The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-03-22
MOST ENTHUSIASTIC
WAS THE GATHERING
AT The Auditorium Last Night
ceiling Of Optimism Cen
orally Prevailed.

The advent of prosperity was her.
aided at the big open meeting of the
Commercial Club, which was held last
night at the Auditorium, and from the
nature of the discussions this pros
perity is bound to come in leaps and
bounds, and that at no far distant
| date.
The meeting took the form of gen.
eral endorsement of the recent past
achievements of the Commercial Club,
and this endorsement was of such a
positive and hearty nature that there
could be no doubt of it's sincerity.
The successful conclusion of the long
waged war for better freight rates
was generally conceded to be worth
more to the city of Hattiesburg than
any other achievement in the city's
history, and the valuable work of the
Commercial Club in bringing this
about was heartily endorsed.
The meeting last night was a large
and enthusiastic one, many citizens
who are not identified in any way
with the Commercial Club being pres
ent and listening eagerly to the pro-
gram of advancement which was out
lined. Addresses by President Jack
son, Messrs. George KOmp, H. A.
Camp, Secretary 'Bixler Rudolph Hau-
enstein, Drs. Donald, Crawford and
Cook, were listened to with marked
attention.
All these talks dealt with the splen-
did progress made by this city during
the recent past as the result princi-
pally, of the Commercial Clubs ef-
forts, and each of the speakers urged
the business interests of the city and
individuals to show a more liberal at
titude with reference to the support
of the organization.
President Jackson's speech was
masterful effort, full of enthusiasm
and optimism, and he especially called
attention to the necessity for co-opera-
tion by the business interests of the
city in the work of the Club In fact
Mr.. Jackson demanded a more liberal
support of the organization, and
showed just what effect the proper
spirit of liberality by business inter-
ests and individuals would have upon
the efficiency of the Clubs work
When the speechmaking was all
over, an outline of the work contem-
plated in the near future was fur
nished by the secretary. This work
includes the immediate dredging and
clearing of the channel of Leaf river,
the location here of a mammoth ma
val stores plant, for the purpose of
manufacturing turpentine from pine
stumps, thus clearing the land and
getting it ready for the plow, and the
securing of a branch of the Great
Northern railroad.
These three matters have been un-
der consideration for some time, and
were held up pending a settlement of
the freight rate matter, and now that |
this has been satisfactorily disposed |
of, a vigorous campaign to secure |
these things will be made. and from
the spirit of enthusiasm which pre-
vailed at last nights meeting, there |
appears to be no doubt that the effort |,
will be a successful one.
The resignation of Secretary Bixler |
to take effect April Is, was presented |
to the club. Mr.. Bixler gave his |
reasons for wishing to retire from the |
position that other matters demanded |
his attention. His proposal to resign |
met with a unanimous demand that |
he De IetdiHeu III tue pOSltlOH WHICH
he now occupies, and the general SEN
timent as expressed last night was |
that his resignation would not be ac-
cepted. President Jackson also gave |
notice that unless the club should be |
more literally supported by those in
terested in the city's welfare, he no
longer desired to serve in his present |
capacity. A more loyal support was
pledged and President Jackson was
insistently urged to retain the office |
as president of the organization.
Taken all together, this was per-
haps the most enthusiastic meeting
ever held in this city, and the general |
opinion is that Hattiesburg is on the |
eve of wave of prosperity which |
will exceed anything heretofore ex-
perienced.