Arizona republican., 1900-12-18
ARIZONA TEACHERS
'Opsning Of tha Joint County
 Institute al Tempe.
The Beginning Was Auspioious and Much Promise Was Given of a Great Educational Revival in the Territory.

Territory.
 The opening Of the joint county iN stitute and Arizona Teachers associa tion in the halls of the Tempe normal school yesterday was a success, and as many remarked, it is promising to be the most memorable and beneficial meeting of teachers ever held in Ari- zona. One marked feature is the beau" ty and taste in the decorations in ana about the halls and rooms of the nOr- nal. The halls here and there are made gorgeous with palm and pepper boughs. large bouquets of roses and pretty flowers. The corners contained large flower pots of palms. The stage in the auditorium where the sesst-n is being held was especially prettily decorated and was largely due to the aesthetic taste of Miss AVeril of the normal school faculty. Intertwining wreaths of pepper boughs overhanS the front upper part of the stage. The shelves hold large bouquets of roses and numerous busts .Jf great men. Ali in all the decoration for the occasion is one of beautiful profusion
 The first days session was opened at 10 a. n. with some 200 present, by A. H. Fulton, Maricopa county school superinte ndent. Miss Hattie Fer rin of Tucson was elected sec retary, and NIr. T. c. Griswold Of Alma assistant secretary. The invO- cation followed.
 In the absence of Hon. John Knight. mayor of Tempe, Mr. Carl Hayden of Tempe delivered the address of wei come His remarks w-re well chosen and were heartily received w. F. Creager followed with . response in behalf of the institute. By request of Superintendent Fulton, w. W. McNeff Of Jerome responded for the northern part of the territory. The appointment of committees was deferred until the afternoon session.
 In response to suggestions by Messrs. Stewart and Varnum, a committee of five was appointed to take the regis tration of the teachers attending.
 MT .NIcNeff, chairman of the com mittee on legislation, requested those having views on school law. to put their ideas in writing and hand them to some member of the committee or present them in person in the commit tee room.
 President A. J. Matthews of the Tempe normal school announced that the normal school building would be open Q all times to the members of ths institute, and that the Hotel Atwood was to be considered as a home by rhe teachers during their stay In Tempe, whether they boarded there or not. He announced that carriages would convey the teachers to and from their boarding places free of charge.
 Superintendent Fulton closed the forenoon session in few well chosen remarks. calling the attention to the purposes of the meeting of the teach CTS here. The institute then adjourned until 1:3O D. m.
 After dinner the visitors enjoyed the hospitality of the normal faculty an1 students and were shown the various working departments and museums Of the building.
 At 2:30 the afternoon session was called to order by Superintendent Full ton. The auditorium was nearly filled to it's seating capacity. Much to the displeasure of the institute IT. C. Gris- wold resigned the office Of assistant secretary. On motion of W. B. Creag ger who made 1t with profuse eulogy. the resignation was accepted and in his stead w. s. Varnum nominated J. c. Cole Of Phoenix, who was unanimously chosen as assistant secretary.
 Mrs. c. w. Miller followed with q beautiful rendition of piano solo.
 The next number on the programme was roll call, but Superintendent Full ton said roll call comes at sometimes and sometimes at other times. He fol- lowed with a short address of admoni- ton beneficial to the teachers present.
 Mature Study" was uhe next mum Der on the programme and before the afternoon was over it proved to be a most interesting one indeed, for heated discussions upon the subject lasted till late in the afternoon. The paper on Mature Study" was written by Mrs. Alice NJ. Davidson, nee Miss Alice M. Merriman. Mrs. Davidson was for merly teacher of botany in the Los Angeles normal. She has written sev eral books on nature study and has be- come quite famous throughout the United States, especially in the south west.
 Professor A. J. McClatchie then read Mrs. Davidson's paper, Mrs. Davidson being unable to attend on account of