The Mena weekly star., 1909-06-10
RECEPTION GIVEN
 THE EDUCATORS
Prominent Citizens of Mena and Polk County Addressed Audience in High N School Auditorium Monday Night
 Musical Numbers.

countyteachers and citizens, the seats, built for one, mostly being occupied by two.
 It was near S:30 when Prof. w. T. Adams announced the first number on the program, piano trio by the Misses Cs'lie Jones, Mildred Gardner and Theda Le- gate.
 Judge Wright Prickett was thea introduced to make the well coming address. The "welcom. ing" feature was very short and to the point, but none the less fully sufficient. But the judge certainly made a talk on education that "touched the spot' in most of his hearers. He dwelt at some length on the methods of teach ing ID use when he was student and later a teacher, showing the wonderful advance in recent years. He declared that there had been more advance in knowl- edge in the past ten years than in hundred years past. The judge spoke earnestly for the teaching of oratory, and said he would, if teaching, undertake to devote portion of each Friday to declamations, debates and read ing. He gave an illustration of how Webster Davis of Kansas City had made hit with the peo- pie because he had the power to express himself, how by the same method he had attracted Presl- icrt Mckinley, and thereby start ed himself in an upward course. Prof. John Trainer then was ip- troduced by Prof. Adams, who had known him in Illinois, where he was a leading educator and where Prof. Adams taught.
 Prof. Trainer spoke in Lumor- ous vein of some fishing jokes he might tell on Prof. Adams, and then told of his high standing as teacher in his former field, and how he was in demand in the best scaools. 2 Then Prof. Trainer spoke oi tic necessity of establishing a reg ular system or course of study
 all the districts of Polk county, so that when a pupil came from a country district to a city school he would be able to take up the work without trouble, the course of study being the same. He de sired to see pupils passing the eighth grade in country school fitted to step right into the work of the high school. He urged that there should be held monthly meetings of teachers for the pur- pose of studying better methods of teaching.
 Prof. J. B. Earle made ar earnest talk on practical educa- ton, minimizing the value ei text book knowledge without the practical knowledge that could put the rules into use. He urged cooperation between parents and teachers, and pointed to the duty of a teacher to endeayor to leave footprints behind showing tha1 he had been of real service. He compllmented Mena on it's fine high school building and tho school board and people who hae brought if into existence.
 Judge James D. Shaver of ths chsncery court, spoke on ths duties of a chancellor. He sait he had spent eight years trying to find out what these duties were, and yet often doubted whether he knew what they were
 He said that a negro had given { defination of the meaning o of chancery court as court o
 "lost chances, and he suspected that some who came 70 his courl left 1t with the idea that It was 1; court .without a chance" Hs then entered into the subject in 2 more serious vein, stating that . chancery court was one where al cases were tried without jury that 1t was a court of conscience fairness, equity or natural justice as distinguished from the more rigorous court of common law. Judge Shaver spoke of tht necessity of hustle and push, ot obtaining Knowledge of the prac tical things of life; Of the inn 1 portance of understanding people and things 10 make success at tainable. He spoke of the grea
 progress in education in Arksn sas in the past 10 or Is years, ans on the value of cooperation t, accomplish large results.
 M. B. Legate was introduce, for talk. He made numbe of witty references 10 what wa expecetd or him, and then state, he would make no speech-ans sat down.
 1 W. M. Pipkin made a yer,
 earnest address, devoted largel,