The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-07-20

THE WINNER or THE WOODFORD
PRIZE At CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

Baseball Tornen-The Reversible P3nanae1.
Rescue OF vIrEinia's Historic shrines--Ls
This a Coming Fashion "A New Club For
Eomen-Iteras OF Interest.
The recent commencement at Cornell
was the most remarkable of any in che
university's history for one reason-a
woman took the Hoodford prize in ora
tory, the highest honor that can come to
hnv Comedian. She is Miss Harriett
Chedie Conner of Burlington, Ia,
slender. pretty girl, but Enthusiastically
an orator She had five male competi-
tors. 1t was because Miss Common is an
orator that She won the prize Her sub
iect was "The Letter and the Spirit,
and it dealt exclusively with the grow tn
of tolerance and liberality in religious
thought.
Women ompetitors for the Woodford
prize-founded % Yeas ago by General
iWoodford of Brooklyn and consisting Of
d gold medal OF 800 in gOld-are not
uncommon. The men students outnum-
Der the women at Cornell by about four
or i've to one, and frequently and for
several years in succession a woman has
competed for the Woodford- In the
early eighties there were two women
and one Of them secured honorable
mention. " Until this year no one has
ever considered tins women seriously as
competitors, and place has been given
to them In the contest largely ont OF
compliment to the unusually good work
they always do a5 Cornell.
This year it was generally recognized
hat Miss Conner would be a dangerous
competitor for the men She had won
ser way to the highest honors in Cornell,
mad obtained a Phi Beta Kappa key and
was regarded rs one Of the best speakers
that had ever come to Cornell She had
proved her capabilities long before the
Woodford prize subjects were an
nounced.
The young men OF 20 knew, therefore,
who and what they had to meet when it
was announced that Miss Conner would
Try for tho Woodfo1d, out when 1t be-
came known that Miss Connor was
dancing at the senior ball the night be-
fore the competition and staying late,
too, while most Of her competitors were
in their beds, the young men 8 supporters
took heart and SAID they guessed Miss
Conner was done for.
The usual critical audience was in the
armory. The young men came and went
They spoke well aud received the usual
applause. All, however, were self con-
scious- They showed their nervousness
a. they always do They were not ex-
perienced speakers, although most Of
them were polished But the polish was
plainly artificial and studied
Miss Conner 5 name was called She
was dressed entirely III white=proba-
by her ball goyfn-and as she stepped
upon the platform aud the audience
saw her ease and the almost wonderful
~ pretty picture she made a tremendous
outburst of applause was heard She
had won half the battle before she spoke
"a word. When she started to speak, her
voice was soneF hat unsteady. She was
tired from her social pleasures, and she
showed it. She pulled herself together
quickly, and then all traces of self con-
sciousness disappeared She had views
TO present, and she seemed more DESTROYS
of convincing the audience of the seri-
BUSINESS and truSh of what she was say
ing than of winning the prize The
prize was secondary matter apparent
ly. She was earnest and not artificial
Her few gestures seemed spontaneous,
and she had quite forgotten her gown
and whether she stood on her right foot
while she delivered this paragraph or on
her left foot while she spoke the other
paragraph The audience was absolutely
still There was no turning, no whis-
pering-
Y Mrs. Lease and Mrs Foster never had
more attentive listeners Every syllable
was heard by every person in the audi
ence Of nearly 2. 600 persons. Her voice
filed the place, aud her infection and
emphasis seemed perfect. When she I'm
ished, a storm of applause shook tho
building. The audience declared her the
winner without waiting for the follow
ing competitors, and the judges tried to
aold themselves impartial to the end
When the decision was announced
Anally. the applause was tumultuous-
Then Miss Connor became self conscious
She was in q yvllirl Of congratulations,
the people were excited, and she became
the most marked girl that ever entered
OF graduated from Cornell New York
Sun