The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1893-03-19
Our School
Competition.

The life of a question examiner in
the school competition that the Astori-
an is now running, is anything but an
easy one. and the task that had to be
gone through this week was no excep-
tion to the rule. Whether 1t was that
the questions set were indicative of
many different answers, or that they
opened up a very wide field for reply
we do not know, but 1t is certain that
the lists sent in cover range as wide
as the continet.
There were received up to noon yes
terday, at which time the contest
closed, no less than III answers, MAX
ing a gain of more than double on last
weeks figures. and proving very plain
ly that the interest in the competi-
tions is gaining ground rapidly. The
questions which set the wits of these
1T young ladies and gentlemen work.
ing were as follows:
l. How is the hum of flying In
sect produced?
2. What is the best definition of the
difference between talent and genius?
8. How did traders advertise before
newspapers were known?
Which Of the poets, generals, ad-
mirals, and historians, in your opinion.
were the greatest that ever lived?
Dealing with the last question first
we find on careful examination that
out of all the competitors the figures
In favor of the various heroes of his
tory run as follows:
For Poet: Shakespeare, 91 Tennyson,
TO- Milton, 8; Longfellow, s; Homer, /;
Sam L. Simpson, 1.
For Admiral: Lord Nelson, Sc; Far
ragut, 30; Columbus, /.
For General: Napoleon, So; Yelling
ton, S5; U. S. Grant, 80; Alexander the
Great, 10; Joshua. /.
For Historian: Macauley, 81; Glib
bon, 80; Bancroft, 19; John Richard
Green. 2; Herodotus, Q; Josephus, /;
and three others 1 each.
Some of the answers to the questions
were of course amusing. One young
lady chose Joshua as her greatest gen.
eral because he made the sun stand
still" Another says that talent is
what you feel and genius is what you
see in your minds eye." A boy, who
ought to know better, remarks that
talent is invented and genius made"
One little fellow tells us that ancient
painted their wares on
rocks and all other eruptions of ma
ture"
No less than twenty-six papers have
been thrown out of the competition al
together because some Of the answers
bear on their face the evidence of hav-
ing been directly copied from diction-
aries or, encyclopaedia. Our announce
ment intimates strongly that no crib
bing'' will be allowed, and we wish to
call the attention of competitors to
this fact once more. Four students are
barred from this weeks prize because
their replies are all exactly alike. and
prove duplication. In future our ques-
tons will be so put as to do away, as
much as possible, with any attempt at
work.
And now for the results. We find
three of the competitors so close in
the lead that 1t is very hard to choose
between them. Their answers are In
no way similar, but In giving each
question a certain percentage Of marks
'or excellence, we find that they run
almost neck and neck. They are Miss |
Nettie Tuttle, of the Astoria Select |
school, and Miss Martha Gilbert and
Mr.. Will Levings of the High school.
We do not feel justified in awarding |
,nly one prize, and so have decided to
pick out two of the three leaders as
oint winners of the contest. They |
shall be
MISS NETTIE FUTILE,
MR.. WILL H. LEVINGS.
hloS GllOCIl WOihi
sver, cannot be overlooked, and we
shall present her with the Ladies'
Home Journal for one year from date.
The following competitors have been
awarded honorable mention. They
should not forget that this Is a dis
.inction of no mean value, when so
many Of their fellow students were
oitted against them.
Laura L. Fox, Violet Bowlby, Nella
Florence L. Turner, Edward
NJ. Cherry. Lizzie C. McCann, Charles
sturgis, Floyd Dement,, George L.
Cherry. Bessie L. Ross, Nellie Anstadt,
Bert Ross, Daisy Hill, Sarah Smalley.
The best answer contained in any
paper was that of Miss Maybell NJ
Young, of A class 9Th grade, Astoria
High school. 1t was in reply to ques-
ion No. 2. She said: "The conception
If the Columbian Exposition was q /,
work of genius. The successful COM
oletion of all the necessary details was
IN indication Of talent"
The next series of questions will be
published in Tuesdays paper
NOTICE