Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-02-05
PRIZES FOR ESSAYS
BY SCHOOL CHILDREN
Three Winners to Have Free Trip
to Washington, Where Expen.
SEES Will Be Paid and Medals
and Cups Presented by Secre.
tary Baker

Details will probably he announced
within a few days of a plan in which
.he Army Recruiting Station in this
city, the public and parochial schools,
the Burlington Chamber of Commerce,
! and possibly other organizations will
cooperate in offering prizes for the
best essays written by school children
of Burlington on the subject: What
are the benefits of an enlistment in
the United States Army?" This Is the
subject proposed by the war depart
ment in announcing a national contest
for school children. for which there
are to be offered three prizes for the
entire country. and in which the
! judges will be Secretary of War New
ton Baker, General Peyton C. March
and General ]. Pershing
The war department plan, as an
nounced recently. provides that this
| contest shall ee open to all students in
all schools Of the country. except col
| leEes and universities. whether public,
| private, secretarian, or non -secretari-
an. Winners may be male or female,
! black or white. brown or red, American
born or foreign born.
This contest takes place officially
on February 20. when the essays for
| prizes will be written in the class
rooms all over the country. Although
the rules of the contest require that
| the essays to be submitted be written
that day, II is allowable to prepare
notes previous to that time and to
write the final essay from these notes.
On April 49, the board of judges, as
announced above. will give to the
waiting Juvenile country the names of
| the three boys or girls who wrote the
winning essays. On May 8, these three
young people, accompanied by parents
| or guardians, will go to Washington.
with car fare and all expenses paid,
where the winners will be presented
with medals by Secretary Baker. The
first prize will be a gold medal. the
| second a silver medal and the third a
bronze medal, all suitably engraved.
In addition, three beautiful silver cups.
| suitably engraved, will be presented by
secretary Baker to be carried back
home by the winners as prizes for the
| schools which they atttnd
| Although the contest is conducted under
the auspices of the war department. the
newspaper Come Back" the official
| organ of the Walter Reed hospital. in
/ Washington. asked and received per-
mission to purchase the prizes, SO that
the prizes to be awarded will really be
provided by manned and injured soldiers,
brought back from the battlefields of
France. and now being treated at that
| hospital
Other rules of the contest to be carried
out on February 90 are that no essay
| shall be more than 400 words in length.
The judges, in making the awards will
consider: first, originality; second. ex-
preston, and third. sincerity. Each
school will have board of judges WHO
will judge the products of that school
and one essay will be selected to represent
| the school. This essay will be forwarded
to the nearest army recruiting station
| and each recruiting officer will send the
essays in to the district recruiting Of
| ficer. This officer will appoint board
of three judges to pass on the essays of
| the district. One essay will be selected
| as the best to represent the district, and
| the Sc essays from the sc army recruiting
districts of the United States will be sent
on TO Washington for the decisions Of the
| final board of judges.
| These essays are to be written with the
peace-time army, established since the
war. as basis. and any information
! abou, this new army it's advantages for
vocational education and other improve
| InenlS Tor young men, can he obtained
from the war department.
| There is a widespread movement
| throughout the country to offer extra
prizes than those offered by the govern
ment, to be distributed in cities and re-
cruiting districts throughout the country.
large number of cities in the West have
already taken hold of the idea. 1t is
announced from Albany, the head
quarters of this recruiting districts that
prizes will be offered for the best es-
says submitted in the district, which IN
cludes all of Vermont and large part of
of New York. The Albany Chamber Of
Commerce has announced prizes to be
offered for the best essays written by
school children in that city. The New
York Globe has offered prizes to the 4s
winners in the school districts Of Greater
New York. John Wanamaker has an
nounced the distribution of 500 in prizes
to winners
| Lieut. Col. II. A. Leonhauser is working
with the local army recruiting station in
getting this movement started in Bur-
! lington. NJ. d. Chittenden of the school
department has offered his cooperation
in the plan, and it is expected that the
lparochial schools of the city will parti-
icipate. ana that "a plan will probably re-
suit whereby prizes will be offered in ali
of the schools OF the city. including the
Ipubltc high school, the Cathedral high
school. st, Mary's Academy, Bishop Hon
ltins hall, the public junior high school
and the grades Of the public schools. the
Cathedral school, the Nazareth school
ard st. Joseph's, so that evory school
pupil in the city will have a fair oppor-
tunity 10 win prize Further details will
be announced later