Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-06
ORATORY HONORS
FOR TOM ROGERS
Monmouth School Representative
Given First Place in One of Clos.
est Contests in Years.
DAN N'NEAL, MOLINE, is SECOND
Robert 0lmsted of Rock Island is
Fourth-Eight Cities Take Part
in Competition.

In one OF the closest oratorical con-
tests in years, Tom Rogers of Mon
mouth last evening at kewanee high
school took first place. Dan McNeal of
Moline second and Sterling Richhart
Of Davenport third Rock Island
representative, Robert Olmsted, failed
to place, ranking fourth with a mar
gin Of two per cent between him and
the next highest man. Eight of the
nine schools in the league were rem
resented.
The winner of the contest spoke on
the topic, The Voice of Power" In
his Grafton he brought out the neces-
sity OF keeping the press free from
the influence of the capitalists and
others who wish to move the masses
10 support measures friendly to the
selfish interests of themselves. He
ranked first in both thought and deliy-
cry and his Grafton is considered one
of the best ever given at a Big Eight
meet.
The winner of the silver medal.
Dan McNeal of Moline, spoke on the
subject Preparedness" He showed
the present condition of national I'M
preparedness and the only possible
remedy to prevent disaster to the
country. an increased army and navy.
Third place was awarded to Sterling
RiChhart OF Davenport, who spoke on
The Hyphen." Mr.. Richhart claimed
as the best means of eliminating the
hyphen greater study of the English
Language - the American principles
in the sI..uoIs and also the elimination
of hyphenism as an instrument of
politics. His Grafton was undoubted-
ly one OF the best of the Iot and met
with unanimous approval
Rock Islands representative, Robert
0lmsted. spoke on the subject, e
Pluribus Unum" He depicted the
condition at the present time in the
United States, when the immigrant is
becoming a great problem for the ma
ton to contend with, and claimed
that the end of the present war would
mean an even worse situation. He
urged the adoption Of the literacy test
as the remedy for this situation.
Try Coach Judging.
The contest was probably one of
the closest that has ever been held at
a Big Eight conference Nearly every
speaker on the floor received at least
one first choice from among the
judges and all the totals were re
markedly close. The contest witness
ed the first trial of coach judging,
each coach of contest being allowed
TO grade all but his own contestant.
The Hyphen" ....Sterling Richhart
follows:
The Red Scarf" Veazie ......
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Glee Club Chorus
....... Stanley Anderson, kewanee
Booker T. Washington" .....
ALLEN r. Ellingsworth, Geneseo
Preparedness Dan McNeal, Moline
"E Pluribus Unum' ..........
..... Robert Olmsted, Rock Island
Lovely Night" Offenbach .....
............ Glee Club Chorus
Our Waning Patriotism .......
.... Harry Pearson. Galesburg
The Hyphen" ....tSerling Richhart
The Voice of Power" ......
...... Tom Rogers, Monmouth
The Great American Problem" -.
....... Carlyle Scott, Princeton
"Oh. Italia, Italia, Beloved" Doni-
zetti .......... Glee Club Chorus
Hallelujah Chorus ..Glee Club Chorus
Decision Of judges and award of
medals
Visitors Entertained.
The judges on thought were Pro-
fessor H. A. White and Professor l..
j. Pollard of Lombard college. Pro-
fessor F. L. Quillin of Knox college.
An informal social meeting of the
visiting contestants, members Of the
famulty and officers of the student
federation was held after the contest
and short program and light re-
freshments enjoyed.