The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-06-27
The Canon City Record Thursday. June -, 1915

Oklahoma has become a state and can
take care of its own business now.
| FIT. Smith Is now a thriving manu-
featuring city of about $4,000 people.
1t has natural gas and an active Bus
mess Mems Club. both OF which have
done much to attract manufacturing
enterprises to the city. We saw all
kinds of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. wagon.
handle. stove, scissor. coffin. iron bed.
lamp and lantern chimney. mirror,
folding camp furniture and broom
factories. as well as other big enter
prises. Ft. Smith has fifty-six facto-
ries, employing 4.500 people and pay
roll of SS.000,0O0.
On this and other trips l have
learned something about how to en-
tertain guests And am convinced
that II You can't do 1t about right 1t
might as well not be done at all. FIT.
Smith knows how to handle visiting
delegation just little better than any
other city was ever in.
| In another town we were enter
tanned with drive. a dinner and a
ball. The drive was fine. the dinner
good and the ball swell But the
guests entertained themselves. The
/ speakers atble was filed entirely by
local people and the strangers found
their tables as best they could-as they
would expect to do in a California
cafeteria. And no resident ate or
danced with any visiting guests.
At Ft. Smith We were met at the
train by the leading citizens of the
town in their own cars. Each man
took three or four guests in his car
for a three or four hours ride. He
got the dinner ticket for his guests
and he came back to the hotel and
took his guests with him into dinner.
Every guest had a local citizen at his
table. who made things as pleasant
as possible.
| The toastmaster was as informal
as a Methodist evangelist. The talks
we're short and clever and not stilted
! orations. The dinner was opened
with an invocation and closed with a
benediction. Most OF our dinners in
| Arkansas have been opened with
prayer. One exception was the break
fast at Jonesboro, which was served
f; in church.
The ball was informal and every
body who danced had a mighty good
time. Local people saw to that. And
some OF our young folks had such a
good time they came near missing
the train. which left at 4 A. M.
Ft. Smith knows how to make you
feel at home. A more cordial set
of live business folks never met any
where.
Ft Smith is on the Arkansas river
We don't seem to be able to get out
of sight of this river for very long at
time. We have seen It nearly every
day since we left Canon City. II
dosn't look like our river down here.
tho. remember crossing II here
in the spring of 1882. going over to
Van Buren. There were no bridges
down here in those days. We crossed
in an old ferry boat and II seemed
like the ocean TO me.
remember FL Smith. too. I did
some shopping here that spring. j
went out to buy me new spring
straw hat. We couldn't find boys
straw hat in town that would fit. so
my dad made me take wide-rimmed
straw hat that was made for girl.
OF course you know that a boy of 0
enjoys being dressed like girl. /
also remember that girls hat didn't
last very long. 1t got bunged up
some way or other. soon. and I had
better success shopping in Van Buren,.
But Ft. Smith has picked up some
since then. II is the leading city in
this part of the state now.
At dinner We met MIR. J. =. Henry,
editor of the FIT. SmitlI~Times-Record-
Mr.. Henry's wife was Miss Kitty Mil
Ter. She and her sister. Miss Marion
Miller were nieces of Mr.. and Mrs
Thos. Macon and used to live with
them in Canon City. Mrs. Hardy re-
membered them well.
Ciarksviiie.
We had breakfast Saturday morning
at Clarkville. good old-fashioned
breakfast at a hotel Then we had a
drive up on a fine residence hill and