GEORGE M. NEALE. One of the most important of the educational institutions, not alone of Fort Smith, but of the state of Arkansas as well, is the Fort Smith Commercial College, of which George M. Neale is proprietor. It has been established for twenty-three years and enjoys highest prestige, its ideals being fine, its methods modern and its results gratifying in the extreme. Now that the “man of affairs” has come to be in large measure the man upon whom the country leans, his preparation for life must be regarded as an important matter, particularly when competition is as keen as it is today. If in the past young men often have been deterred from devoting themselves to a business life because of the wide-spread impression that such a life yields no opportunity for the display of genius, the time has gone by when, other things being equal, the business man must take a secondary place to the lawyer, the doctor, the minister or the editor. George M. Neale, who constitutes in himself one of the most valued factors in the many-sided life of the state, was born in Fayette county, Missouri, on the thirtieth day of August, 1857. His parents were Isaac Neale and Ellen Groves Neale, natives of Virginia. Mr. Neale was reared and educated in the district of his nativity, and by both theoretical and practical training he has been admirably fitted for his life work. After his preliminary education Mr. Neale entered Central College at Fayette and after finishing at that institution he took a thorough and extended course in the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1880. After completing his education he returned to his home state and his first position was as a director in a bank, at Lexington, Missouri. In 1882 he made a radical change by removing to Kansas City, where for six years he was engaged in the mercantile business and in this connection met with abundant success and gained that experience in business which makes his efforts in the line of the commercial training of young men and women far more convincing than those of the mere theorist would be. Mr. Neale's identification with Fort Smith dates from the year 1888 and in that same year the Fort Smith Commercial College was established, and in the twenty-three years intervening it has met with abundant success, the confidence with which it is regarded constantly increasing. One of his sons, Garner S. Neale, is associated with his father as a teacher in the college, and his services, as his father's, are of the most enlightened character. Few institutions of the kind in the United States are as ideally located as the Fort Smith Commercial College, which stands on North Sixth street, three blocks from Garrison avenue, and is surrounded by a bevy of beautiful homes. It occupies the entire second floor of the Masonic Temple and as no building adjoins this substantial structure, it is particularly airy and delightful. Each department is furnished and equipped with respect to the comfort and thorough progress of the pupils. The different departments and recitation rooms, commodious and with high ceilings, receive light and ventilation from all directions. The different departments are of ample size to accommodate all pupils without crowding and are in charge of capable, experienced instructors who use modern approved methods. It goes without saying that the institution offers to students superior facilities for acquiring a business education. It everywhere gains recognition as the leading business and office training school of the Southwest. * The purposes of the Fort Smith Commercial College have bee succinctly set forth by the proprietor himself. Its aim, to use his own words, is “to educate young men and women for business, giving them a practical knowledge that will be of inestimable value to them whatever avocation their taste may lead them to follow. We are confident that whether they intend to become farmers or bankers, lawyers or physicians, tradesmen or merchants, school teachers or preachers, they can acquire information that will help them a step higher in their calling. We be-, lieve that there is many a bright young man who, with the knowledge he receives, can become a prominent business man, and there are those who would otherwise have to rely on their parents, but with the knowledge here acquired could work their way in the business world and become a source of pride to their parents in their younger days and a comfort to them when they grow old. It is better for young men to learn business at a first-class commercial college than to learn it experimenting with the hard-earned dollars of their fathers.” The young men are not the only ones who have benefited by attendance at the Fort Smith Commercial College, but it has frequently been the case that middle-aged men whose circumstances when younger have prevented them from obtaining the education now necessary to assure a man’s success, have enrolled and have been among the most highly satisfied of the students. Mr. Neale is prominent and greatly esteemed in other fields than the commercial and the educational. He is one of the well-known Masons of this part of the state, being a Knight Templar and eminent commander of the local commandery. He and his family are affiliated with the Central Methodist church and are generous and zealous factors in the advancement of its good causes. He is a public spirited citizen and gives heart and hand to all measures likely to result in benefit to society as a whole. On the seventeenth day of December, 1885, Mr. Neale established an independent household by marriage, his chosen lady being Mary Virginia Garner, who was born and reared at Richmond, Ray county, Missouri, daughter of C. T. Garner, attorney for the Wabash Railroad at that point. Their union has been blessed by the birth of a quartet of fine young citizens, namely: Garner S., Irving Christopher, George M., Jr., and Ellen Neale. The second son, Irving Christopher, has evinced remarkable ability as an orator. He graduated with highest honors from the Fort Smith high school in 1910, and at that time was awarded the Dr. E. H. Stevenson medal for oratory and debating and subsequently was awarded the prize in the inter-high school contest of the state at Little Rock in the spring of 1910. The following account of Mr. Neale's triumph appeared in a local publication: “One of the most pleasing events of the evening was the presentation by Judge J. H. Rogers, of the United States district court, of a handsome gold medal donated by Dr. E. H. Stevenson of Fort Smith, to Irving C. Neale, one of the graduates, for excellency in debate. He is a son of President G. M. Neale, founder of the Fort Smith Commercial College, and has won distinguished honors in debate while a pupil of the Fort Smith high school. He has been in three Thanksgiving day debates against the Little Rock high school for the gold cup, and while the capital city retained the cup in 1909, the judges unanimously decided that Irving Neale had won the honors of the highest grades in the debates. Judge Will Steele, of Texarkana, and Judge Joseph Fink, of Helena, in letters to Professor Neale stated that his son in their opinion evinced wonderful powers as a debater and eloquent speaker.” In the summer of 1910 Irving Neale supplemented his education by attendance at the summer school of the University of Michigan and it is in eloquent commentary upon his ability that he was six times chosen to represent the English class of the University in debates with the medical, law and other University classes. The result was a somewhat remarkable one for Mr. Neale's team, composed of himself and two others, won five out of the six debates. He is versatile and in addition to his fine eloquence and argumentative powers he is a promising athlete. Thanksgiving, 1910, at Little Rock, he played right tackle in the game between Fort Smith High School and Little Rock High School. He was the only debater who played football, and the capital city captain sent three men against Irving so that he would have a fresh man to tackle throughout the game. The Neale home in Fort Smith is one of the attractive and hospitable abodes of the city and the members of the household are active in the best social life of the place.