LI B R_ARY OF THL UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS T4 H. H. ANDRESEN, President. H. LISCHER, Vice-President. CHAS. N. VOSS, Cashier. J. F. BREDOW, Ass't Cashier. Cash Capital, $500,000.00 <3erman Savings DAVENPORT, IOWA. of . it - i >t t - 1 i 1 1 .- 1- :s< . ASSETS. Loans secured by Mortgages Loans secured by Collaterals Bonds, etc. $3.366,319.68 1,344,199.39 Total Loans, Cash on Hand and in Banks, Cash in Transit, . $4,610,519.07 $543,412.23 73, "93-35 Total Cash, Real Estate, $616,605.48 80,135.68 Total Assets, ............ $5,307,350.33 Deposits, Capital Stock, Undivided Profits, LIABILITIES. $4,622,845.64 500,000.00 184,404.59 Total Liabilities, DIRECTORS. OTTO ALBRECHT. J H. LISCHER. H. O. SEIFFERT. H. H. ANDRESEN. JENS LORENZEN. CHARLES N. Voss. F. H. GRIGGS. , T. A. MURPHY. L. WAHLE. Ill W. C. HAYWARD, President. HENRY EGBERT, Vice-President. S. D. BAWDEN, Cashier. ESTABLISHED IN 1864. DAVENPORT NATIONAL BANK, S. E. COR. THIRD AND BRADY STREETS, DAVENPORT, IOWA. Capital, $ WO, 000 Surplus and Profits, . $35,000 ACCOUNTS, COLLECTIONS, AND OTHER BUSINESS OF BANKS, BANKERS, CORPORATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED. W. C. HAYWARD, President. FRED. B. SHARON, Vice-President. S. L. ELY, Cashier. UNION SAVINGS BANK, S. E. COR. THIRD AND BRADY STS. DAVENPORT, IOWA. Capital, $60,000 Undivided Profits, . . . $10,000 Four per Cent Interest Paid on Deposits. Money Loaned on Real Estate and Personal Security. CHAS. BEIDERBECKE, President. A. P. DOE, Vice-President. CHAS. PASCHE, Cashier. THE IOWA NATIONAL BANK, DAVENPORT, IOWA. THE RECORD FOR FIVE YEARS - COM PTROLLER'S STATEMENTS. AT CLOSE OF BUSINESS .... Dec. 19, 1893 Dec. 19, 1894 Dec. 13, 1895 Dec. 17, 1896 Dec. 15, 1897 Capital, $100,000.00 $100,000.00 $100,000.00 $100,000.00 $100,000.00 Surplus and Undivided Profits, 12,134.78 13,497.20 14,668.21 15,923.60 18,128.29 Deposits, 237,029.24 399,800.11 410,980.28 363,854.17 654,386.65 DIRECTORS CHAS. BEIDERBECKE. A. P. DOE. W. P. HALLIGAN. HENRY SCHROEDER. J. H. HASS. M. D. PETERSEN. J. D. BROCKMANN. P. J. PAULSEN. FRED. HAAK. C. A. FICKE. W. O. SCHMIDT. NEW BUSINESS INVITED. . . . THE . . . SCOTT COUNTY SAVINGS BANK, N. W. COR. THIRD AND BRADY STREETS, DAVENPORT, IOWA. Pays Four per Cent Interest on Deposits. TOTAL DEPOSITS, Over $2,000,000.00 The only Savings Bank la Davenport owning Its own home. farmers and mechanics Savings Bank OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS. Officers. FRED HEINZ, President. GLAUS STOLTENBERG, Vice-President. J. B. MEYER, Cashier. Directors. GEORGE MBNGEL. H. STOLTENBERG. GEO. WALTERS. JULIUS SANDER. RUDOLPH ROHLFS. E. J. DOUGHERTY. HEINZ & FISHER, Attorneys. 21$ fiarrison Street, Cash Capital. - $100,000 A GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS TRANS- ACTED. * 4% Interest Paid on Deposits. Money Loaned on Real Estate and Personal Property. 9 Foreign and Domestic Drafts Sold. Davenport, Iowa GOVERNMENT BUILDING, DAVENPORT. H. A. AINSWORTH, President. G. H. EDWARDS, Vice-President. C. F. HEMENWAY, Cashier. MOLINE NATIONAL BANK, Banking House, Cor. Third Avenue and. Fifteenth. Street, HOL1NE, ILLINOIS. CAPITAL $100,000 SURPLUS $20,000 Drafts dra HIRAM DARLING, President. A. S. WRIGHT, Vice-President. C. F. HEMENWAY, Cashier. ORGANIZED UNDER STATE LAW. MOLINE STATE SAVINGS BANK. CAPITAL, $100,000 SURPLUS, $11,000 Office in IVloline National Bank Bldg., Cor. Third A_ve. and Kifteenth St. Four per Cent Interest Paid. DIRECTORS. PORTER SKINNER. C. A. ROSE. G. H. EDWARDS. A. S. WRIGHT. W. W. WELLS. H. A. AINSWORTH. W. H. ADAMS. HIRAM DARLING. C. F. HEMENWAY. J. M. GOULD, President. J. T. BROWNING, Vice-President. ORGANIZED DECEMBER, 1863. J. S. GILLMORE, Cashier. FIRST RATIONAL DEERE - F - w - GOULD - E - H - SLEIGHT. H. A. BARNARD. J. S. GILLMORE. MORRIS GEISMAR. J. T. BROWNING. A. F. VINTON. 04 J. T. BROWNING, President. P. H. WESSEL, Vice-President. JOHN S. GILLMORE, Cashier. Incorporated under State Law. Began Business July i, 1891. ^PEOPLES SAVINGS o the American ^People: The Modern Woodmen of America is the leading Fraternal Beneficiary Society in the land. Its claim to preeminency is based upon its restricted territory, selected risks, low (35.76) average age, its exclusion of extra hazardous employments and its conservative business management. Assessments for the discharge of mortuary liabilities are graduated according to the age of the applicant, which are not thereafter increased. The maximum limit is forty-five years ; one past that age is ineligible to beneficiary membership. Its form of government is representative and uninterruptedly within the control of its mem- bership. Its legislative power is its Head Camp, composed of delegates elected and convening biennially. This body, fresh from the membership, enacts the Society's laws and defines its policy. Its financial affairs are protected by an admirable system of checks and counter-checks, rendering fraud and deception practically impossible. No dollar can be disbursed from its funds without the signature of its Head Consul, Head Clerk and a majority of its Board of Directors. It is a corporation, chartered by the State of Illinois May 5, 1884. In no year has its membership been called upon to contribute more than eleven assessments and in the past two years ten have sufficed to discharge its mortuary liabilities in full. \ In the fifteen years of its history $11,272,594.95 has been disbursed to the beneficiaries of its 5.535 deceased members. The growtKof the Society has been phenomenal, evidencing its popularity with its con- stituency tjie people of the Great Northwest. Commencing with a modest bid for business in 1884, it had attained a membership of 42,694 in 1890. It now has 340,000 members, and 1,500,000 beneficiaries look to it for protection. The headquarters of the Society are now in its new and elegant fireproof building at Rock Island. It is a neighbor to the greatest Arsenal in the world. Very truly yours, Head Clerk, M. W. of A. 'TIS NOT THE Price, S B Value that makes people buy those ALL-WOOL SUITS and OVERCOATS For... $10 We have them in Fancy , . Mixtures and Black . , Kept in repair for one year FREE. Your money back if you want it. DAVENPORT, IOWA. McCullough Building, 122, 124 and 126 West Third Street DAVENPORT, IOWA The most complete and modern Office Building in the City. Luxfer Prisms, Steam Heat, Electric Light, Crane Elevator, Fire Escape front and rear. No other building equipped in this manner. Reasonable Rent. THE NEW HOME OF THE MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA, ROCK ISLAND, ILL. Kimball Reuse AMERICAN PLAN ft ft ft Rates: $2.00, $2.50, $3.00 per day T). Cd. Sommers, proprietor (Formerly of the Virginia and Metropole Hotels of Chicago. BLACK HAWK INN. Open from May to October i. Tte L J o o Modernized American Plan. ISO Rooms. H. Birdsall, Proprietor. Cwo of the Leading fiotels in Illinois HARPER MOUSE, Rock Island, 111. CHAS. McHLKiH, Manager. NATIONAL HOTEL, Peofia, 111. J. E. MONTROSE, Manager. MONTROSE & MCHUGH PROPRIETORS. To KIRCHBi iT^y Tl O ft Solid DAVENPORT, IOWA. We have fourvc] the name orv each piece of Davenport, Iowa. Saint Katharine's Hall, DAVENPORT, IOWA. A Boarding and Day School for Girls. Owned and carried on by the Protestant Episcopal Church. THE BISHOP OF IOWA, President. Girls Prepared for the Women's Colleges, Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, etc., and for the Chicago University. Also for those who do not intend taking a College Course, a Broad Academic Course, with Music, Draw- ing and Painting. Number of Boarding Pupils limited to fifty. Twelve Teachers employed. iar M , ss E A R , CE> L(B. A., Yassar), Principal. Established 1861. JOHN HOYT, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN.... SHEET MUSIC, ETC. Nos. Ill and 113 West Third Street, ESTEY, TABER AND OTHER ORGANS. DAVENPORT, IOWA. STEINWAY, EVERETT AND OTHER PIANOS. mI I -^ Musical Merchandise STE ITVWAY ~1 lA'JT O S LARGEST STOCK IN THE WEST. DAVENPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY. J. P. VAN PATTEN. M. L. MARKS. ESTABLISHED 1844. AND ROASTERS OF COFFEES. 119, 121, 123 East Second Street, . . DAVENPORT, IOWA. ^Beiderbecke-cMiller Co. WHOLESALE GROCERS, 107 and t09 West Second Street, DAVENPORT, IOWA. ESTABLISHED 1876. ERD-IX T. SMITH & BROS. WHOLESALE GROCERS, 221 PERRY STREET, DAVENPORT, IOWA. REIMERS < FERNALD CO. MANUFACTURERS OF Candy and Crackers. jobbers in 213 and 215 East Second Street, nuts, Cigars, etc.*** Davenport, ESTABLISHED 1857. HENRY DART'S SONS, WHOLESALE GROCERS ROCK ISLAND, ILL. A. C. DART. McNevin & Gansert, MANUFACTURING CONFECTIONERS M. & G. Menthol Cough Drops. Rock Island, 111. NEW COURTHOUSE, ROCK ISLAND. XXI National, Co. -Manufacturers of CRACKERS AND CANDIES, Branch Office, Des Moines, Iowa. DAVENPORT, IOWA. THE CRESCENT MACARONI GO. MANUFACTURERS OF MACARONI SPAGHETTI, VERMICELLI, EGG NOODLES AND SELF-RISING PANCAKE FLOUR Cor. Fifth and Iowa Sts., - DAVENPORT, IOWA. Gbas. p. Ranzow & Son, Paints, Oils, Varnishes, Brushes, Mixed Paints. Wall Paper and Picture Frames. SON I S i I T 1 1 1 1 PAI. VI S.OILS& GLASS 528-532 W. Third St. ..DAVENPORT, IOWA.. A. P. DOE & CO. WHOLESALE DEALERS IN... Serviceable, Good=Fitting, Up=to=Date . . Boots and Shoes FOR WESTERN WEAR. No. 117 E. Second St., DAVENPORT, IOWA. A. BURDICK, Prest. H. H. ANDRESEN, Vice-Prest. E. B. DAWES, Sup't. F. G. CLAUSEN, Sec'y and Treas. Davenport Canning and Conserving Co, DAVENPORT, IOWA, -PACKERS OF- L1TTLE DUKE PEAS. EARLY CLUSTER JUNE PEAS. DAVENPORT BRAND SUGAR CORN. SEAL OF IOWA SUGAR CORN. BASKET BRAND SUGAR CORN. GOLDEN SLIPPER SUGAR CORN. BATTLE AX BRAND SUGAR CORN. WILD ROSE SUGAR CORN. GOLDEN SHEAF SUGAR CORN. WASHBURN-HALLIGAN COFFEE CO. MANUFACTURERS OF THE 'PURE QUILL" BRANDS OF Baking Powder, Flavoring Extracts ^Ground Spices IMPORTERS AND JOBBERS OF HIGH-GRADE TEAS, COFFEES AND SPICES. OUR LEADING BRANDS OF COFFEES ARC O. G. JAVA and MOCHA, P. Q. JAVA and MOCHA, CUCUTA JAVA and MOCHA, AMBER JAVA and MOCHA. Our Coffees are selected from the best coffee-producing countries in the world, carefully blended, fresh roasted, absolutely pure. Order from your grocer. -DAVENPORT, IOWA.- MOLINE CLUB INTERIOR VIEW. XXI11 W. P. HALLIGAN Co. LEHIGH AND SCRANTON HARD COAL THIRD VEIN LA SALLE COAL CABLE'S CELEBRATED LUMP AND NUT COAL. OFFICES: Main Office. 434 Brady Street. A YARDS! Branch Offices. 422 Harrison Street and jwc *"' to 4 22 Harrison Street, and Fifth and 436 Fillmore Street. $* Fillmore Streets. TELEPHONE 171. Telephone 444. Of fice and Yard : 425 BRADY STREET. A. TREDICK, Ooal DAVENPORT, IOWA. The Marquette Third Vein Coal Co. Mines: MARQUETTE, III. (La Salle District). ^ .JfX MARQUETTE Building, Chicago. POCA^ ,' -~.. . A N - MARQUETTE Third Vein is the purest coal mined in Illinois. fc;ONO MARQUETTE is located on the line of tin- C. R. I. K !>. R'y, , ^^^V near junction with C. & N.-W. R'y, and immediately on the line vlf^ __^_^ of the Hennepin Canal, now under construction. ^f DELIVERED PRICES ON APPLICATION. Capacity, 1,500 tons per day. Office: LlA V CrlN Ivllv ' IvJWAi Pl.KHSYIVAMA HH f H(tKAMWAlt.tfWl/llt ^ NAVAt S/<>/.s tlKSfj * v:C:~B J, Jfjf! MAIM OFFICE AND WOR STATIONS: ^^ W "^HHPS'^^ CHrCAQOlLL. ROCK ISLAND, ILL. BURLINGTON, ICA'A. PHILADELPHIA, PA. NtW YORK, N Y. HAMBURG, Qt^MANY. AMSTERDAM AND ROTTERDAM, HOI' AND FEJERVARY HOME FOR AGED MEN, DAVENPORT. Established 1851. Louis HANSSEN. Incorporated 1897. Louis HANSSEN'S SONS. Louis Hanssen's Sons, Hardware, Fine Tools, Cutlery, Manufacturers' Supplies, Wood and Metal Workers' High~Glass Tools and Machines, Draughtsmen's Instruments and Materials. SEED DEPARTMENT. 213 and 215 West Second Street, DAVENPORT, IOWA. S. M. REYNOLDS & Co. DEALERS IN Hardware AND Bicycles. 223 Brady Street, DAVENPORT, IOWA. Sickels, 'Preston & cNytting Co. WHOLESALE HARDWARE. DEALERS IN CUTLERY, TIN AND TERNE PLATES, SHEET IRON, METALS, TINNERS' TOOLS AND TINNERS' STOCK, JAPANNED, PRESSED AND GRANITE IRONWARE, ROPE, TWINES, CORDAGE, PAINTS, OILS AND BRUSHES. A Specialty of Corrugated Iron and Pressed Metal Ceilings. DAVENPORT, IOWA, Sickels, Preston & Nutting Co. NEW YORK CITY, Sickels & Nutting Co. (35 Barclay Street and 40 Park Place.) The best and cheapest light is gas with incandescent burners* Use gas stoves for cooking and heating Davenport Gas and Electric Company* BROADWAY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ROCK ISLAND. XXV11 D. ROY BOWLBY, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL Pianos ^Organs Established in Ifyck Island twenty years. \ 8,000 Pianos and Organs sold in 287 towns throughout Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa since J878. 1609 Second c/lvenue> ROCK ISLAND, ILL. Duncan's Davenport Business College Excels any other in the training it gives to its students in figures, and is thorough in other branches. The (^actuates of this school are to be found in the best positions in the land. WM. JOHNS, Ratter * urnfebcr 'Best $3.oo Hats 50-cent on Earth. 314 Brady Street, DAVENPORT, IOWA. The Largest Assortment In THE THREE CITIES. HIGH-GRADE GOODS at ..MODERATE PRICES.. Prompt Attention to Mail Orders. GOODS GUT, TRIMMED and MADE UP for Out- of~Town Trade at Rea- sonable Rates )rebing 220 Brady St. DAVENPORT, IOWA. MOLINE HIGH SCHOOL. XXIX JOHN DEERE, PIONEER PLOW MANUFACTURER, FOUNDER OF DEERE & COMPANY, 1847. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. THE ARSENAL, ISLAND AND CANAL. Rear View of the North Row of Shops, 2 Twenty-three Hundred Arsenal Workmen, 4 Pier of the First Bridge 5 First Railroad Bridge Across the Mis- sissippi River, 6 The First Bridge as Rebuilt after Dam- age by Fire and Ice, 6 Looking Toward Davenport from the Island Clock Tower, 7 Main Government Bridge, five views, . 8 The Moline Bridge, 9 The Lion's Head, 9 City of Rock Island from the Arsenal Clock Tower, . 10 Overlooking the Island from Moline Bluffs, ii The Lower End of the Island, ...... 12 Fort Armstrong Avenue, 13 The Arsenal Mascot, 14 Main Entrance to Arsenal, .... 15 Black Hawk, 16 Black Hawk's Landmark, 17 Black Hawk Drive, 17 Firing Lying, . . . .* . . . . . 17 Fort Armstrong, 18 The Sun Dial, 19 Where Old Glory Always Waves, . . 20 Gen. Winfield Scott's Headquarters, 1832, 20 Near the Cannon's Mouth, .... 21 George Davenport, ....... 22 Col. George Davenport's House, two views, 23 Island Trees, five views, 24 The Reservoir, . 25 In Time of Peace, seven views, ... 26 A Paper Target, 27 Main Avenue, near Moline, .... 28 Planted Cannon, . 29 Rock Island Military Prison, .... 30 Col. A. J. Johnson,* 31 PAGE Military Prison Scenes, five views, . . 32 In Prison Days, 33 Attention, Please, 34 Press for Printing Targets, .... 34 Boys Covering Canteens, 35 The Arsenal Gun Yard, five views, . 36 Island Golf Links, two views, ... 37 The Island Lake, four views, .... 38 The Rodman Monument, two views, . 39 Memorial Day on the Island, three views, 40 Fort Flagler, 41 A Trophy, 42 Elm Drive, 43 Heavy Ordnance, five views, .... 44 Light Ordnance, five views, .... 45 Commandant's House and Grounds, five views, 46 Battery in Action, 48 Officer's Sword, 49 Rear View of Shop B, 50 South Row of Shops, . .... 51 Shop K, 52 Blacksmith Shop and Foundry, ... 52 Rifles and Carbine, 53 The Water Power, five views, ... 54 New Water-Power Dam, 55 Government Water-Power Dam, . . 56 Headquarters Building, 57 Map of Rock Island Arsenal, ... 58 Assistant Officers' Quarters, .... 59 Storehouse A, 59 Old and New Buildings, six views, . . 60 The Barracks, two views, 61 Sylvan Water, Opposite Moline, . . 62 A Bill of Goods, 63 Arsenal Workmen Leaving for Home, 64 Foundry and Rolling Mill, .... 65 The Steam Hammer, 66 Group of Day Foremen 67 Equipments, seven views, 68 xxxi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. THE ARSENAL, ISLAND AND CANAL Continued. PAGE Group of Night Foremen, 69 In the Harness Shop, four views, . . 70 The Tin-Cup Shop, 71 The Main Machine Shop, five views, . 72 The Blacksmith Shop, 73 In the Carpenter Shop, 74 In the Machine Shop, 75 The Tin Shop, seven views, .... 76 General Stores, five views 77 Shipments to Cuba, three views, . . 78 A Corner in the Sewing-Machine Room, 79 In the Foundry, five views, .... 80 A Pay Envelope, 81 The Crowded Main Avenue, two views, 82 Interiors of Shops, five views, ... 84 The Old Mill, 86 One of Many Empty Rooms, .... 87 In Time of War, five views, .... 88 Where Machinery Is Needed, .... 89 Getting Ready for Work, 89 Repairing Rifles and Carbines, ... 90 A Lonely Way 91 Gen. Thomas J. Rodman, 93 Gen. D. W. Flagler, 94 Maj. Stanhope E. Blunt, 95 Capt. O. B. Mitcham, 96 Capt. W. S. Peirce 96 Lieut. O. C. Horney, 97 The Commandant's Office, .... 98 Cornelius J . Brown, 99 Assistant Officers' Rooms, 99 Civil Engineer Gronen's Office, . . . 100 George Durnin, 100 Ready for Fire, . 101 Cuban Machetes, 102 Gen. Nelson A. Miles, 103 Hundreds of Saddles, 104 The Arsenal Coat of Arms, .... 105 L. L. Wheeler, 106 A Section of the Canal Ready for Water, 107 Illinois and Mississippi Canal, . . . 108 Showing Sluice Gates and Lock 36, . 109 Canal Gates, from Floor of Lock, . . no A Steamer with Tow, no A Rafter Passing Rock Island, . . . in Rock Island Why so Called, . . . 112 MOLINE. The Post Office Building, . Moline Club Interior View, The New High School, . . IX xxiii xxix Moline Public Hospital, . Unitarian Church, . . . Illinois Western Hospital, xxxix xlv Ixvii ROCK ISLAND. The New Government Building, . . Young Men's Christian Association Building, Modern Woodmen of America Build- ing, Black Hawk's Inn, Rock Island County Courthouse, Broadway Presbyterian Church, Augustana College, .... Armory Hall, Lincoln School Building, . . xxi xxvii xxxvii xliii xlix DAVENPORT. Government Building, Turner Hall Davenport Public Library, Fejervary Home for Men, New City Hall v xi xix xxv XXXV Scott County Courthouse, .... xli Davenport Water Company's Works, xlvii The Cook Home for Women, . . . liii Masonic Temple, lix Saengerfest Hall, . . _ Ixv xxxn FACSIMILE OF AUTHORITY FOR THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS WORK. ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL ROCK ISLAND May 6th 1898. Dear Mr.Tillinghast :- Under instructions from the Chief of Ordnance,p emission is hereby ac- corded you to take views of buildings, grounds, or shops (exterior and interior) at this Arsen- al. Respectfully /^ "X Capt .Ord.Dept.U.S.A. Commanding. Mr.B.F.Tillinghast, Davenport , Iowa. the views not otherwise credited are reproductions of photographs specially taken for " T^pck Island Arsenal: in Teace and in War," by CMr. J. E. CALKINS, under the most favorable conditions. Copyright, 1898, BV B. F. TlLLINGHAST. All rights reserved. ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL: IN PEACE AND IN WAR. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. (Extract from an official letter from Brigadier-General S. V. Benet, Chief of Ordnance, to Hon. George W. McCrary, Secretary of War, March 30, 1877. ) "THIS ARSENAL WILL BE THE GRAND ORDNANCE MANUFACTURING ESTAB- LISHMENT IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, ERECTED AT GREAT EXPENSE TO THE UNITED STATES, AND WITH A LARGER CAPACITY, WHEN COMPLETED, THAN ANY OTHER ARSENAL WITHIN OUR BORDERS." BY B. F. TILLINGHAST, AUTHOR OF "THREE CITIES AND ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL.' "The Valley of the Mississippi is, upon the whole, the most magnificent dwelling-place prepared by God for man's abode." De Tocqueville's Democracy in America. CHICAGO: THE HENRY O. SHEPARD COMPANY, PRINTERS. 1898. THREE ARSENAL CITIES. The center of population has moved westward (in ten years) about forty-eight miles and northward about nine miles. It now rests in southern Indiana, about twenty miles east of Columbus. The center of the area of the United States, excluding Alaska (and the new possessions in the Pacific Ocean), is in northern Kansas, in approximate latitude 39 55' and approximate longitude 98 50'. Federal Census, 1890. [The movement of the center of population has been westward at the rate of five miles a year since 1790.] THE Upper Mississippi Valley the most fertile section of equal area in the world has its center of industrial activity in the three cities which overlook the Island of Rock Island. This Island is one of the largest, and by far the most beautiful, in the Father of Waters. Together these cities have a population of some eighty thousand, about equally divided by the great river. This busy community may have a special local interest in the Island and in Rock Island Arsenal, but this vast plant has been built and is maintained by the people of the United States for national uses. Strictly speaking, the Arsenal is in no sense more local than the Capitol at Washington, a transconti- nental line of railway or the long and deep artery of trade which floats an immense com- merce from St. Paul to New Orleans. It is not in the least material or significant in what order these closely linked cities a trinity in unity are named. Moline, Rock Island and Davenport, Rock Island, Davenport and Moline, and Davenport, Moline and Rock Island all convey the underlying fact of a common and inseparable interest. The Island is the park and the pride of each, and it is the unwritten law that no one city has an advantage over the other in this respect. There are many other interests which bind them together and promote the common good. Some of these may be mentioned. PIER OF THE FIRST BRIDGE. NO. 1. FIRST RAILROAD BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. FROM THE LOWER END OF ROCK ISLAND TO DAVENPORT. FIRST TRAIN CROSSED APRIL 21, 1856. Sketched by Henry Lambach from plans destroyed by the Chicago Fire. BRIDGES. The Government owns and controls all bridges reaching the Island, and they are ample for any possible needs. A moss-covered stone pier, a third of a mile above the present main structure spanning the river, shows the location of the first NO. 2. FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI AS REBUILT AFTER DAMAGE BY FIRE, ICE AND COLLISION. 6 bridge across the Mississippi from its mouth to its source. It was built by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company. It was a single-deck, Howe- truss, six-span bridge. The first train, consisting of locomotive and eight cars, passed over it April 21, 1856. On the 6th of May, that year, the first span east of the draw, 250 feet in length, was destroyed by fire, communicated by the steamboat Effie Afton, which collided with and burned at one of the piers. In March, 1868, with the opening of the river, the first pier from the Iowa shore was, by the heavy floating ice, pushed bodily downstream some twenty-five feet. The ensuing month, during a severe windstorm, the draw span was lifted from its masonry and blown LOOKING TOWARD DAVENPORT FROM ISLAND CLOCK TOWER. over on its side up-river, so that it hung supported only by the draw pier, with both ends free in midair. The second bridge was completed in October, 1872, and turned over to the commanding officer of the Arsenal in February, 1873. It was built jointly by the Government and the railroad company. Its total length was 1,550 feet, divided into five spans and one draw. Its cost was not far from $1,000,000. This structure served until the present bridge, constructed during the winter of 1894 and 1895, succeeded it on the old piers. It is a double-decked superstructure, with double railroad track above and double street-car track and wagon road below. The trusses of this thoroughly modern bridge are calculated to carry a total moving load of 11,360 pounds per lineal foot, of which 8,000 pounds are on the railway 1. GOVERNMENT BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 2. THE UPPER DECK. 3. SWINGING FOR A STEAMBOAT. 4. THE LOWER DECK. 5. THE DRAW PIER. floor and 3,360 pounds on the roadway floor. The solid corrugated steel railway floor, together with the guard angles and rail plates, weigh about 940 pounds per lineal foot of the bridge. The draw span, which weighs, approximately, 2,500,000 THE MOLINE BRIDGE. pounds, is one of the heaviest ever built. The chain motion for moving this span is one of the departures from the usual methods of bridge building. Beginning at the north end, the first span is 260 feet long ; the second, third and fourth are each 220 feet long ; the fifth is 260 feet, and the total length of the draw is 368 feet. The open space on either side of the draw pier is 162 feet. The approach span on the Davenport side is 200 feet in length and on the Island end practically one-half this length. Ralph Modjeska, son of the noted actress, was chief engineer of the new bridge, and the Phoenix Bridge Company was the builder of both structures at the present site. At the southwest limit of the Island there is a wagon bridge, the way being twenty-two feet in the clear, in the form of a viaduct under which trains pass. There are foot walks outside the chords, each six feet wide. At its eastern or upper end a bridge is also thrown across the south branch, known as Sylvan Water, connecting the Island with the city of Moline. The length of this bridge is 711 feet. It has five equal spans of 142 feet. THE LION'S HEAD. Gargoyle on Bridge over Island Lake. CITY OF ROCK ISLAND AS SEEN FROM THE ARSENAL CLOCK TOWER. BRIDGE AND RIVER TRAFFIC. The river is always unobstructed, except by ice, but the Government requires that a record be kept of the traffic through the draw, how many times it is opened, and the stage of the water every day in the year. Valuable information is thereby gathered. The following table tells much but by no means all of the business on and through the principal bridge. It takes no account, for instance, of the hundreds of thousands of street-car passengers. It does not give the freight tonnage. Dur- ing 1897 the number of tons of freight hauled across the bridge by railroad was 2,069,602, as compared with 164,653 forty years earlier. This indicates the mar- velous development that is going on. Following is an epitome oi the bridge traffic for the twelve months ended June 30, 1898 : Engines with trains, north, Engines with trains, south, Engines, north, Engines, south, Passenger cars, north, Passenger cars, south, 9,083 9,582 1,206 896 17,048 16,949 Freight cars, north, i3,993 Freight cars, south 132,514 Street cars, north, 45,326 Street cars, south, 45,568 Teams, north, 256,494 Teams, south, 254,839 Pedestrians, north, 336,324 Pedestrians, south, 335,143 Steamboats, up river, ..... 1,656 Steamboats, down river, . Barges, up river, .... Barges, down river, Rafts, down river, .... Strings of logs, down river, . Strings of lumber, down river, 1,653 419 413 474 4,441 639 A railroad and terminal bridge, not connected with the Island, but joining the three cities, is now nearing completion, at a cost of more than a million dollars, including the approaches. RIVER, RAPIDS AND CANAL. The Mississippi River is the country's free waterway for nearly two thousand miles exactly speaking, 1,982. At low water the river at Rock Island is 534 feet above sea-level. The section of river known as Rock Island Rapids extends from the lower end of the Island nearly fourteen miles up the river, the fall in this distance being twenty-one feet. From the head of the wing dam to the west end of the Island the distance is 3.20 miles. The fall of the rapids here is 6.65 feet at high water and 7.55 feet at low water. The improvement of the river channel through the rapids has engaged the Government's best engineering talent for many years. Surveys of Rock Island Rapids were made by Lieut. N. B. Buford in 1829, by H. M. Shreve in 1836, by Lieuts. Robert E. Lee and M. C. Meigs in 1837, Lieutenant Warren in 1853 and by others at later dates. Public attention has been repeatedly called to the great water-power advantages, now partially utilized. Four miles south of the Island is the western terminus of the Illinois and Mississippi Canal, one of the most important internal improvements the country has ever undertaken. Its relation to the Government's Arsenal as an added means of transportation is recognized. The subject is deserving of the more detailed attention it receives elsewhere in this book. OVERLOOKING THE ISLAND FROM MOLINE BLUFFS. II RAILROADS. Several trunk lines of railroads and their connections are always ready to distribute the fabrications of the Arsenal expeditiously to any seaport or city in the United States. The transportation facilities are unlimited. Some of the railroads centering at the Arsenal are : The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific ; the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul ; the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ; the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern ; the Rock Island & Peoria. STREET CARS AND TELEPHONES. The Tri-City Railway Company furnishes constant communication between the three cities by its excellent and extensive system of electric lines. There are forty- two miles of track, seventy-five motor and fifty other cars. The roadbed, equip- THE LOWER END OF ROCK ISLAND. ment, power house, barns, etc., represent a cost of $2,100,000. The passenger capacity of the system is unknown, but the highest number thus far carried in one day is 65,000. From one end of the line to the other the distance is eight miles. Nearly all railway stations, boat landings, public parks, Black Hawk's tower and other places of interest are on or near the street-car lines. Another means of communication between the two sides of the river is the Rock Island and Davenport Ferry. One of the first telephone exchanges in the West was introduced here, and it is now one of the largest in proportion to population. The number of telephones in use is 1,450 in the three cities. There is no toll charged, the exchange, like the street-car system arid the banks, doing an uninterrupted business, as if State and municipal boundaries did not exist. 12 THE PRESS. There are ten daily papers in the three cities, all working in accord for the general good. In fact, their editors, publishers and reporters have an organization which meets at regular intervals to consider and promote the interests of the com- munity. These journals, in the order of their establishment in each city, are : The Evening Democrat, Der Demokrat (morning), Evening Times, Evening Leader and Republican (morning), in Davenport ; the Evening Argus and the Union (morning), Rock Island ; the Evening Dispatch, Evening Re- bublican-Journal and Evening Mail, Moline. There are sev- eral semi-weekly, weekly and monthly publications. FORT ARMSTRONG AVENUE. A FINANCIAL CENTER. The three Arsenal cities together form a financial Gibraltar, with ample capital for all legitimate transactions. This is a statement of fact, not of mere opinion, and is warranted by the latest sworn statements of the several institutions. The eight national banks in the three cities make this showing : DAVENPORT. CAPITAL. Citizens National, $300,000 First National, 200,000 Davenport National, 175,000 Iowa National, 100,000 ROCK ISLAND. Rock Island National, 100,000 People's National, 100,000 MOLINE. First National, 150,000 Moline National, 100,000 Total, $r, 225, ooo SURPLUS AND PROFITS. $119,000 7O,OOO 32,000 18,000 82,303 68,073 37,892 23,521 1450,789 To these totals should be added the capital and surplus of the private bank of Mitchell & Lynde, which does a business larger than the average of the eight national banks. No business center of equal population in the entire Northwest is able to make so eloquent an exhibit in the way of its savings bank deposits, a certain index of the thrift of the people and of their industry. These are as follows : DAVENPORT. CAPITAL German Savings, $500,000 Davenport Savings, 250,000 Scott County Savings, .... 250,000 Union Savings, 60,000 Farmers and Mechanics Savings, . 100,000 ROCK ISLAND. Rock Island Savings, .... 100,000 MOLINE. Moline Savings, 100,000 People's Savings, 100,000 DEPOSITS. 14,430,000 2,063,170 2,023,000 333,000 359,000 1,019,238 523,000 311,481 Total, $1,460,000 $11,061,? THE ARSENAL MASCOT. Here is a banking capital of $2,785,000 and surplus and profits amounting to $923,392 for the seventeen insti- tutions national, private and savings banks. They hold individual deposits aggregating, at the time of their latest statements, $14,987,450. THE ILLINOIS SIDE. The boundary line separating Illinois from Iowa, midriver, places the Island in Illinois. On that side are the industrial cities of Rock Island and Moline, covering more than five miles of water frontage. The municipal limits of Moline on the east extend beyond the head of the Island, and those of the city of Rock Island far below or to the west and south. The bluffs approach within half a mile of the river in Upper Moline and recede from it as they follow the Mississippi to the lower end of Rock Island. The heights all the way are crowned with homes of comfort. Desirable residence sites are occupied below the bluffs, the fall being gradual to the bank. The business sections and railroads are generally near the river. In all that goes to make cities inviting schools, churches, libraries, waterworks, public build- ings, hospitals, good streets, well-to-do people, factories, jobbing houses, stores, parks Rock Island and Moline are favored. Their manufactures are known throughout the world. The United States engineer's office has for years been located in Rock Island. It has charge of the Mississippi River improvements from St. Paul to the mouth of the Illinois River. THE IOWA SIDE. Opposite the eastern point of the Island, on the Iowa side, the rather sharp bluffs run out to the river. Here begins a narrow plateau, which gradually widens as one looks toward the west for four miles, when it approaches the bend made by the river in turning south. The bluffs have a wavy or broken appearance, afford- ing many choice views or lookouts. At the east, facing the Island, and almost opposite the immense shops, the city of Davenport has graded a projecting height and named it Prospect Park. Some three miles farther down is another small public park, from which a magnificent view, both up and down the valley, is obtained. Between the line of hills and the river the triangular-shaped plateau, gently sloping to the south, is ample for the accommodation of 150,000 people. The drainage is naturally good, street rising above street on the sides of the bluffs, like terraces. Back of the heights rich rolling prairie extends to the north, east and west. MAIN ENTRANCE TO ARSENAL. Davenport may pardonably boast of its educational institutions, both public and private, of its many charitable institutions, its schools and churches, its library, Academy of Natural Sciences, of its unsurpassed filtered- water system, its parks, wholesale and retail houses, cathedrals (being the See city of the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches), factories of numerous kinds, in brief, of its thrift and substantial progress. But the purpose of " ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL : IN PEACE AND IN WAR" is told on its title-page. It does not pretend to more than glance at the environment of the Island. The three cities of themselves furnish subject-matter for a volume. 15 THE ISLAND OF THE INDIANS. This was the best Island on the Mississippi and had long been the resort of our young people during the summer. It was our garden (like the white people have near their big villages), which supplied us with strawberries, blackberries, plums, apples, and nuts of various kinds ; and its waters supplied us with pure fish, being situated in the rapids of the river. In my early life I spent many happy days on this Island. A good spirit had care of it, who lived in a cave in the rocks immediately under the place where the fort (Armstrong) now stands, and has often been seen by our people. He was white, with large wings like a swan's, but ten times larger. We were particular not to make much noise in that part of the Island which he inhabited, for fear of disturbing him. But the noise of the fort has since driven him away, and no doubt a bad spirit has taken his place. Black Hawk, through his interpreter, Antoine Le Claire, THE Island is a fascinating subject for the historian, but the past is so crowded by matters of present moment that little more than the order of events can be given for almost one hundred and fifty years. According to Francis Parkman in his ' ' Dis- covery of the Great West," Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette first saw the Island in the summer of 1673. Ninety-four years later Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia- kiak, or Black Hawk, the Sac chief, was born on Rock River, a few miles south of the Island. He died in 1838, at the age of seventy-one years. By the treaty with Great Britain in 1783 the United States was placed in possession of the east bank of the Mississippi River. The United States gained its right to the Island of Rock Island through the Harrison treaty with the chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians, made at St. Louis in November, 1804. The Island was not definitely occupied by white men, and appears to have had no history, BLACK HAWK, . Or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak. until the breaking out of the war with Great Britain in 1812. The first incident of that war which came home to the Island was Governor Clark's expedition to Prairie du Chien. It was attacked by the Indians and nearly destroyed. Campbell's Island, five miles above, was the scene of a conflict in which thirty-six soldiers were killed. 16 BLACK HAWK'S LANDMARK. December 24, 1814, the treaty of Ghent was con- cluded. September 13 and 14, 1815, treaties of peace were made with the Sacs and Foxes. It was in the year and month last named that Col. R. C. Nichols, commanding the 8th United States Infan- try, was sent up the Mississippi from St. Louis to estab- lish a fort at or near Rock Island. The objects were to occupy the country, protect coming settlers, control the Sacs and Foxes and guard travel and trade by river. At that time the army was supplied with provisions by contractors directly, and not through a commissary department as has since been the rule. George Daven- port, after whom the city of Davenport was named, accompanied the expedition as contractor' s agent, and transported his supplies in light keel-boats. The expedition reached the mouth of the Des Moines River, about 140 miles below the Island, and wintered there on account of the ice. In the fol- lowing April, 1816, Gen. Thomas A. Smith arrived at the cantonment with his rifle regiment, took command, and proceeded up the river. He arrived at the Island early in May, and fixed upon the foot or west end as the site of a fort which was to be built. The troops were first landed on the Island May 10, 1816. They went into camp at once and began cutting timber for storehouses. At that time the west end of the Island, which is now bare, except for trees that have been set out along the drives, was covered with a heavy growth of oak, black walnut, elm and basswood. General Smith remained at the Island only long enough to con- struct abatis for the protection of the troops from the Indians and then proceeded north with his rifle regiment. The 8th Infantry, under command of Colonel Lawrence, was left on the Island, and under his direction the construction of Fort Armstrong was begun, the name being chosen in honor of the secretary of war. BLACK HAWK DRIVE. FIRING LYING. 5 a -s 2* 2 FORT ARMSTRONG. Defenses, musters, preparations, Should be maintain' d, assembled and collected As were a war in expectation. Shakespeare. SEVERAL pictorial representations of this blockhouse defense called Fort Arm- strong, of more than eighty years ago, exist. While no doubt they are generally correct, they differ materially in details. Gen. D. W. Flagler, Chief of Ordnance, in his valuable and unapproached ' ' History of The Rock Island Arsenal," with every opportunity for investigation, says: The interior of the fort was 400 feet square. The lower half of the walls was of stone, and the upper half of hewn timber. The timber and stone were procured on the Island. At three of the angles, the northeast, southeast and the southwest, blockhouses were built, and these were provided with cannon. One side of the square was occupied by the barracks and other buildings.! These were built of hewn timber, with roofs sloping inward, as a protection against their being fired by the Indians, and that they might not furnish a safe lodging place for the enemy in an attack. The fort was placed on the extreme northwest angle of the Island. Its northwest corner was about 200 feet from the present location of the Island end of the bridge. Gov. Thomas Ford in his " History of Illinois" gives this description of Fort Armstrong as he saw it when approaching from the south (or west as the river runs) in the summer of 1831 : Fort Armstrong was built upon a rocky cliff on the lower point of an island near the center of the river, a little way above; the shores on each side, formed of gentle slopes of prairie extending back to bluffs of considerable height, made it one of the most picturesque scenes in the Western country. The river here is a beautiful sheet of clear, swift-running water, about three-quarters of a mile wide; its banks on both sides were uninhabited, except by Indians, from the lower rapids to the fort, and the voyager upstream after several days of solitary progress through a wilderness country on its borders came suddenly in sight of the whitewashed walls and towers of the fort, perched upon a rock surrounded by the grandeur and beauty of nature, which at a distance gave it the appearance of one of those enchanted castles in an uninhabited desert, so well described in the "Arabian Nights Entertainments." THE SUN DIAL. WHERE OLD GLORY ALWAYS WAVES. As the fort neared completion the Indians showed a disposition to be more friendly, though the soldiers, num- bering about six hundred, were watchful of attacks. " We did not object to their building the fort on the Island," Black Hawk is recorded as saying, ' ' but we were very sorry. ' ' In reference to the charmed cave in the rocks under the fort, the home of spirits, as Black Hawk imagined, General Flagler writes : The cave was in the face of the limestone bluff at the northwest corner of the Island. At high water the floor of the cave was covered and boats could enter. This cave was closed, by building the abutment of the bridge across its entrance, in 1870. Fort Armstrong was finished in 1817, but there were no exciting events until the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1831. Two companies of infantry were stationed there regularly. It was in reality a frontier post, visited by boats only at infre- quent intervals. Judge Spencer, one of the first settlers on the Illinois side, relates that in 1828 mail was obtained by sending soldiers on foot to Galena, about one hundred miles north. In this way the news of General Jackson's election as Presi- dent was brought to Rock Island garrison. A stirring chapter of Western history is that which deals with the Black Hawk War the last armed stand taken by the Indians to hold their lands east of the Missis- sippi. This is not properly within the writer's present scope. It may be said, however, that General Gaines, then at St. Louis, came to Fort Armstrong at the head of the 6th United States Infantry. The settlers were all moved to Rock Island, and General Gaines sent for the stubborn chief. Keokuk, too, with some of his warriors, attended the conference. War could not be averted, and in the hostilities that followed Lieut. - Col. Zachary Taylor (afterward President), Lieut. Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, and others who became of more than national prominence, took part. More than once the garrison on the Island was in imminent danger of massacre. The war continued until August 2, 1831, when, after several reverses, Black Hawk's band was practi- cally destroyed. The old chief, his son Seoskuk and other chiefs were made prisoners and GEN WINFIELD SC OTT-S HEADQUARTERS, 18 32 . brought to the Island, from which they were later taken to Washington. The Gov- ernment took great pains to secure for Black Hawk a kind reception by the Indians upon his return from the East. The accounts of a meeting between the vanquished chief, Keokuk and others on the Island are very affecting. Black Hawk afterward established himself, with a remnant of his tribe, on the Des Moines River in Iowa, where he died in 1838. Among the noted men who came to Fort Armstrong was Gen. Winfield Scott, and the occasion of his visit is deserving of notice. The hero of the Mexican War of sixteen years later was then forty-six. He was sent from the East with troops to direct the campaign against the Indians. He journeyed by way of the great lakes, Prairie du Chien and down the Mississippi, reaching Fort Armstrong in August, 1832. A virulent type of Asiatic cholera had broken out among the troops while on transports on the lakes, and it was brought with them to the Island. The cholera raged in its worst form in the large camp of jaded troops collected on the Island after the campaign, and was only broken up by distributing the troops in small camps on the bluffs along the west bank of the river. Several medical officers died, and General Scott, in a letter written not long after, ascribed the saving of the army from the scourge to the efforts of his chief medical officer, Surgeon C. A. Finley, after- ward Surgeon-General during the Civil War. NEAR THE CANNON'S MOUTH. 21 THE ISLAND FROM 1832 TO 1862. There 's but the twinkling of a star Between a man of peace and war. Butler in Hudibras. AT the close of the Black Hawk War Fort Armstrong had well served its object a frontier defense. An end had come to Indian outbreaks and depredations, and the pioneers were free to claim the attractive country. The garrison was, how- ever, maintained till May 4, 1 836, when the fort was evacuated and the troops sent to Fort Snelling. Lieut. -Col. William Daven- port, of the ist Infantry, was in command at the time of the evacuation, and he left Lieut. John Beach in charge, with a few men, to take care of the property. But Fort Armstrong was never regarrisoned, and in November, 1836, the property that had been left was taken away. General Street, Indian agent, had charge of the Island until 1838, when Col. George Davenport was appointed agent, and remained in charge till 1840. Colonel Davenport was the first white settler in the vicinity of the Island, his home for so many years. He was identified with it from 1815 to July 4, 1845, when he was murdered in his own home by an organized band of robbers and horse thieves. The murderers escaped unrecognized, but were afterward arrested, and three of them Aaron Long, John Long and Granville Young were executed on the'igth of the succeeding October. Colonel Davenport was an Englishman, born in Lincolnshire in 1783. After many hard experiences at sea he reached New Orleans in 1806. During his Island years he became famous as a trader, winning the confidence of the Indians. His house, on the northern bank of the Island, now falling into decay, is shown in the illustrations. GEORGE DAVENPORT. The First White Settler on the Island, May, 1816. From " Davenport Past and Present," by Franc B. Wilk In 1840 some of the buildings at Fort Armstrong were repaired, and an ord- nance depot was established at the fort. Capt. W. R. Shoemaker was placed in charge of the depot and of the Island, and remained until 1845, when the stores were moved to St. Louis Arsenal. From the year last named until the act for establishing Rock Island Arsenal was passed, in 1862, the Island was in charge of a civil agent, or custodian, employed by the War Department, and it has remained under the control of that department to this time. Thomas L. Drum was custodian from 1845 to 1853; J. B. Danforth, from 1854 to 1857; H. Y. Slaymaker, from 1857 to 1863. The history of these eighteen years ' ' is full of persistent and protracted efforts on the part of squatters, manufacturing, railroad, water-power companies and others to procure, by preemption, lease, pur- chase or cession, a title to the lands on the Island. " So it appears that the Island has been as great a prize in the eyes of the bargain-driving business men of recent times as it was in the consideration of Black Hawk and his band, who regarded it as their dearest possession. COL. GEORGE DAVENPORT'S HOUSE. i. As it was in 1860. 2. As it is in 1. A STATELY ELM. 2. A NATURAL GRAPE ARBOR. 3. WOODS EAST OF SHOPS. 4. IN THE JUNGLE. 5. THE LINDEN TREE. ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION. After a careful study of this question of location, there is no position which, to my mind, affords so many advantages, and, at the same time, presents so few objections, as Rock Island, in the Mississippi River. In a military point of view it is perfectly secure from an enemy advancing either by the lakes or the river. From it supplies can be transported in any direction and at any season of the year. It is in the midst of a country teeming with coal and wood, and especially adapted to agriculture. The site is elevated far above river floods, the climate and situation are healthy; and while the Island is sufficiently isolated to secure it from sudden attacks, it is near enough to the cities of Rock Island, Davenport and Moline to afford ample accommodations for all the necessary employes. General Ramsay, Chief of Ordnance, in a letter to the Secretary of War, 1864. r I ^ HE chain of circumstances and events leading up to the great Arsenal of today J- is of continuous interest. Link has been added to link as administration has been succeeded by administration, until the rather rough plans of more than eighty years ago have developed into a system that is approaching perfection. Further on it will be seen that when a crisis came to the country in the spring of 1898, Rock Island Arsenal was prepared to meet the sudden and enormous de- mands made upon it for war material in a way that helped essentially in solving the difficulties of the Government. The day that peace was declared, after 114 days of hostilities, Senator Allison, of Iowa, who had supported every appropriation bill from the first, remarked that during the com- paratively short war the Arsenal had more than repaid the country for the "millions it had cost in the extent, variety and character of the equipments, THE RESERVOIR. stores and munitions it had so promptly furnished. It was on the 2d of March, 1825, that the Secretary of War informed the Com- missioner of the General Land Office that the Island of Rock Island was necessary for military purposes, and directed that it be reserved from sale. About the year 1835, by direction of Congress, two examinations of various sites for a Western armory were made by commissions of army officers. In September, 1840, the Chief of Ordnance, Colonel Talcott, directed the commanding officer at 25 ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF THE ISLAND. AN ISLAND FARM. THE DYKE AND PAPOOSE ISLAND. 4. SOLDIERS AS HAYMAKERS. 5. THE ROAD ROLLER. 6. NO THOUGHT OF WAR. 7. CLEANING UP. A PAPER TARGET. St. Louis Arsenal to examine the Island of Rock Island with a view to its use for ordnance purposes. The resulting report made by Capt. William Bell shows the foresight and breadth of view of that officer. This is evidenced by the following extracts: The whole Island, containing about 850 acres, belongs to the United States, having been specially reserved from sale. It lies at all times high and dry in the Mississippi, on the side of the Illinois shore, from which it is separated by about 600 or 700 feet ; its greatest length, lying east and west, being about 2.61 miles, and its greatest breadth, lying north and south, being 1,463 yards; its perimeter, or circumfer- ence, being 6^ miles. There are but two occupants on the Island: one at the upper or east end, who has no claim upon the grounds; the other, at the north side, near the water, at the point marked "Davenport" on the accom- panying sketch, which is the name of a very respect- able gentleman who has lived there for many years, and who has gone to considerable expense in orna- menting the quarter section he claims, and in the erection of buildings thereon. Captain Bell' s report accurately describes the Fort Armstrong buildings ; recom- mends repairs; speaks in high terms of the towns (Rock Island, then Stevenson, and Davenport) on either side of the river; notes the good boat landings on the Island, and dwells at length on the great available water power afforded by the fall in the river. He was evidently captivated by the natural charms of the locality, for he writes that "the productiveness, health and beauty of the country surpass anything" he had seen. In September, 1841, Congress passed an act for a thorough examination of the whole Western country ' 'for the purpose of selecting a suitable site on the Western waters for the establishment of a national armory." The board of three officers spent eighteen months in making most thorough examinations, its report covering 400 printed pages. Much space was devoted to the Island and many exact facts were given. Some of the more salient features of the report are these: This beautiful and interesting Island derives its name from the circumstances of its resting upon a bed of rocks, consisting of limestone in horizontal strata, well adapted to the purposes of building. It stands in the Mississippi, at the foot of Rock Island Rapids. Its length is about 2^ miles, and its greatest breadth four-fifths of a mile. It contains about 800 acres of excellent land, still the property of the United States. The surface of the Island is generally waving, and is pervaded by a broad valley passing centrally and longitudinally two-thirds the length of the Island. With the exception of a few acres cleared at the head of the Island (the site formerly occupied by Fort Armstrong, now used, in part, by the United States as a depot of arms for the Western country, and a large garden, with other improvements, occupied by George Daven- port), the Island is covered with a dense timber growth. The Island is bounded, for the most part, by precipitous cliffs, or abrupt and rocky hill-stopes, its surface rising ten to twenty feet above the reach of the highest freshets. 27 This report, like the preceding one of Captain Bell, may, with entire modera- tion, be called enthusiastic in praise of the natural advantages offered by the Island for arsenal uses. The board of officers emphasizes the water-power opportunities, discusses the question of dams, the rapid fall in the river, the rich surrounding country, the nearness of beds of coal, lead and iron. ' 'Articles of subsistence of all kinds," the commissioners say, "for man and beast, are abundant, and these are remarkably cheap. The site is exceptionally healthy, as evidenced by the reports, now on file in the office of the Surgeon- General, * * covering a period of more than twenty years, during which the number upon the sick list at Fort Armstrong was proportionately less than at any other post in the Western country. ' ' Quartermaster-General Jesup, writing to the Secretary of War in 1852, says : The site of Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, is one of the most valuable in our Western country for an armory. The whole water power of the Mississippi River is available. If a Western armory is to be established, I would advise that it be placed there. I would not advise that any part of it be rented or leased. Hon. A. C. Dodge, Chairman Senate Committee on Public Lands, writing to the Secretary of War in 1854, says: Rock Island, as you are well aware, has long been regarded by a large portion of the people of the Mississippi Valley as an advantageous site for an arsenal of construction. Jefferson Davis, while Secretary of War, in 1854, was the stanch friend of Rock Island as the unequaled location for the Nation's mid-continent Arsenal, and likewise he was the advocate of river improvement. He had, twenty-two years earlier, from personal visitation, formed views which were never changed. Justice requires that credit be given Mr. Davis for using the authority of his position to prevent the sale of the Island to settlers, certain influences having been set in motion to secure that end while he held the portfolio of war. Gen. C. P. Buckingham, October 24, 1862, wrote to the Secretary of War, after some time spent in a study of the Island : The Island is, without doubt, the best place for an Arsenal. It is high and healthy, well supplied with water from the Mississippi River, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad is easily accessible. The Island contains about 900 acres of land, of which about 200 have been granted by Congress to individuals. The only question connected with the location of an Arsenal at this point is, I conceive, whether it shall be at the upper or lower end of the Island. Without going further into the irrefutable argu- ments, it may be said that the full force of all these early observations has been far more than confirmed. The half century that has passed, the growth in popu- lation of the Upper Mississippi Valley and the vast region beyond, the coming of railroads and telegraphs, new discoveries of minerals, the partial utilization of MAIN AVENUE, NEAR woLiNE. water powers, the extensive river improvements, all 28 these accentuate the reasons given so long ago for the location of the Govern- ment's largest Arsenal here. Mere mention is all that can be made of the attempts to locate on the Island on the part of individuals and companies, of their temporary success, and of their ulti- mate exclusion through the purchase of their holdings obtained through franchises, the preemption law, and other devious and questionable means. In one instance, where a settler had developed water power at the eastern end of the Island, he was paid $145,175 to relinquish his alleged or real rights. PLANTED CANNON. THE ISLAND AS A MILITARY PRISON. I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-house. Shakespeare. DURING the war between the States, 1861-65, the Island was used for a pur- pose never intended by those who designed it for an Arsenal. It became one of the largest military prisons in the North, through force of dire circumstances. In the early stages of the Civil War, prisoners were captured both by the Union forces and by the Confederates. These prisoners were removed as far as possible from the scenes of hostilities. Rock Island was owned by the Government ; it was hardly occupied ; it was secure ; it offered advantages X^ 1 ^^, for the use to which it was put. J b So extensive barracks for prisoners of war were built in the summer and fall of 1863. The construction of the buildings was in charge of Capt. C. A. Reynolds, United States Quartermaster's Department, and they were thought to be ample for the accommodation of 13,000 prisoners, though so large a number was never quartered there at one time, or, as the records show, altogether. A full-page illustration shows with detail and accu- racy not only the barracks, but all the buildings on the Island at that time. The quarters for prisoners were located on the north side, near the river front, a little more than a mile from the lower or western end of the Island. The prison itself took the form of a rectangle, covering about twelve acres. The four sides faced nearly north, south, east and west. The northeast corner of the inclosure was oppo- site the lower point of Papoose Island. There were fourteen east-and-west rows 01 one-story frame buildings, six in a row. Each of the buildings or barracks was 100 feet in length by 20 in width, with windows on the sides and doors in the ends. They were neither plastered inside nor painted outside, but well constructed for the protection of the occupants. In one end usually the west of each building was the kitchen. On either side of the long hall were rows of double-decked double COL. A. J. JOHNSON. U. S. V. Commandant Rock Island Military Prison, 1864-65. Bell Tower, Outside Entrance. Prisoners Suffering Punishment Inflicted by Their Own Courts. ROCK ISLAND MILITARY PRISON SCENES. 3. Administering the Oath of Allegiance. 4. View within the Stockade. 5. Prisoners Making Clam-Shell Trinkets. berths or bunks for sleeping. Each building accommodated 120 persons. A main avenue, fifty feet wide, divided the seven rows on the north from the same number on the south. Within these walls the prisoners were allowed as much liberty as possible. They were permitted to receive newspapers, magazines and books. Letters came to them every day from their Southern friends, though every piece of mail was opened and inspected and all remittances of money were taken out and receipts issued therefor, these receipts enabling the prisoners to buy such articles as were not ROCK ISLAND MILITARY PRISON DAYS. A. C. Dart. Captain Bucher. Maj. Frazer Wilson. Capt. J. G. Robinson. contraband. Packages of clothing and other goods were admitted after examina- tion, and all privileges accorded Union soldiers confined in the South were extended to these Confederates. The name, home post office address, company and regiment of each prisoner was carefully recorded. They were in many cases permitted to work in clearing the Island grounds outside the prison. At one time more than forty carpenters, held as prisoners, were employed on other buildings it was found necessary to construct. Extending around the prison barracks, some fifty feet from the sides and ends ot the buildings, was the stockade. This was made of inch boards, twelve feet long, 33 ATTENTION, PLEASE! placed on end. Four feet from the top was a platform or par- apet wide enough to allow the sentinels to pass on their beats. Armed guards were always on duty. The "dead line," a sort of trench, paralleled the stockade about twenty-five feet distant on the inside. Two or three prisoners were shot while attempt- ing to cross the ' ' dead line. ' ' There were sentinel boxes or houses every hundred feet along the parapet. There were no successful plans of bodies of men to escape. The nearest approach to this was an underground tunnel on the south side of the prison. The tunnel was dug, but before an escape was effected the opening was discovered. Now and then a prisoner did get away, but it was next to impossible to leave the Island after scaling the stockade or getting through the gates. The prisoners fared well, their rations being the same as those of the Union soldiers who performed guard and garrison duty. Some of them made money by their ingenuity and skill in converting clam shells into buttons and other devices. A number of them, after the war, were content to become residents of this locality. But it cannot be denied that disease entered the prison as it visiied the camps of the Nation' s soldiers in Tampa, Chickamauga, Fernandina and elsewhere during the war with Spain. The large buildings in the center of the Island, where the Arsenal shops now stand, show the Confederate hospital, and farther south, on the Illinois side, were the pesthouses. During the existence of the prison, 1,961 victims of disease died here and were buried on the Island. Few traces of prison days remain. One wing of the old post hospital may be seen just east of the north row of shops, and west of the same row are two or three buildings used thirty-five years ago for officers' quarters. They were temporary structures, and nearly all of them have from time to time been removed. The illustration, however, is practically all that is left to recall this unpleasant feature of the Island's history. The military prison was under the control of the commissary-general of prisoners, Brig. -Gen. William Hoffman, and was commanded during the first year after its construction by Col. Richard H. Rush, and after that by Col. A. J. Johnson, United States Volunteers. Doctor Watson, of Dubuque, was the surgeon in charge, and he was assisted in his duties by Dr. P. Gregg, of Rock Island, and many other physicians. A. C. Dart, now a whole- sale merchant in Rock Island, was post sutler during the life of the prison, and probably has PRESS FOR PRINTING TARGETS. 34 more records of the period than any other one individual. Thomas Winkless, ex- auditor of Scott County, Iowa, was chief clerk and bookkeeper in the office of the commissary of prisoners. Hornby & McClelland were the contractors who con- structed the prison buildings, and the firm of French & Davies furnished the lumber. The cost of the barracks, hospitals, guardhouses, officers' quarters, etc. , is estimated to have been more than $125,000. John Wilson Guiteau, now of New York City, was superintendent of construction under Quartermaster C. Q. A. Reynolds. From the close of the Civil War to this time the national authorities have regarded the records of all the prisons as a sealed book, but the seal is to be broken. This is shown by the following letter from the chief of the Record and Pension Office of the War Department, under date of May 31, 1898, to the author of ' ' Rock Island Arsenal : in Peace and in War ' ' : The United States military prison on Rock Island, Illinois, was opened about November n, 1863, and closed about July 22, 1865. During that period there were 12,286 Confederate prisoners confined therein. There are no published records of Rock Island military prison, but the records of the several prisons in use during the late war are in process of compilation and will soon be pub- lished in the series of Records of the War of the Rebellion. This, from the Rock Island Argus of June 22, 1865, about the time the prison was closed, fittingly ends this chapter : THE ISLAND BURYING GROUNDS. Above the hospitals, on the center road coming from Moline, out of sight from the Gov- ernment buildings, secluded among the trees, lie the Confederate and Federal dead of Rock Island barracks. The reconciling grave Swallows distinctions first that make us foes, That all alike lie down in peace together. Two neat yards, separate and secure, contain the remains of those who have died at the Island since the opening of the barracks. The first is the Federal burying ground, where repose the remains of some 200 Union soldiers, each grave having a headboard giving the name of the deceased, his company, regiment and date of death. A little distance beyond this graveyard, and also inclosed with a secure fence, is the Confederate burying ground, where about 2,000 Confederate prisoners of war lie buried. Their graves are in long, deep trenches, the bodies being placed separately in strong wooden boxes and laid side by side, about two feet apart. At the head of each is a board on which is painted the number of the grave and the initials of the deceased. On the books of the post, against each number, is found a com- plete description of the deceased, his company, regiment and State. Each of these graveyards is wholly cleared of trees, stumps, roots, stones, and the ground neatly sodded over. BOYS COVERING CANTEENS. 35 THE ARSENAL GUN YARD. 1. A View from Main Avenue. 2. The Seven Sisters. 3. A Trophy. 4. Confederate Trophies. 5. Iron Posts, Chains and Cannon Balls. FEATURES OF THE ISLAND. This beautiful and interesting Island. Report of Board of Army Officers. AREA AND CHARACTERISTICS. TWO partial descriptions of the Island have been given : one by Captain Bell, written in 1 840, the other by an army board one or two years later, but both underestimate the area and omit facts now better known. The Island is not only the most beautiful, but it is one of the largest throughout the length of the Mississippi River. It is exceptional in the respect that a consider- able part of it is above flood mark, and this advantage was particularly taken into account in fixing the site of the Arsenal buildings. From Chicago, the distance by rail is 181 miles; from the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, 316 miles. By river it is 332 miles north of St. Louis and 397 miles south of St. Paul. The Island is about two and three-fourths miles long, and varies in width from one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile. It contains, above low- water mark, 970 acres. Lengthwise the Island lies nearly east and west, and the course of the Missis- sippi by the Island is generally about eleven degrees south of west. The highest ground on the Island is the part where the great shops are located, and this rises from 17 to 23 feet above the highest high water ; the rest of the high ground is generally from 14 to 20 feet above a high stage of the river. All of the high ground rests on a foundation of gray magnesian limestone, which in places crops out on the surface, but it is mainly cov- ered with from one to eight feet of earth, principally loam and clay, and sometimes sand, gravel and other earths. VARIETIES OF TREES. The surface of the Island is waving, yet not to any marked extent, and it is covered generally, except the building sites, the avenues, the cemeteries and clearings for special purposes, with sparse timber. On much of it the first growth has been 1. ISLAND GOLF LINKS. 2. GROUP OF GOLFERS. 37 1. An Enchanted Spot. 2. The Bridge from Below. THE ISLAND LAKE. 3. Shadows in the Water. 4. Another View. removed, and replaced by a second growth. For the most part the Government's grounds are kept trim and clean, and they have been beautified along the drives by setting out shade trees; but on the lower half of the south side of the Island nature has been almost undisturbed. Here the undergrowth is thick, and some of the trees indicate ' ' the forest primeval. ' ' This adds to the attractiveness. The native trees are principally oak, elm, ash, basswood, hickory and walnut. AVENUES AND DRIVES. The avenues east and west that is to say, from Davenport and Rock Island to Moline are graded, rolled and drained. They are always in perfect condition for driving. The two cross-avenues north and south are likewise smooth. A car- riage road follows the river bank from the commandant's residence nearly to the head of the Island, where it crosses to the Moline bridge and then down the shore of Sylvan Water almost to the end. This drive shows the miles of dike or embank- ment that has been built to protect the lower parts of the Island from overflow. There are many drives, arched with interlocking branches, in all parts of the Island, 38 which lead one to quiet retreats. Here the quail may be seen and the music of his whistle often heard. Feathered songsters find their home in large number, and all the year round the gray squirrels hold carnival. A PARADISE FOR BIRDS. Shooting and trapping are not allowed on the Island, and dogs -ire not seen there. It may be said that from General Rodman's time to the present all the com- mandants have taken pains to preserve and protect the birds. The result is that their number has been increased and many varieties that are strangers to the sur- rounding country are to be seen. More than eighty varieties have been counted by bird-lovers, nearly all of them song birds. Of game birds, the visitor may see Quail, Pheasant, Snipe, Woodcock, Plover and Rail ; the Sap Sucker, Red-headed, Yel- low-hammer and other Woodpeckers ; Night, Hen and Sparrow Hawks; Rock, River and Mud Swallows ; also the Chippy, Sparrow, Red-Eyed Flycatcher, Bee Bird, Humming Bird, House Wren, Linnet, Indigo Bird, Bittern, Phebe, Red-bird, Snow- bird, Bluebird, Kingfisher, Sand Martin, House Martin, Orchard Oriole, Blue Jay, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Brown Thrush, Wood Thrush, Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Whippoorwill, King-bird, Robin, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove, Yellow-birds, and others. Nearly all of these birds nest and raise their young on the Island. Dense woodlands are sparse in this part of the country, and the heartless warfare of the hunter has nearly exterminated the birds. It is fortunate that parts of the Island have been left in their original state, and that they are a natural conservatory. 1. THE RODMAN GUN. 2. THE RODMAN MONUMENT. 39 THE NATIONAL CEMETERY. At the upper end of the Island, a few rods from the Moline entrance, lie the remains of nearly five hundred Union soldiers, most of whom died while serving at this post. The grounds are scrupulously cared for, and on each recurring 3oth of May, Memorial Day, the graves are strewn with wreaths and flowers. It is the hon- ored custom for thousands of the people of Davenport, Rock Island and Moline to gather there and hold patriotic services. MEMORIAL DAY ON THE ISLAND. i. The National Cemetery. 2. Around the Speaker's Stand. 3. Grand Army Veterans in Procession. GENERAL FLAGLER'S HISTORY. The one standard and exhaustive ' ' History of Rock Island Arsenal ' ' is that written by Gen. D. W. Flagler. The early history is elaborately recounted. It was published by the War Department in 1877, a work of nearly 500 large pages, with numerous maps and plates. The volume may be consulted at the public library in each of the three cities. ISLAND PRIVILEGES. Visitors hardly need to be reminded that army posts are not public parks, and that strict regulations are framed for their government. While the bridges are free at all times, a permit must be obtained, except on special occasions, in order to pass 40 the guards at the entrances unchallenged. Smoking, shooting, racing, fast driving and interfering with the workmen are positively forbidden on the Island. Picnics and refreshments are not allowed. Flowers, plants and shrubs must not be dis- turbed. But between sunrise and sunset, every day, there is no trouble for either residents or visitors to see the Island, and it is not difficult to obtain permits to the shops. The hotels have passes for their guests, the liverymen for their patrons. Bicycle permits are granted on application, but the Island is not a highway for driving between the cities. AN ANCIENT BURIAL MOUND. The antiquarian will find much of interest on the Island, an inviting field of investigation. The deposit of shells in the earth along the banks of the Mississippi has always attracted attention. Beds of considerable extent are found at the head of the Island. The layers are usually in horizontal position and vary from 3 to 4 centimeters to i meter in thickness. A valuable paper was presented to the Daven- port Academy of Natural Sciences, February 28, 1873, by A. S. Tiffany, from which this extract is taken : On the Rock Island Arsenal grounds, near the western extremity, there has been an excavation about 300 feet long and 80 feet deep. At a depth of 3 feet from the top is a deposit of shells, mostly Unios, but including Melanthe Sub-solida, and two or more species of Helix. This shell bed, at this exposure, varies from 6 to 16 inches in thickness. Accurate levelings prove the deposit to be 18 feet above the highest watermark known since Fort Arm- strong was established on the Island (1817). In the lower part of this shell bed were found the skull and bones belonging to one individual. The bones were quite fragile, and easily fell to pieces, but a large portion of the skull FORT FLAGLER. was secured. There are many fragments, bearing witness that the whole skeleton had been there. Associated with these human remains were found the point of an antler of a deer or elk, and what appears to be a fragment of the shin bone of a bison which had apparently been broken to extract the marrow. The covering was evidently an aqueous deposit, the sedimentary lines being perfect and unbroken. Deposited with and above the shells are gravel and sand, the material becoming finer toward the top, the last foot being fine alluvium and vegetable mold. The section has been visited by many members of the Academy, and by Prof. Alexander Winchell, while some of the bones were in place, and all agree that the covering of this pre- historic man was a sedimentary deposit. It is believed that further investigation will accumu- late many evidences that man was contemporaneous with this ancient shell bed. Prof. W. H. Pratt, in a paper read before the Academy of Sciences August 17, 1877, says : At the head of the Island, where are found the most extensive accumulations in this region, we find, at several places along the edge of the bank, an additional deposit of shells heaped up above the general shell bed, which is itself very heavy at the same point. One of these heaps is still over two meters high above the regular continuous bed, its contents being similar in every respect. These superficial deposits slope off or thin out inland rather rapidly, extend- ing back but a short distance from the present edge of the bank, and the face of the bank is vertical here down a meter or two to the solid limestone rock, being broken down and washed away by the high waters of every season, thus always presenting a good vertical section of the strata. * * * In this connection we ought not to overlook a bed of shells formerly existing near the foot of Rock Island, at the bottom of which the "shell-bed skull" was found by Mr. Tiffany in the fall of 1871. Experience and examination of shell-bed mounds have fully convinced me that this was an ancient burial mound. THE COUNTRY'S ARSENALS. The problem of preparation for war in modern times is both extensive and complicated. The creation of material for war, under modern conditions, requires a length of time which does not permit the postponement of it to the hour of impending hostilities. It is not the most probable of dangers but the most formidable that must be selected as measuring the degree of military precaution to be embodied in the military precautions to be maintained. Material, once wrought into shape for war, does not deteriorate from its utility to the nation because not used immediately. It can be stored and cared for at a relatively small expense, and, with proper oversight, will remain just as good and just as ready for use as at its first production. CAPT. A. T. MAHAN, recognized the world over as a high authority, has written impressively on the necessity of ' ' Preparedness for War, ' ' and the fore- going extracts leave no doubt about his meaning. The nations of the earth have accepted it as conclusive, and their armies and navies are larger and stronger than ever before. It has been the policy of the United States from the first. It has built and maintained arsen- als and armories, an increasing navy, seacoast defenses, and the military and naval schools in which to give practical and efficient training in war. But it has done all this with a moderation that at times has not given the feeling of security that is the right of the people. To maintain its honor and integrity, and on grounds of broad humanity, our country has been forced into war when it was not ready. What if England, Germany, France or Russia had been our foe in the last war? No sane citizen can doubt that the cost of life and treasure would have been incalculably greater, the conflict of longer duration and the loss to some, at least, of the 'seacoast cities frightful to contemplate. But the war with Spain, which has won such brilliant achievements for our arms, has only added new and weighty reasons invincible arguments for extending 43 HEAVY ORDNANCE. i. Siege Howitzer, y-inch. 2. Siege Gun, with Breech Open. 4. Siege Gun, Traveling Position. 3. Siege Gun, 5-inch, Firing Position. 5. Field Gun, 3.2-inch. LIGHT ORDNANCE. i. Field-Gun Carriages in Shop. 2. Catling Guns. 4. Double-Seated Field Gun. 3. Galling Gun. 5. Battery Wagon. the entire military and naval establishment. New and distant territory has been acquired, both by conquest and annexation, and this must be fortified and guarded. Serious questions have arisen and must arise, and they can only be answered by preparation. There is no escape from the heavy responsibilities that have come uninvited and unexpected. Differences of opinion may exist on how best to solve the problems, but there can be none on the urgency of preparation for defense. THE FIRST ARSENAL. In the first war the Colonies had neither arsenals nor armories, but in the very year of their independence the States began the manufacture of powder, and a year later (1777) brass cannon were cast in Philadelphia. An arsenal was established at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a foundry and laboratory were, on the recommenda- tion of Washington, begun at Springfield, Massachusetts. This was the origin of 45 COMMANDANT'S HOUSE AND GROUNDS. i. The Residence. The Shaded Lawn. 4. Summer House on the River Bank. The Garden and Greenhouse. 5. The Gateway. the present National Armory there. Before 1787 the manufacture of small arms had begun. The arsenal at Harper's Ferry was commenced in 1795. These two arsenals furnished small arms and supplies during the War of 1812. In 1838 the Ordnance Department was placed in charge of the arsenals and armories, of which there were twenty-three in the United States at the beginning of the Civil War. Some of these were small ; others were intended only for repairs, and still others merely as depositories. Wisdom came from experience, and in place of the limited and widely scattered arsenals, it was determined to concentrate the work of arming, equipping and supplying the army. Hence, there are now only five principal manufacturing arsenals in the United States. SPRINGFIELD ARMORY. This is located on the Connecticut River, in southern central Massachusetts. Since the abandonment of Harper's Ferry Armory, Springfield has been the only manufactory for small arms rifles, carbines and swords for the army. The Spring- field rifle, which for so many years was carried by the soldiers, takes its name from this place, where it was gradually developed to its present perfection. This arm was replaced, four or five years ago, by the United States magazine rifle and carbine, and that gun has since been manufactured at Springfield Armory. Before the war, the average rate of production was slightly over 100 guns a day. This was greatly increased by the addition of a number of machines, until about 320 guns are now being turned out daily, or rather were a few weeks ago. The maximum num- ber of employes at Springfield was reached in the month of July, 1898, when it was slightly over 1,900, with a pay roll for that month of about $125,000. Further additions to the plant have lately been made, and it is expected that before the close of the year it will be possible to turn out 400 guns each day. Springfield Armory is in two parts, separated by about a mile. At one, known as the Water shops, the heavy forging is done ; the parts are then transferred to what is known as the Hill shops, which comprise three large buildings about 300 by 60 feet, each with three floors which are well filled with machinery. There are no railway conveniences for transferring between the two parts of the armory, and this has to be done by team- ing through the Springfield streets. It can readily be seen how many economies could be exercised if small arms manufacture were, at least some of it, transferred to Rock Island, with its vacant shops admirably arranged and all ready for the necessary plant. FRANKFORD ARSENAL. This is located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It has been established many years and is now the principal manufactory of projectiles for the army. None of its buildings are particularly modern, nor are they so well arranged as new ones would be which had been designed particularly for the purpose to which they are now put. 47 WATERTOWN ARSENAL. This establishment is in the city of Watertown, just outside Boston. It is one of the older arsenals, but its development to its present capacity has only been of recent years. It is the main manufactory of the huge steel carriages for the large guns used for coast defense, corresponding in that respect to the field and siege carriages now made at Rock Island Arsenal. Watertown' s principal output is the Buffington-Crozier gun carriage for 8, 10 and 12 inch rifles. The Arsenal is entirely incapable, however, of producing the number of these required for the service, and the greater part are being made under contract by different private establishments throughout the country. BATTERY IN ACTION. Firing a National Salute on the Fourth of July. WATERVLIET ARSENAL. This post is located on the west side of the Hudson River, opposite the city of Troy. Its shops have been almost entirely rebuilt within the last ten years. The principal building is the great gun factory, which is nearly 1,000 feet long and 130 feet broad. It is [filled from one end to the other with enormous lathes, boring machines, sharpeners, presses, etc., required in the manufacture of our huge seacoast cannon. As thejargest of these guns is over fifty feet long and weighs about 1 10,000 pounds, the size of the necessary machines for its fabrication can be imagined. Recently the necessary machine tools for the manufacture of the i6-inch guns, which, manifestly, must exceed the size and weight of those just previously mentioned, have been added to the shops, and one of the guns is now in process of fabrication. The 48 manufacture of seacoast cannon is a process which cannot be hastened, and from the first boring and turning of the various parts, and their heating and assembling in the shrinkage, of their rifling, etc., must all be conducted with due deliberation; also the immense amount of care and refinement, far greater than that required in the great majority of machine shops. Many men, therefore, cannot be employed, and though the shop has been pushed to its capacity of running twenty hours a day during the recent war, it has not partaken of the stir and bustle and rush which have been so noticeable features of the recent operations at Rock Island Arsenal. BENICIA ARSENAL. To the four arsenals named must be added that of Benicia, about twenty miles from San Francisco. Some little repair work necessary to put in good condition any broken or unserviceable parts of the equipment of the Pacific Coast is done at that place, but it is in no sense a manufacturing arsenal. OTHER ARSENALS, DEPOTS AND STOREHOUSES. There are several depots which, during the Civil War of thirty-five years ago, were used as manufactories, but no longer have a modern plant and are not capable of very much work. Some of these, however, during the war with Spain, have been running on equipment work for the infantry and cavalry soldier in conjunction with that done at Rock Island. At Allegheny Arsenal, Pittsburg; Columbia, Tennessee, and San Antonio, Texas, operations have been conducted on blanket bags and their straps, haversacks and straps, saddles, bridles and halters. In all these cases the material had been partly fabricated into the desired article at Rock Island Arsenal, and then sent to these establishments for completion. This became necessary to relieve the pressure at Rock Island, the plant not being adequate to fully complete all the stores. Fort Monroe Arsenal, at Fort Monroe; New York Arsenal, in New York Har- bor ; Kennebec Arsenal, at Augusta, Maine, and Augusta Arsenal, at Augusta, Georgia, are the remaining arsenals of the country. They are mainly storehouses for the reception and distribution of the outputs of the other arsenals, and are in no sense manufacturing establishments. ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL. The Arsenal designed for the manufacture of the carriages, implements and equipments, and harness for both field and siege artillery, is the Rock Island Arsenal. It is the one that is best suited for this work. Report of General Flagler, Chief of Ordnance, to Secretary of War, October i, 1896. Economy dictates the advantage of manufacturing all our field and siege carriages at this Arsenal. Ample and most excellent shops were completed many years ago for this purpose, and are available. Report of General Flagler, Chief of Ordnance, to Secretary of War, October i, 1897. act of Congress locating the National Arsenal on Rock Island was ap- _L proved July n, 1862, and it appropriated for that purpose $100,000. This was the first action of Congress looking definitely to the building of the Arsenal. Ground for the first building that now so prominent at the west end of the Island, but in fact only a storehouse and really no part of the active Arsenal was broken September i, 1863. The tower of this building is supplied with a large clock, whose face can be seen and whose striking can be heard at a great distance. The dial is twelve feet in diameter. A REAR VIEW OF SHOP B, NORTH SIDE. 50 SOUTH ROW OF SHOPS, REAR VIEW. THE MASSIVE SHOPS. The row of five shops south of the main avenue is for the Arsenal, and the five north of the same avenue are for the Armory. The center shop in each row is the forging shop and foundry of the Arsenal, and the other four are designed for finish- ing wood, leather and metal working of all kinds, specially for the manufacture of all the material of war. The center shop of the north row is the rolling mill and forging shop for the Armory, and the two shops on either side of it are finishing and wood- working or ' ' stocking ' ' shops for the manufacture of all kinds of small arms. The center shop in each row is only one story high, and the other four have a basement and three stories. The ground plans of all the ten shops are alike. Each building consists of two parallel wings, 60 by 300 feet, 90 feet apart. This leaves an interior court 90 by 238 feet. The porticos at the sides project 12 feet, and are 60 feet wide, and those in front project 2 feet and are also 60 feet wide. The total area of each shop, including thickness of walls, is 44,280 square feet a little more than one acre. The walls of these buildings are entirely of stone. The exterior or face stones are heavy ashlar, laid in courses, jointed, and having a squarely broken face, without tool marks. The backing is rubble, laid also in courses, and has its face, which forms the interior of the wall, well pointed. The average thickness of the walls is as follows : First story, 3 feet 4 inches ; second story, 2 feet 10 inches ; third story, 2 feet 4 inches. The amount of material entering into the construction of one of these buildings is enormous. In shop A, the first built, for instance, there are 30,115,800 pounds of rock, 26,000 of copper, 362, 500 of slate, 1,33 1,500 of lumber, 2,199,646 of iron, 3,132,800 of brick, 200,000 of plaster. These shops are not only the largest and best for arsenal and armory purposes in the United States, but they are hardly equaled in the world. No other arsenal LIBRARY ~ UNIVERSITY OF SHOP K. TYPICAL OF THE EIGHT REGULAR SHOPS. in this country even approaches Rock Island in its spacious, solid, costly and endur- ing buildings. In the rear of three of these shops are fireproof stone storehouses. And of corresponding modern completeness are the barracks for six families and 170 men, the commanding officer's quarters, the subaltern officers' quarters, the general offices and fire-engine house. One powder magazine has been completed, though it is not intended that any considerable amount of powder will ever be stored at the Arsenal. Safety demands that it should be stored at the regular powder depots. THE BLACKSMITH SHOP AND FOUNDRY. 52 WHAT THE ARSENAL HAS COST. A question of material value, and one that it has not been easy to correctly answer, is this : "What has Rock Island Arsenal cost?" The investment covers a period of thirty-six years, and there is actual and full value to show for it, the appropriations for preservation and production of supplies and equipments not being included in the following recapitulation of cost of construction work from 1863 to September, 1898 : CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER ARSENAL WORK. ROCK ISLAND WATER POWER. ROCK ISLAND BRIDGE. MACHINERY AND SHOP FIXTURES. TOTALS. Under Maj. C. P. Kings- bury, 1863-1864 .... Under Gen. T. J. Rod- | 231,384.72 I,855,455-62 4,I37,675-24 2OI,2OO.OO 69,000.00 1 231,384.72 2,302,626.30 4,982,481.45 663,450.00 377,318-48 43 2 ,625.50 201,652.20 1440,506.35 591,911.47 322,000.00 lOI.OOO.OO 67,500.00 73,150.00 $ 6,664.33 160,894.74 96,25O.OO l82,3l8.48 315,125.50 28,375.00 Under Gen. D. W. Flag- ler, 1871-1886 $92,000.00 44,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 98,627.20 Under Col. T. G. Baylor, 1886-1889 Under Col. J. M. Whitte- more, 1889-1892 .... Under Col. A. R. Buffing- Under Maj. S. E. Blunt, 1807-1808 . 1,500.00 Totals $6,496,215.58 $1,596,067.82 $789,628.05 $309,627.20 $9,191,538.65 1. THE NEW MAGAZINE RIFLE. 2. THE CAVALRY CARBINE. 3. SPRINGFIELD RIFLE. 53 THE GOVERNMENT WATER POWER. i. The Big Line Shaft. 2. Dynamo Room. 3. Putting Cable on a Tower. 4. Wire Transmission. 5. Main Cable Driving Wheel. 54 THE GREAT WATER POWER. The low-water flow of the Mississippi River here is 26,000 cubic feet per second ; the high- water flow is 251,000 cubic feet per second; the average flow is 62,000 cubic feet per second. Using the low-water flow of the river, about all of which will be available, we have 45,500 gross horse-power, the second largest water power in the world, Niagara Falls ranking first. Here, 384 miles below St. Paul, there are rapids over a succession of rocky chains extend- ing across the river, and the descent is 20.4 feet in a distance of 14.75 miles. The rapids consist of a series of pools alternating with rapids over rock in place, which crosses the river in a series of dams; these are called chains, and there are ten such designated on the United States Engi- neer's maps. Extracts from an Address by E. W. Boynton, City Engineer of Davenport, before the Western Waterways Convention, held in Davenport, October 5 and 6, 1897. EXPERIENCED engineers from the early days of sixty years ago and more, when Lieut. Robert E. Lee and others made surveys of the Rock Island Rapids, up to this time, have remarked the great available water power that the fall in the Mississippi River furnishes at all stages. The economic value of this power, so long acknowledged, has been intensified during the past decade that has witnessed such wonderful advances in our knowledge and application of electricity. The Rock Island Rapids water power is more than a possibility it is an actuality ; one that runs giant machines in the Arsenal shops and in the cities of Moline, Rock Island and Davenport; one that turns night into day by its illumination; one that makes this locality great as an industrial center, and one that must make it much greater in the NEW WATER-POWER DAM. (The two wings are 192 and 208 feet long:, respectively, with a heavy triangular pier at the angle. There are twenty-five wheel openings twelve in one wing and thirteen in the other.) 55 GOVERNMENT WATER-POWER DAM, FROM BELOW. near future. Water power, both developed and undeveloped, is the prized posses- sion of this busy community. This water power, as has been shown in the extract at the head of the chapter, is almost unlimited. On it the United States Government has constructed dams and gates which make ready for use as wanted nearly 4,000 horse-power. The Moline Water Power Company will have, when the improvements now under way are com- pleted, thirty gates in their dam. They have modern wheels, each of which gives them loo horse-power with an ordinary 6)^ or 7 foot head of water, or they have altogether a developed horse-power of 3,000. The Arsenal has forty openings in its fine dam, and eight of these openings have wheels in them. The Government, therefore, has at its command for supplying the Arsenal with motive power, when the thirty-two wheels are put in, a capacity ol 4,000 horse-power, as stated. The improvements in progress, for which contracts were let last August, consist in running a water-tight dam from the Duck Creek chain of rapids down the river until it meets the present Arsenal wing dam above the head of the Island, with the anticipated effect, instead of having the head of the water obtained from the east end of the Island down, of getting that from the Duck Creek chain westward. This, at low stage of water, it is expected, will add about 2^ feet to the head and from twenty-five to fifty per cent to the available water power at the dams. 56 THE ARSENAL IN PEACE. To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving Peace. Wash- ington to Congress, January 8, 1790. SINCE General Lee surrendered to General Grant, the commander of the Union army, on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, the country has been at peace. The energy and wealth of the people have for thirty-three years been closely directed to developing the marvelous resources of the Nation. So intent were the people in pursuing the arts of industry, commerce and agriculture that they for- got the axiom of the old phi- losopher, "We should provide in Peace what we need in War, ' ' and the more modern truth of " Eternal Vigilance." Congress has been asked time and again by officials of the army and navy to make more liberal appropriations for equipment and defense, in view of an emergency that might suddenly confront the country. Repeatedly has the Chief of Ordnance, Gen. D. W. Flagler, pointed out the urgent necessity, in the interests of economy as well as of defense, for more money with which to provide the empty shops at Rock Island Arsenal with machinery. But the country had fallen into a state of overconfidence and unwarranted security. From this it was suddenly aroused when, on April 25, 1898, formal declaration of war was recommended by President McKinley, and a bill declaring that "war exists between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain" passed both houses of Congress. Quickly came the calls for 125,000 volunteers ; for 75,000 more volunteers, and for immunes. The force of the regular army was largely increased, and in a few weeks the little organization of less than 25,000 effective men was enlarged to 278,500. The navy was strengthened. Battleships were bought wherever they HEADQUARTERS BUILDING. 57 ASSISTANT OFFICERS' QUARTERS. could be found, and old hulks, to be later sunk, were pressed into the service. The volun- teers were ready, and the avail- able maximum of 10,000,000 men for military duty was in reserve. Hundreds of millions of dollars were offered the Gov- ernment. But with all these magnificent ' ' sinews of war, ' ' there was delay ; costly, im- patient and dangerous waiting. The willing soldiers could not be equipped, and they were not for nearly three weary months. The great Washington's injunction had been dis- regarded. War came, and the country was not prepared for it ; and a cessation of hostilities followed after 114 days, given to "getting ready" rather than to fighting, so far as the army was concerned. Had the foe been a stronger power, what in reason would have been the consequences? What Rock Island Arsenal has done in time of peace, owing to the inaction of Congress, is far below what it might and ought to have been. It has slowly added to its machinery and men, and its output has been steadily increased, but not at a rate equaling the Nation' s prog- ress in other directions. The history of the Arsenal for the past eight years is told officially in the following ex- tracts from the reports of the Chief of Ordnance to the Sec- retary of War, and in those of the commanding officer : [From (he report of the Chief of Ordnance, October jo, s8oo.~\ The manufacture of equipments for the infantry, cavalry and artil- lery soldier, the horse equipments for cavalry and the artillery har- ness has been transferred to the Rock Island Arsenal. This trans- fer, while largely increasing the force of workmen and manufac- STOREHOUSE A. tures at Rock Island, will afford (Located at the foot of the Island, and the only one of the Arsenal much needed space at Watervliet buildings in full view of passing trains.) for the accessories of gun-making. 59 1. ELEVATION OF A SHOP'S SIDE PORTICO. 2. THE OLD HOSPITAL. 3. A POWDER MAGAZINE. 4. ALONGSIDE SHOP A. 5. QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE. 6. LUMBER DRY-HOUSE. A further transfer of manufactures from other arsenals, including field carriages and implements, is contemplated to be made to the Rock Island Arsenal in order to concentrate there as much work as is consistent with the best interests of the public service. [From the report of the Chief of Ordnance, October /, /