Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1901 — The Oratorical Contest. [ARTICLE]

The Oratorical Contest.

The county oratorical contest held at the M. E. church Saturday afternoon was not very largely attended, except by the friends and acquaintances of the various contestants. It proved to be a very spirited affair, and the judges were called upon to decide upon the relative merits of some very excellent work in the declamatory line One quite unlooked for result was that the first prize Webster’s International Dictionary, was won by a little slip of a girl scarcely larger than the prize she won The winner was little Beatrice Conway, of Union tp., near Parr. That she won the honor tairly and squarely is evident from the fact that all the judges except one put her first, and that one when he counted up his score card found that she was the highest, even with him. She declaimed “Rienzi’s Address to the Romans.” Beatrice is only 10 years old, and small even for that age. Miss Irene Lutz, aged 18, of Hanging Grove, won the seoond prize, “Cook’s America.” Her declamation was “The Whistling Regiment.” Miss Nellie Nichols, of Barkley, aged 16, won third prize, the Red Line Shakespeare. Her declamation was, “Some Other Birds can Fly.” Miss Emma Lane, of Newton tp. aged 16, won the fourth prize, Holme Poems. She declaimed “The Roman Sentinel.” The fifth prize, Longfellow’s Poems, was taken by Miss Bernice Broadie, of Remington. She gave Wendall Phillips’ oration on “Toussaint L’Overture.” Other participants in the contest were, Vietta Rowland, of Carpenter, Zora Benson, of Milroy Thomas Jenson of Wheatfield; B. White, of Walker; Katie Neville of Wheatfield and Glen Clemens, of Kankake e. They all did excellently, but of course, all could not get prizes.