Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-22

bridge will not soon be forgotten by
engineers and men of science.
Nowhere else i'm the history of bridge
building had such conditions been en-
countered; nowhere on earth had work
of this character been attended with
greater hazards: never had circum-
stances created Il situation of more
dramatic interest BY many the whole
venture was regarded rs Il reckless
gamble; for more than million dol
lars had been risked on tie chance not
alone that O'Neil could build supports
which the ice could not dcmolish. but
that he could build them under the
most serious difficulties in record break
ing time. Far more than the mere
cost Of the structure hinged upon his
success; failure would mean that his
whole investment up to that point
would be wiped out, to say nothing OF
the $20OOO,OOO project Of trunk line
up the valley of the Salmon.
Had the government permitted the
Kyak coal fields to be opened up the
lower reaches of the s. Il. and y. would
have had a value, but all activity in
that region had been throttled. and the
policy of delay and INDIGESTION at head
quarters promised no relief.
The actual erection of steel work was
impossible during the coolest months;
Parker had planned only to rush the
piers, abutments and false work to COM
pletion so that he could take advantage
of the mild spring weather preceding
the breakup. The execution Of this
plan was in itself an unparalleled I'M
dertaking, making it necessary to hire
double crews of picked men. Yet, as
the weeks wore into months the intri-
cate details were wrought out one by
one and preparations were completed
for the great race.
Late in March Dan Appleton went
70 the front, taking with him his wife
and his sister. for whom O'Neil had
| thoughtfully prepared suitable living
quarters. The girls were as hungry
as Dan to have a part in the deciding
struggle, or at least to see it close at
hand. for the spirit of those engaged
in the work had entered them also.
Life at Omar of late had been rather
uneyentful. and they looked forward
with pleasure to Il I1newaI of those
cOmpanionable relations which had
made the summer months 50 full of
interest and delight. But they were
disappointed. Life at the end of the
line they found to be a very grim, a
| very earnest. and in some respects an
extremely disagreed BILE affair: the few
erish. unceaSing activity OF their friends
! left no time for companionship or rec
reation of any sort. More and more
they. too. came to feel the sense of
haste and strain pervadinG the whole
army of workers. the weight of respon-
sibility that bore upon the commander.
Dan became almost a stranger to
them. and when they saw him he was
7 Obsessed by vital issues. Melen was
gruf and irritable: Parker in his pre-
/ occupation ignored everything but his
| duties. OF ali their former comrades
ONeiI alone seemed aware of their
presence But behind his smile they
saw the lurking worries; in his eyes
was an abstraction they could not pen
citrate. in his bearing the fatigue of
man tried to the breaking point.
To Eliza there was a certain joy
merely in being near the man she
( loved. even though she could not help
being hurt by his apparent indiffer-
, ence. The long weeks without sight
of him had deepened her feeling ana
She had turned for relief to the writing
of her boOk-the natural outlet for her
repressed emotions. Into it's pages she
had poured all her PASSION all her
Eearning. and she h:.t written with an