Evening star., 1920-03-02
D. c. TOHAVE RIVALS
IN ESSAY CONTEST
Delaware and Maryland In
cIuded in Recruiting District.
Over $1,000, 900 in Prizes.

District school children competing for
prizes in the national essay contest have
as rivals the school children of Maryland
and Delaware because those states are
included in the Washington recruiting
district. according to an announcement
made today by the Come Back, weekly
paper for soldiers in Walter Reed Hos
pital. which is conducting the contest in
cooperation with the War Department
In the two states and the District
there are more than 5000 schools Each
Will send one essay to the District re-
cruiting officer and committee of three
Der one essay, considered the best pre-
pared in the district, to compete with
nfty-fve other essays. one from each of
the other recruiting districts. in the final
judgment which will he made by Secre-
tary Of War Baker. Gen. Pershing and
Gen. March, who also will award the
national prizes May S.
Local school children have compla ed
that. being in Washington, the local ma
tional winner will be deprived of the ex-
cursion to be enjoyed by out -of-town
winners who will come here as guests of
the Come Back. To even matters. the
Come Back will give 800 gold. besides
the national medal prize, to the Wash
lngton child who wins a national prize,
provided the local child submits to the
paper a list OF 500 men who have en-
listed in the Army from the District be-
tween January IA and May this year
This information may be had at the To-
cal recruiting office. 500 10th street.
The shortest essay received to date
by the Comeback came from an
eight-year-old boy in a parochial
school at Akron. Col. and reads:
The L. S. Army makes little chests
big, pushes out all the bad health
and puts in good health for all the
men. then they can fight anybody"
An entire class from another school
made the essays up in book form.
bound with red. white and blue rib
pen -and-ink sketches of Army activi-
ties.
Many schools were closed February
20. owing to influenza epidemics. but
these children were permitted to
write their essays at home and sub
NIT them to their teachers prior to
February 81.
In the aggregate it is expected that
prizes over $4,000 in value are to
be given the children throughout the
country. A list of some of them fol-
lows: One hundred and forty-five sill
157 gold medals. 6O3 silver medals.
airplane trip. SO cameras. 21s tons
of coal. diamond rings (value, $4,000.
13S fountain pens. Z pairs stockings,
40 American flags. incubators. IL
pock etknives. 19 lamps. 81 quarts
milk. IFS dozen photographs. per-
fume bottles. 8 monographs. piano
(value. $5.0O0). 81 gold rings, . rab-
bits. s raincoats. 80 boys suits. 100
newspaper subscriptions. 20 sweaters.
1S pairs skates. 70 pairs shoes. 2S
scarfs, IL shirts. 4.746 theater seats.
As season passes to theaters. an
nual passes to major league base ball
parks, 16 umbrellas. ukuleles. s
vases. 43 gold or silver watches. s
wrist watches, snow shovels. /
ouija board, 3 powder puffs and 1
sneeze preventer.
A letter received from an eleven
year-old boy by the Comeback states
that in the event he wins all the
prizes he don't want some of them,
because he amt got no sister,"