The Columbus weekly dispatch., 1907-05-16
THE COLLEGE
ORATORS SPEAK
FOUR LEADING INSTITUTIONS OF
THE STATE BATTLE FOR
ORATORICAL HONORS
FRIDAY NIGHT.
Mississippi College Wins, With MIR.
j. -. Stone, Whose Subject
Was Repeal of the Fiji
teenth Amendment"

A memorable occasion which seem
ed TO put the spirit of youth in every
thing, TO recall in all their freshness
ones college days, 1t matters not how
distant and dimmed by time they may
have been, was the State oratorica1
contest which took place in the chap
el of the Industrial Institute and Col
lege Friday evening. II was a gala
night, from the moment the fiTsl flag
was raised with a hearty, resounding
college yell, 10 the last cheer that
died upon the evening air, as the vic
tor, perched nigh upon the shoulders
of his enthusiastic comrades, was
borne in triumph from the hall. A
splendid audience greeted the young
orators. The galleries We're filed
with the girls in blue, wearing the
colors of their fav'0rite college, wxtv-
ing its banners AID cheering its rep
resentatives. This, main body of the
auditorium was %axed TO accommo-
date the crowd, and visitors were
present from all parts of the State.
the college boys, divided into groups,
started a merry warfare. The purple
and white pennant OF Millsaps shot
up, and with 1T a company Of men
who made the walls ring with their
college yell; the white and red of
the A and NJ. College answered the
challenge; tke red and blue of the
University appeared proudly on the
field, and the gay Blue ana gold of
Clinton. Ore college yell, ffHringly,
dashingly given, was followed by an
other equally stirring; one college
song but yielded place to another,
and bewndering array OF colOrs
fought for supremacy. Then came
the graceful courtesy of yells for
rival colleges, while all joined gladly.
gallantly, in cheers and bits of verses
for the girls of the |. I. and c. An
amusing little incident occurred in
the midse of this pandemoEium. a
number of college girls, ardgntly 10y
al to the University, had been dis
playing conspicuously its cI1Eors. In
an unguarded moment they lowered
the cherished blue and red from the
gallery. Two alert A. and NJ. cadets
at once captured the streamer to the
dismay of the four young enthusiasts.
In vain they pleaded for lis return,
in vain the captOrs urged a substitu-
tion of their own cOlors, unti3 at last,
recognizing mistaken loyalty, the ca
dets, with bows and regrets, restored
the lost and valued property. The
entire demonstration manifested such
good fellowship and broad college
spirit that it was a pleasure TO wit
ness it. Not until the band from the
A. and NJ. College announced the
coming of the speakers was the howl
ing mob, alive to its finger tips, con-
yerted into a peaceful assemblage
and order restored. The president of
the State Oratorica1 Association, Mr..
w. 3. Griffith announced that on
account of a delay in beginning the
usual address of the president would
be omitted and at once introduced
10 the audience Mr.. Edgar Webster, |
the secretary, who sketched briefly
the history of the association, organ
lied at Crystal Springs in 1895, un-
der the auspices of the Chautauqua. |
He explained the governing rules and |
method of grading. The speakers are
selected by competition, SO that the
best orator from each of the four
colleges represented is secured. The |
winner of the State medal goes to |
Monteagle as the representative of
Mississippi at the Southern Interstate |
Oratorical contest. After the manu- |
scripts are prepared they are submit |
ted to committee to be graded on
originality, thought and rhetoric, the |
committee this year consisting of
President Freeman of South Carolina. |
Mr.. Branham of Spring Hill, Tenn, |
archaeological School. The commit |
tee on Friday evening was required |
to judge only the general delivery. |
The speaker obtaining the highest |
considered in the grading, is awarded
the medal. Mr.. Webster then named |
the contestants-Mr. A. F. Mecklen- |
berger, University of Mississippi; Mr.. |
w. F. Murrah, Millsaps College; Mr.. |
]. d. Stone, Mississippi College; Mr.. |
w. G.. Roberts, Agricultural and Me- |
chanical College. He introduced as |
the first speaker of the evening Mr.. !