The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-03-16
LOCAL oRA1oRIcAL CONTEST
Ralph c. shearer Viii Represent Da.
kota Wesleyan in the State
o%ratorical Contest.

The citizens OF the city and the
students of the university lcspond-
ed nIlgniiicently to the Supp0rt of
the oratorical contestants triday ey-
ening. when the annual local contest
was held in the city hall. the lover
floor being practically flied with
shouting students ana enthusiastic
citizens. Such a large audience
denotes more than y passing inter
est in the college, and indicates
tnat the students are not lost sight
of.
Ralph c. shearer. whose home is
Higbmore, was the winner Of the
contest, and John Dobson. of this
city, son of the presiding elder Of
the Mitchell district, was given sec
ond place by the judges. their mark
ings being close enough for a strong
contest.
The president of the local associa-
tion requested that the audience
refrain from applauding any of the
speakers at the close of their Grafton.
so as not to influence the Judges i'm
rendering their decision on delivery.
The program was opened with the
invocation being delivered 10y Or.
Samuel Weir. yice-president of the
college, aud he was followed by Miss
Hazel LaIhop. who played a piano
solo, that was received with great
appreciation.
George W. Nofvell was the first
orator to appear, and he presented
for his subject Joan OF Arc. He
presented the life of this heroine of
France in a very capable name and
his delivery was fairly good.
George w. Sine mad a we'll written
grafton ON "Napoleon,% and he gave
"A very interesting study of this. char
acter i'm history. touching on the
main features OF his life and making
altogether a strong protrayal. III.
III. Weak's Grafton was 1.-The Man
With a Mission,'' ana it was a good
production throughout. He set forth
i'm very clear terms what the man of
the future must be to grapple with
the problems. whom he sumed up as
one with a deep religious character.
AS a change trom the intellectual
Prof. Barry. of the music depart
ment, played a violin solo that was
d gem in execution aud beautiful
phrasing. His accompaniment Was
played 10y Maude Silsby-Nichols. of
this city.
Ralph c. shearcr spoke in a very
eloquent manner on the ''SaXon VS..
Slav.' 1t was a broad discussion of
the supremacy of the one over the
other. and be showed 10y the pro-
~gressiveness of the Saxon that he is
bound by the very nature of his
training, his education aud his ply
steal energy to l. cunt supreme over
his opponent. 1t was Il clear and
broad discussion of one OF the leading
issues OF the day, and his method of
presenting it seemed to impress the
audience with the fact that he ought
to he very close TO the first place.
Mr.. Shealer has a fine voice for the
| platform that with the training to
follow will put him in the finest pos
sible trim tur the big event in May.
Johu DobsUn. Of this city, was the
last orator of the evening. and he
| ct,nl,n on IS Nrnnripnsc Cro,t D.ol.L
lem" which he characterized as the
solution OF the negro question. Mr..
DohsoD has 4 very earnest and very
taking delivery. a splendid voice and
a stage presence that is impressive.
His subject was handled very clever
ly throughout and with a clear i'm
sight from his standpoint as the best
solution for the race. But for the
fact that one OF the JUDGES on
thoughti and composition marked
him exceedingly low, he would have
tied Shearer for first place.
While the judges We're preparing
their decision Misses Nellie DOYLE
and Emma Rempler played a very
pretty piano duet.
The judges on thought and compo-
sition were w. S. Ebersole. Of Mt
Vernon. Iowa. w. i. Persons. of
Sioux City, ana Orlin b. Waite. of
Denver. Colo. On delivery they were
Lewis shuster of this city. Rev. J..
H. Dimmitt, of Alexandria. and ",
II. Lucas, OF Hlankinton
In the markings sAearer got a
first, fourth and second Oh thought
aud composition aud two first ans
a second on delivery, making bis
total IL points. Dobson was marked
i second, fifth md first on thought
and composition, and two seconds
and first on deli very, making his
total IL points. Mr.. Norvell was
third in the contest with p points,
II