Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-09-21
PLEA
FOR THE ARSENAL
Congressman Sets Forth Advantages
of Rock Island in Communication
to Navy Secretary.

/ with the secretary Of the navy by Con-
/ gresham Clyde H. Tavenner. The let
ter points out many advantages of the
Rock Island arsenal, and reads as fol-
lows:
September IA, 1916.-Hon. Josephus
Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, Wash
ington, D. C. My. dear Mr.. Secretary:
Now that you are considering the
! advantages Of the various sites pro-
posed for the government armor fac
tory, I wish to renew to you my in
vitatiOn to visit the Rock Island ar
senal so that you may personally in
yestigate the advantages of this valu-
able government property.
/ The people OF the -citles-Rock
I Island, Moline and Davenport-would
I consider it an honor to entertain you.
II you cannot personally come, I
! trust you will not fail to consider the
| advantages of the arsenal before MAX
ling your decision as TO where the
armor plant shall be erected. In this
/ connection / wish to outline briefly
the principal advantages of the Rock
] Island arsenal so that you will have
the information in your files, although
! l have previously cOrresponded and
| couversed with you on the subject:
/ l. The strategic location Of the
Rock Island arsenal from a military
viewpoint gives it an advantage which
/ is possessed by no other arsenal in the
United States Being we'll in the in
tteriOr of the country, it would be
much safer from attack and possible
I capture by an enemy in time of war
! than plants located on or near either
coast. No matter from what direction
an invading army might come, our
army would still have vast manu-
/ featuring plant to furnish supplies 10
4 1T from the rear. Neither from north
nor south, east or west. could an in
vader reach the Rock Island arsenal
/ until every ounce of power possessed
/ by the people had been overcome
= Its central location geographic
ally. making il convenient to ship the
finished product to either the Allan
tic Pacific or gulf coasts with econ
omy in both time and transportation
costs. The economy Of time is Of i'm
port3nCe In time of war, when the
/ saving of a day or two days, or even
Of few hours. in the arrival Of
train of ammunition or other para
phornalia Of war at the scene OF hos
Utilities might easily be Of the greatest
moment
3 Cheap water power possibilities
that are everlasting. the government
owning its own water power plant in
The Mississippi river. Under the man
+ agemcnt Of the present Commandant,
Colonel George W Burr, this plant is
producing 1000 horse power at a cost
of , u mills per kilOwatt hour. the low
cost Of which can be best understood
when fl is stated that at the great
/ keOkuk dam. less than one hundred
miles down the river, consumers are
charged from s TO 10 cents per kiIo-
watt hour, which is approximately
A . lss y-fzr
which Colonel Burr is developing
power for the government at the ar
sonal power plant. With an expendi-
ture OF $I35 GOO for new equipment
the present water power plant could
be made to produce 1000 horse power
at cost of less than two mills per
kilowart hour. And even this develop
ucUt would use only Is of the AZ
openings in the power dam. With all
OF the openings equipped with turbines
5000 horse power could be developed
at an equally low cost per unit.
f. The advantages of Rock Island
as a manufacturing center, as demon
strated by the fact that at the Rock Is
land arsenal shops the government
has manufactured rifles, field artillery,
gun carriages and other war equip
meut at d cost ranging from 20 to so
per cent below the price of private
manufacturers For instance, caissons
for gun carriages, wagons for carry
ing ammunition chests, have been
manufactured at the Rock Island ar
senal for SLIPS. which cost, when
purchased of private manufacturers,
S1,744, which is 81 per cent greater
than the arsenal cost. Many similar
illustrations could be given.
>. Il would be unnecessary for the
government TO purchase additional
land in charging the Rock Island ar
snnaI, as the government tract en-
braces sos acres. any part of which
could be utilized as sites for new
buildings. At other arsenals it would
be necessary for the government to
purchase additional property.
6 There is at least one, and pos
sibly two. large stone buildings in the
arsenal grounds, which were origin
ally erected for manufacturing pur-
poses az a cost Of $500, 900 each, which /
are not now being used for this pur-
pose, and could be equipped for man |
ufaCturing war materials at a COM
paratively small cost. Elsewhere the !
government would be compelled to GO |
to- the expense Of erecting new build |
ings. I
T. Should fuel ever be needed in ad- 7
ditiOn 10 water power at the Rock Is |
land arsenal, there is a great abund- !
ance OF excellent coal being mined /
almost at the very door of Rock Is I
land, while the arsenal is at the same /
time convenient to the ore fields of /
the north
8. The Rock Island military tract is !
located in the heart of a great manu-
featuring center, being within two
miles of Rock Island Moline. East
Moline. and Davenport. all OF which .
are essentially manufacturing cities,
embracing a combined population of
more than 100000 people, and afford
ing employment to thousands OF me
chauics, thus furnishing an IDEAL field
from which the government may draw
its skilled labor and other help which
Is very important consideration in
such an industrial enterprise as a
great military manufacturing center
L - IL