, will probably confer
with the committee appointed in this
city yesterday before anything definite
is done. Letters received from bond
ing houses, however, indicate that less
Importance is attached to the selection