The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1911-02-23
LOIS HILL AND
HAZEL JEWELL
Winners Of Annual Spelling Contest
after Five and 0ne-haIf Hours.
THEY WERE A TIE AT THE END
Margaret kentfield Won Third Place
Only Forty-uine Words Were
Mis-spelled by the Forty-six
During Entire Time.

The second annual spelling con-
test of the rural schools of Mahaska
county was held yesterday In the
court room of the county court house
under the direction of County Super
intendent Chas. H. Young. The sue,
cess of the contest is surprise to
everyone, the natural superstition be.
ing that on account of the weather
the affair would be a failure. In
stead of being failure the contest
proved to be one of the largest
school gatherings recorded in the
history of the county. The weather
was adverse to the event, but in
spite of this the attendance was even
larger than at the contest last year,
which was classed as the greatest
ever. The contestants, numbering
fifty-four, were with very few excep-
tons, present. With them came par.
ents, brothers, sisters, teachers,
friends and in fact everyone with the
slightest interest in the outcome.
The people of Oskaloosa displayed
interest in the event by attending
and the court room was entirely
filled during the afternoon session.
Every seat was occupied and many
"perched" in the windows. Interest
in the outcome was manifest on
every face and when one of the con-
testants misspelled a word there
,yoo N lonI of ,,y,,notby IN tho fococ
of friends. The attendance Is one
of the most interesting features of
the contest. To think that so many
people would come through the mud
and rain to be present seems al
most impossible. Some were FORUM
ate in being able to come by train.
Others came by interurban. but the
majority drove. In some cases UNI
usual interest was displayed by
those who attended from a distance,
coming by natures ordinary means
of ocomotion-walking. OF the fifty.
four contestants only four were alb
sent. This is a remarkable showing.
The Morning Session.
The morning session commenced
at 1890 and continued until nearly
noon. The spelling at this session
was written, but was of equal i'm
portance to the oral contest. Interest
In this part of the contest was not
as manifest, but 1t meant just as
much to the contestants. The pa
pers were graded by a corps of teach
ers and the grades received by the
contestants were based on so per
cent. In other words if the contest.
ant missed, none of the 200 words
he or she would receive so per cent.
The total grade then depended upon
the oral division. %" .'
The Afternoon Session.
The afternoon session commenced
promptly at 1870 and continued with
out Interruption, except for five.
minute recess, until almost 700
o'clock. After five hours of contin-
nous spelling, during which time
several thousand words were pro-
nounced, no single winner had been
determined. The two remaining
we're then declared equal winners
and the conest was over. Lois Hill,
of Star district, Union township,
and Hazel Jewell, of Buckeye school,
Spring Creek township, are the win
ners. When the contest was plan
ned there was to have been a first,
second and third, besides twelve ad.
ditional prizes. Rather than spell
during the remainder Of the evening
the two girls above mentioned were
determined winners. By making two
first prizes the second prize was elm
mated. According to the rules of the
contest first received $500, second
$500, third $500 and the remaining
twelve $1.00 each. AS the two girls
tied for honors they were each given
$500.
Margaret Kentfield, Of Givin, won
third prize. The following contest
ants we're in the $1.00 class:
Margaret Sharp, Beacon, Garfield.
Wayne Stewart, Old Rose Hill,
White Oak.
Helen Moore, Buckeye, Spring
Creek.
Florence Brown, No. 4, Monroe.
Frederick Hillary, No. 8, Monroe.
Glenn Barnes, Red, Harrison.
Harold Freeman. West Center, Lin
coin.
Margaret Hoover, Maple Grove,
Cedar. -..t ......
Marie Andeway. No. 8, Monroe.
Ada Van Zee, Center, Black Oak
and Scott.
Gertie Versteegh, Prairie.
Virgil Hauenstein, Bellefomtaine,
Scott. .
Author in Charge.
J.. N. Hunt, of Chicago. author OF
Hunts Progressive Speller, which is
in use in the schools of the county,
and from which the words used IN
the contest were taken, was the con-
ductor. Mr.. Hunt did the work OF
pronouncing the words. Late In the
afternoon, after pronouncing about
two hours continually, he turned the
work over to Howard Allgood, teach.
er Of East Valley school, in Monroe
township. Mrs. J. F.. Shelley, OF
Union township. and Miss Myrtle
Knott, steacher OF Rochester schools
In Scott townshjp. were the referees.