The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-08-26

- II
Editor Daily News: In your issue 1
Of yesterday your jackson correspond
emit creates the impression that the re-
cent tour OF Mr. NJ. o. Leighton
through. Mississippi failed to attract
interest among the people and that
his return to Washington was for
this reason Comment is also made
that the subjects he discussed we're not |
OF such character as to interest Missis-
sippians- MY natural inclination is to
resent the imputation that MISSISSIPPI
plans are inferior in intelligence to
those of other states. OF course your
| correspondent does not mean to cast
any such irnpdtatipns but it is a ref1ec-
ton. If true that Mississippians are not
interested in the natural resources
of their state" MY own opinion Of
the cause to be assigned as to why
more enthusiasm was not manifest on
the occasion Of the visit of Mr.. Leigh
ton is that his itinerary was not prop
erly advertised. believe there were
very few people who heard Mr.. Leigh
ton In Hattiesburg that were not inter
ested. There was nothing spectacular
either in the efforts to acquaint the
people with the fact of his coming, nor
in his manner of presenting very Inn
portant questions. A pedagog. does
not always create rousing enthusiasm
among the. students who SIT under his
! tutilage or listen to his lectures, but
this is not necessarily because his
themes are unworthy or his methods
lacking in merit. Education is pro-
gressive. it must percolate or perme-
ate. It is rarely accompanied by
housetop applause. am not well
enough acquainted with the antece-
dents Of Mr.. Leighton to warrant any
! hasty conclusion, as to his ability as
en- educator. am, however able to
say that the address he delivered al
the court house in Hattiesburg was
highly appreciated by those present
Through the advertising by our Bust
, ness League quite-a creditab1e audi
: ence was there. Those present gave
E most respectful and Interested atten
ton from start to finish and at the
close the applause was of such a spon
taneous and hearty character as te
show that Hattiesburgans, many Of
them at least are interested in the
: natural resources of our country"
e We are told that "he is a philan
= thropist who makes two blades 0
q grass to grow where one grew before
The principal is subject to wide appli
cation. There may be people living il
Hattiesburg who never could be mad
Q to believe that 1t is well within TIL
d possibilities of science to take the wa
v ter in the brook, which Tennyson say
h flows on forever and SO harness /
as to make it light our streets, run GU
mills, cook our meals, print our papers
. yea, turn the wheel of every line Q
industry. When men learned in tn
= knowledge of things and how to d
le them, come among us, we are surel
sr the losers II we fail to improve the o,
casion of their visit The government
processes of education may seem e,
~ pensive, or they may not attract a
- tention at all. but when they becom
known we will generally find thei
2 thorough.
Mr.. Leighton surely added new III
to the suggestion of the value to Ha
tiesburg of Bouie River, which we al
!" well assured is SO situated as to mal
We it easily possible to create out Of thi
!, stream horse power running into II
thousands. He also made plain in b
- lecture that the horse power in It
just as tangible as the ton of coal
ne any other unit expression of quantit
as It has its commercial value and shou
I'd therefore be used by man when ava
able through any media. Bouie Riv
has its thousands Of horse power pas
IN ing over its channel bed every hor
!, Let us harness it, then at least one ci
in Mississippi viii prove it was n
7" only interested in Mr.. Leighton's viz
but that it has profited incalculab
therefrom. r. L. BENNETT.
res