The Newark journal., 1908-07-17
GROWING ARKANSAS CITY
Geo. Wright Tells Interesting Story of
 Growth of Progressive Ft. Smith

Dear Editor: As many of your readers know no more of Fort Smith than 1 did when I came here four months ago, and as I have been pleas antly surprised at the great prosperity and many places of interest and amuse- ment, 1 shall endeavor, in a very brief way, to inform the readers of The Journal of some of these. I will state here, however, that what I shall say Is not for the purpose of causing any one to leave Independence county, for 1 would advise any citizen against such move and expect myself to re- turn to Independence as soon as my duties here are finished The sole purpose, aside from the little advan- tage which might accrue to me, is to furnish what I hope will be interesting information to the subscribers of The Journal.
 The population of Fort Smith has doubled in the last few years and the town is still growing rapidly. A few streets here have many splendid resi- denees. This we know portends con- siderable wealth and home pride. All the citizens of Fort Smith are boosters for ther home city, but they are not so narrow as to be jealous of the pros perity or growth of any other city in the land. Their disposition in this regard is noticeable to any one who becomes at all familiar with the social, business and commercial life of the city. This habit is of course a good one for the welfare of the city, and it's remarkable prosperity and almost phenominal growth adds strength and popularity to the habit; one, which, if more strictly adhered to by the citi- zens Of other cities and smaller towns of the state, would create for them more favorable impression abroad, and, best of all, would cause the better class of citizens to remain contented where they are, besides encouraging others to immigrate and not emigrate, with the almost inevitable result that many needed improvements would be made and d healthy growth would characterize the life of the town or city and happiness and prosperity would be the lot of all. But digress.
 One great causes of the steady growth and prosperity of Fort Smith is its factories, and some of manufactured more than 10, GOO wagons last year There are also factories for iron, foundry works, confection- ary, powder, clothing, brick, concrete blocks, lime, lumber, harness and sad lery, brooms, four, cigars, chairs, ice and packing houses. These factories furnish employment for thousands of people, and 1 presume there are a few other factories I know nothing of. These are sufficient to make Fort Smith a distinctive manufacturing city and furnish d foundation for a steady growth in futurity.
 Et. Smith also has six trunk lines of railroads and splendid street car system. Among the principal public buildings, are If church buildings for whites besides some smaller ones and the colored churches, one club build ing, three for lodges, several depots, Carnegie library, county court house, Federal building, U. s. jail, high school, Tabernacle (where Torrey held a great revival in May), three theater buildings and a Catholic church, con- vent, academy and infrmary. The Catholic property at the head of Gar rison avenue cost more than SI00, ,00O, aside from the grounds.
 Among the points of interest may be mentioned, in addition to the above, city and national cemetery, gun club grounds, baseball park, U. S. rifle range, City Park and Electric Park. These include most all of their kind within the confines of the city. The Electric Park, l think, is the most beautiful. This park is located on either side and near the end of the Fifth street car line, and covers about 60 acres of ground. Now as to the floral designs of this park l will quote from an article in the Southwest Amerl- can of July }: "Out-of-town visitors who attend the great July 4th celebra- tion at Electric Park will find many
 improvements in that beautiful resort since their last visit. The many new