Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-12-15

Colonel Burr's Endorsement.
Colonel Burr's endorsement of the
,lans to Brigadier General William
,rozier, chief Of ordnance of tbs
United States army, was contained il
he following letter:
Rock Island Arsenal, H., Oct.
6, 1915.-To the Chief Of Ord
nance:
l. This letter outlines certain
plans made by Il board or commit
tee representing the Rock Island
County Historical society Of Rock
Island county, Illinois, and the
historical section of the Academy
of Sciences Of Davenport, Iowa,
for the celebration of the centen-
airy Of the building OF Fort Arm
strong on the western end Of the
Arsenal island. This centenary
occurs in 1916. but In order that
adequate preparation may be made
for the event certain privileges
are summarized on page three Of
this letter.
.. The board requests permits
sion to erect a replica of the block
house located on the southern an
gle Of Fort Armstrong. j, e, on the
down-riyer side Of Fort Armstrong
avenue. The approximate location
of this blockhouse is shown on the
print herewith. The appearance
of the blockhouse is shown on the
right from a cut from an old pho
tograph, found on the last page
OF the Brown edition of Flagier's
History Of Rock Island Arsenal
Ordinance memorandum No. 20),
entitled Fort Armstrong Rock
Island. 1853, copied from an Old
photograph The proposed loca-
ton Of this reproduced blockhouse
is such that it would not interfere
with any present or proposed plan
for the development Of the arsenal,
The location is also such that as
an historical object Of interest it
would be viewed from the river
and from Fort Armstrong avenue
by the general public, without in
terfering with arsenal activities.
The request of this society for
permission to reproduce this
bloekhouse at the place and loca-
ton stated, is considered unob-
fectionable. and it is believed that
it should be granted with the
usual restriction, that in granting
this permission the government
is not obligated to any expense in
the production or maintenance OF
the hlockhouse. and that the board
or committee securing permission
to reproduce the blockhouse does
not thereby acquire any property
rights on the Arsenal island, and
that in the event Of the recon-
struction of the blockhouse be-
coming in time Objectionable or
unsightly, or its site being requir-
ed for government purposes, it
shall be removed without expense
to the government
3. The second request is for
permission to hold this centenary
on the government reservation on
the Island of Rock Island. 1t is
proposed TO limit the celebration
TO the western end of the island,
and to include appropriate exer-
cises incident to the erection OF
the bIockhouse. and the historical
pageant for which the use Of some
of the open ground at the western
end of the island is desired. AS a
general proposition, the use of the
government reservation for any
other than government purposes
is Objectionable, and is not favored
bv the undersigned. but the prop
nsition of this committee, embrace
ing. as it does, the celebration Of
an historical event on the site Of
that event, and the awakening Of
general interest among the pub
lie in the history Of the vicinity,
is 80 exceptionally meritorious.
that it is believed it should be
granted. The privilege asked for
is for the use Of a portion of the
ground which can be so used with
out interfering in any way with
the arsenal's activities, and the
regulation and policing Of that
norton of the grounds so used
during the days that 1t will be
used can be arranged by the COM
manding officer OF the island, in
conjunction with the civilian
board having charge Of the af-
fair, without expense to the United
States. It is OF course under
stood that the permission TO use