Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1910-05-25
EXPLANATORY CONTEST
MARKED FOR EXCELLENCE
Prizes Won by Alma Henkel and Lewis
Lisherness-Participa All Ac-
quilted Themselves Well.


third annual Patriotic declamatory
contest given last Friday evening,
at Reeds opera house, under the
auspices of Gen. Calls Circle, Ladies
of the @, A. R., missed one of the
best entertainments of the kind ever
given in Lancaster.
There were eight contestants enter
ed-six girls and two boys-and the
work done by each was So uniformly
good that it was difficult to decide
between them. The subjects were of
patriotic nature, in the main, and
furnished abundant opportunity for
eloquence and fire upon the part of
the speakers and the effective manner
of their presentation demonstrates
large amount of careful training and
patient effert that the various parti
cipants in the contest had brought to
the preparation of their work. Surely
the teachers who had charge Of the
preparatory drills, as we'll as the
speakers themselves are entitled to
much credit for the excellence of the
recitations.
The naturalness and dramatic talent
displayed by the several speakers were
surprise to all who heard them, and
give promise of some future treats by
the time these pupils reach the junior
and senior years in the high school.
There were two prizes of five dol
lars each given to the winners-one for
boys and one for girls-and each parti
cipant was judged upon voice, pronun-
citation. memory, gestures, and
general stage presence and four of the
contestants were only two or three
points apart in the final summary.
The judges decided that Miss Alma
Henkel. pupil in the 8th grade of
the north school. was entitled to first
prize for the girls and Lewis Usher
ness. in the Srh grade Of the south
school. to first prize for the boys.
Miss Martha Jordan was second high
est in the markings for the girls
prize, and received honorable mention
10 that effect.
But those who failed to win the
prizes need not feel greatly cast
down thereat, as their markings were
so high that the honor achieved was
nearly as great as that given the
winners, and the benefits that will
come to them from such a training as
this will abundantly compensate them
in the future for the efferts put forth
in the contest.
We feel proud of every one of them
and congratulate them upon the
splendid showing they made.
The north school band rendered a
couple of very good musical selections
and about 30 of the girls in the 18th
and 9Th grades of the north school
made hit in patriotic song, in
the chorus OF which each girl waved
an American flag in perfect unison
with the music.
One of the pleasing and unexpected
features of the occasion was couple
of vocal solos sweetly rendered by
Mrs. Marjorie McCauley Taylor. Of
Salt Lake City, former resident OF
Lancaster, who is here at present on a
visit to her aunt, Mrs. S. r. Green.
The decIamatory program was as
follows:
The Unknown Rider Hazel Walker
Wolfe at Quebec-Myrtle Hudson
Why We Keep Memorial Day
Lewis Lisherness.
The Unknown Speaker-M artha
Jordan.
The Trial of Ben Thomas-V era
Eastman.
The Battle of Henry
Belscamper.
The Unconscious Greatness of
Stonewall Jackson-Norma Dersch.
1t is to be regretted that this enter
tainment was not greeted with a bet
ter attendance, the patronage being
much less liberal than usually accord
ed by Lancaster people TO home enter
tainments. The money received from
these contests has always beer used
for procuring something of a patriotic
nature to be placed in the school
rooms OF either the south or north
school. There was placed in the
main high school room of the south
school last year bronze tablet of
Lincoln's Gettysburg address. In the
north school banner bearing the his
tory of our flag, the stars and stripes.
This year the ladies of Gen. Calls
Circle sent for a panel picture of the
Battle of Gettysburg but were so dis
appointed in the picture that they de-
cided not to present it. Instead, R.
B. Showalter presented the circle
with a fine bust of Gen II 6 Grant