Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-04-14

oleSslHg On tue gathering anu It's
purposes
Then the first speaker was an
nouneed, Miss Flora Snyder of Madi-
sono. Miss Snyder presented an at
tractiye stage appearance She is
less than seventeen years OF age, and
very pretty and graceful. Her ora
tion on Prisons was too full OF
pathos and her tones We're too utter
ly mournful to be winner Her
delivery was graceful but too de-
liberate. was good in subject matter
but somewhat immature in its
style of delivery The human prisoner
was compared to tile Gagged bird, and
the universal struggle for freemom
was dwelt upon.
''Lawton, Our Hero" was the
subject handled by Lawrence F. Orr
of Columbus in a very fair produc-
ton not very well delivered The
subject was timely in the extreme
and there was an opportunity Of en-
thusing the audience. The opportu-
nifty was neglected., and the audience
sat there, perfectly willing to be en-
Unused, but unable to do so under the
circumstances. The Grafton was well
written and well worded. Its deliv-
cry lacked fire, but was otherwise
commendable.
The curtain was then rung down
and the r. HI. S. orchestra gave a Sc
lection.
The next speaker was Miss Bessie
HUMPHREYS of Portland, who gave an
excellent grafton on The New Chiv
airy, which she defined as the chiv-
airy of right living and the following
of noble impulses along all lines in
both private and public matters; the
chivalry of real manhood and woman
hood under all circumstances. The ora
ton was delivered almost faultlessly.
Her articulation was above criticism,
her gestures were graceful, her stage
presence commanding and admir-
able. She was picked at once as the
one that Eggemeyer had to b at
if he won out. This picking was done
all over the house She was readily
placed high above all that had pre-
ceded her, sand there were serious
fears reused in the hearts of the
Richmond ''rooters" lest the plum
had been borne off by the earnest
orator from Jay.
The next speaker was Coburn AL
len of indianapolis, who spoke on
Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Allen
had thoughtful tribute to the great
printer statesman. His delivery was
quiet and not at all oratorical
When he had finished the audience
Ia him ranked along with the others
that had spoken, except Miss Hum
phries, and decided that the hardest
race was to be for sixth place.
Then the curtain went down again
and the voices of indianapolis rose in
heers for her plucky orator from the
ophomore class.
'.Public Opinion was the subject
of well-worded and carefully
thought out Grafton by Sumner Ken
ner of Huntington. The Grafton
should have ranked well on thought
and composition, and it was in some
respects an innovation. The deliv-
cry was clear, but not forcible and
''steamy" as it should have been.
Mr.. Kenner appeared to be affected
by something of spirit of timidity,
as were several of the others-which
is a commendable thing in youth, but
not handy assistant in an orator.
cal contest. Mr.. Kenner made very
favorable impression, and was ranked
third by the audience.
And then came the final Grafton
that of Walter Eggemeyer, repre-
sentative of the Richmond high
school. After the top shelf of the
house had yelled everything in Pea
nutland loose, Mr. Eggemeyer
stepped forward and began his glow
ing tribute to Charles Sumner s per-
sonality and craftsmanship His de-
livery was full of life and snap,
strong and forcible with earnestness,
convincing in its manner, compelling
attention. 1t didn t have a grain of
morphine in it from start to finish,
and wouldn' { have put anybody to
sleep. 1t was delivered with the
grace and power of finished orator,
and he was easily accorded first place
with the Portland young lady a
reasonably close second. Mr.. Egge
meyer was slightly hoarse, but
beyond that he had never had such
delivery as he had last night, had
never before acquitted himself so
much like veteran public speaker
compelled to convince his hearers of
the truth of his statements He won
the undivided admiration of the
audience, and when he finished the
yells and whoops and screams and
cheers given We're not all from Rich
mond, by long shot. They came
from all over the house, and they
were sincere, spontaneous When
somebody shouted Egg ge-mey-y-
er tir-rrst" nobody disputed it. 1t
was plain case and the jury had no
occasion to retire from its box to de
eide
There was music of various sorts
while the judges prepared their deci-
sion. Mr. Grassland announced the
reception at Pythian temple after
the decision, and that the Indianapo
lis train would return at 1890 Then
there was some very noisy waiting
the crowd had learned ito labor and
to wait, as it yelled itself into a
lather while the judges worked at
their decision The INDIANAPOLIS dele
CATION reiterated its plucky fib that
| 'lnJinaplis cant be beat" and
every BODY admired their loyal nerve,
while nobody believed them. They
learned when the decision came in
that they mustn't put up any more
soPhomores to compete against a
Richmond junior.
When the decision came, Mr..
Grassland, according to custom, an
nounced the third place first, and
there was grave disappointment
when 1t fell to Miss HUMPHREYS, as
she was expected to get second at
least. Then came the announcement
that Allen of Indianapolis had won
second, and his supporters cracked
their vocal chords. Then, amid a
howl that would have filed build
lug million times as large as the
Gennett, Mr.. Grassland said Walter
EggemeYer "-huf that was a. far a