The sun., 1919-10-19
Prize Story Depicting Roosevelt as a Country Minse

$500, in the Theodore Roosevelt
as q Country Minister" short
story contest conducted by the
Board of Home Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the
United States. The author is the
Rev. c. w. Whtmore.
To meet the requirements of
the contest Mr.. Whtnore had
first to consider the character OF
Roosevelt. his vigorous Ame7-
cansnn. his devotion to Christian
ideals. his human sympathy. hs
spirit of adventure. his courage
and faith. his ability to move
mountains, his loyalty to the
church. Then it was for the au-
thor to imagine Roosevelt as the
head of a typical country parish
and write a story fitting to such
a strong and inspiring personality
IA readable story. true to Roose-
Welt and true to the country
church.
None could be better fitted by
environment than Mr.. WMtmore
to depict the country church and
present its problems. He is a
country minister, rector OF
Trinity Church in St. Mays
City. Maryland. Illustrative of
Mr.. Whtmore's gift in this line
is the description of his own
church which he embodied in the
letter accompanying his story
when he submitted it to the
Presbyterian Board of Home
Missions:
"The parish church of which ]
am rector" Mr.. Whitmore wrote,
was built on the site of the first
State House of Maryland, with
bricks taken from its ruins. The
monument marks the site of
the treaty of peace with the
Indians made by the original set
tiers, thus securing their friend
Iy cooperation, which made the
colony a permanent success with
out the hostilities that retarded
the development of all others.
1.-THE name Saint Mary's City
is a bit of poetic fancy to-day, as
the city consists of the church,
a school. the rectory and store.
The name. however, is the sur
viva of the first permanent set
Element. which was the capital
of the colony. At that time it
was a real city. but every vestige
of the original has disappeared"
So much for his appreciation
of a proper setting. His familiar
ity with the problems that con-
front the country minister are set
forth in the same letter.
THE statement as to how I
came to write the story can be
very brief indeed" Mr.. Whit
more wrote. 1T is the sordid
statement of necessity. / needed
the money to help out the well
known slender income which
has always been the portion of
the country parSon and which is
becoming more slender every
day as the dollars shrink in
purchasing power and the in
] come refuses to increase IN
size. This is not a complaint, as
I feel that we still have some
thing in the way of comforts and
convenieuces on the original
country parson who did the
GaIiiee circuit on foot"
And Mr.. WMtnore no doubt
had the problems of country
minister well in mind when, in
l MS ictteI, nc duoed'
"There is, of course, nothing
personal or Photographic in any
of the characters or incidents of
the story. They are pieced to-
gether, however, from fairly
wide and accurate acquaintance
with country church conditions.
derived net only from personal
experience, but from association
with country cIergymen of many
denominations whom have
found to be as splendid bunch
of real men as it has ever been
my privilege to know"
| As to how accurately Mr.. Whit
more has read the character of
Roosevelt, and how well he has
woven a tale around the char
acter, the prize winning story
itself will speak. The author
submitted the story under the
title, 1T. B. of Dee or De-
lighted" Since the whole coun-
try is now preparing TO pay a
grateful tribute in the forthcom-
ing Roosevelt Memorial Fund
campaign, the theme is timely as
well as exceedingly interesting
to all in whom true Americanisn
strikes a responsive chord. THE
SUN is the first to publish the
story.
In response to request for adj
ditional facts about himself, Mr.
Whitmore Sketched his career a,
follows:
~ was born in the city oil
Washington. D. c., in 1882. At.
tended public school there, tool