Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-09-11

portance in the state, and the mayors of the majoritS of the towns. have signfied their intention of attending the convention. Robert Wait presi- dent of the Little Rock Board O. Trade, will be the temporary chdi!- man. Governor Pindall is eXpaclad to deliver the address of welcome, but if he is out of the city some other prominent state official will perform | that function. Mayor Lennon wi welcome the guests in behalf Of the city.
 Among the prominent speakers are Bishop Morris, who will speak on "The Development of Arkansas" George w. Rogers, formerly the pres ident of the Little Rock Board of Trade, will speak on What Arkan- sas Needs" the 'tMisdeeds of the Last Legislature'' will be the theme on which D. s. McCray will discourse and Robert J. Brown of this city will speak on Latent Resources and Pos sible Developments of Arkansas" in the evening the visitors will be bor- qt ated at the Marion, covers around tae banquet board being 'ali for 1o0, 0 ,nr 100 of which ere ex .:.t: to be visitors.
 The program for Friday is equally as interesting as the one for the opening session. Guy B. Tucker, State Commissioner of Agriculture, will speak on "The States Invitation to the Homeseeker' ''The Necessity for State Organization" is the subject on which Hamp Williams will talk. c. H. Yost will discuss :'The Rivers of Arkansas" After c. H. Merrill, ill., dustrial agent of the Rock Isl1hl- Frisco lines, has spoken on What the Railroads Are Doing,' there will be many eXtemporaneous speeches in he the fitting climax of the meeting.
 High School Teams Meet.
 What is expected to prove very beneficial for the schools of the ] two leading cities of the state, will 1 be inaugurated on Thanksgiving Day, when the football teams of the High Schools of Fort Smith and Lit tie Rock will meet on the gridiron, followed by a joint debate between members of the two teams. The young ladies of the two schools will also meet that night in a declama tory contest. AS a trophy for the debate, Prof. H. c. Morrison, princi- pal of the Fort Smith High school has offered a silver loving cup, which will be contested for a cer tain number of years until one school has won it certain number I of times, when it becomes the per- manent property of that school. The Little Rock School board has au thorized the offering of a gold med al as the prize to go to the winner of the young ladies' contest. If tn: inter-school contests are a success it is probable that the high schools of the other cities of the state will be invited to take part in the years to come.
 To Close Saloons at ii. Joining the march of the temper ance movement, Little Rock will, take it's first step next Monday nigiiI when an ordinance forcing the clos ing of saloons at II o'clock every night, is expected to be passed by the city council. The saloons will not be allowed to open again until } o'clock in the morning. The most surprising thing about the ordinance is that it has been pending before the council for several weeks and very little fight has been made against it by the saloon element of the city. The owners of the sa- Ions which have given the police no trouble, say there is not enough business during the hours the coun- cil asks the saloons to close, to pay for the keeping of them open, 3ut when one saloon keeps open the at',o,.c nnct do in order to pro- t4at their trade. There is no dOHhf but that the ordinance will pass at the next meeting of the council.
 Railroad Commission Work.
 To attend the matters unfinished at the last regular meeting, the Arkansas Railroad Commission is in session this afternoon. There Is great deal of important business to >o +roocoo+od o+ thic Ynoetinp and