Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-06-24
/ WOLTNE'S SECTION OF THE ARGUS

7 progressive centers OF industry, com
merce and education, have joined IN
! commemorative this historic event.
/ and are pleased to contribute the CLOS
ing number in the weeks series oil
I celebrations.
When the Gibraltar of the North
was founded on an island on the coast
of Finland, the builder of the fortress
had inscribed upon its granite walls
these words: From a wilderness
these islands have been transformed
into a Sveaborg. Let posterity here
stand on its own ground and never
trust to the aid of an alien power.
War for Domestic Peace.
If our country must in time OF
peace prepare for war, let 1t be war
in defense of our domestic peace. II
for this purpose more adequate pre-
variations are needed, the interior OF
the country offers the most favorable
locations for plants and depOts to sup
ply the means OF protection and the
weapons of defense. As citizens of
the communities surrounding the great
military establishment now occupying
. B
Fort Armstrong. we believe it to be
matter of vital public interest that this
establishment, if needed, be further
enlarged and developed, not as
clenched fist in the face OF brother
nations, but as a strong arm for the
protection of ourselves, by ourselves
alone, not by any league or alliance
with foreign powers AS Sveaborg
stood for many decades as the eastern
bulwark OF our mother country, so
may the federal arsenal be the steel
armor protecting the heart and the
arteries OF the country, the protective
bulwark of peaceful occupations, the
impregnable Gibraltar of the central
west"
DIR. Andreen Speaks.
The day was ideal for the mldsum-
mer festival The park was beautifully
decorated with the Swedish and Amer
lean national colors. The program was
started at $50 with music by the Plow
company band, Svea and Swedish ma
tional choruses. A stirring patriotic
. address was delivered in Swedish by
Dr. Gustav Andreen. president of Au-
! gustana college, who spoke as follows
During the past week we have all
=, participated in the centenary celebra-
: ton of the arrival of the troops of our
government to Rock Island. the van
-. guard of those who later were fully 10
complete the winning of the west Our
souls have been stirred and our patrl-
i otism quickened by the recital of hard
:, ships endured and difficulties over
- come by the sturdy pioneers and graft
= tude to God has filled our hearts, as
i ! our eyes have witnessed the marvel
u Gus growth and prosperity with which
:. a century has crowned our tri-cltI
8 community and our country as {
- whole A great event of this kind /:
worthy of commemOration. From sucf
:. celebrations as those which have made
= glorious the days of the past week
- there blossoms forth as from a Centur!
plant the wonderful rose of deepe,
! appreciation of our home and environ
n ment a strengthened love of countr.
- and its history, and a resolve to yielt
undying devotion to the advancement
:. of its interests.
!, "A special word of thanks is due t
~ u those who so thoughtfully planned an
w so successfully carried forward thi
y, celebration. None of US can offer OF
II fetal thanks. but | know I voice tn
u sentiment of all, when | say that tn
a very efficient committee which had tn
II centenary celebration in charge ha
4 richly won the unbounded gratitude o
u the people living on both banks of tn
, great river, out of whose bosom rise
,e the beautiful island, where Fort Arm
+ strong was erected a hundred year
u ago.
l. ION this midsummer day when W
are gathered here III the center of on
commonwealth, in as beautiful coun
n try as God has ever created. on
n thoughts go back both to the events o
n the founding of Fort Armstrong ant
a also to lands and climeS far distan
p across the ocean.
$ THE old home to which refer is o.
% the other side of the Atlantic: far iron
l. Europe the ancestors of all American
J. came. Ages ago in prehistoric time
f. our common fOrefathers, the old AIRY
n ans, had begun to move from Ash
e across the steppes of Southern Eu
n rope They soon divided, going to dit
n ferent parts of Europe, some of tn
le tribes settling in Greece, others in II
G. ally and France; others made thei
3 way through the ancient forests c
lie Germany, others went across to tn
z British Isles and many to the Scandi
lie navian peninsula.
J. I'm these different parts they SET
Id tied down and little by little develope
N different traits and characteristics an
le finally after a thousand years they ha
Of become nations, who differed froI
in each other so much that they came t
lie look upon each other as aliens an
is often as enemies. Should these IA
Or tons of the same old Aryan stock eve
come together again?
ST America Gods Plan.
as in the providence of God a plac
he was prepared in the western continen
lg The Atlantic ocean had detained tn
OF Aryan advance westward for centuries
L but the day came when the nation
N made allies of these forces so that III
e, waves had to bear them and the wind
m carry them even TO America. Afte
a. the discovery OF this country ther
e. have come from every part of Europ
l. members of the old sister nations
~ from the British Isles, from the cor
a. tinent of Europe and from Scandina
Id via. Here in the building up of TIL