Evening star., 1925-05-04
ORATORS ARE TYPES
OF VARIED LINEAGE
All FinaIiSts in National High
School Contest to Have
BaCkerS.

The seven fnalists who will com
pete for the championship of the
United States and 5000 in prizes in
the final meeting for the national or
atorical contest in the Washing
ton Auditorium on Friday evening
present a remarkable cross section or
the America of today.
One of the contestants is of Puritan
ancestry. Another is d direct de.
scendant of the Southern Cavaliers.
third is the son Of parents born and
reared in Russia. A fourth is or
Scandinavian lineage. 4 fifth Is
Pennsylvania Dutch Another was
born in Canada. but now represents
a State in which the Yankee stock j.
dominant
Six Born in United States.
All Of the contestants. except the
one last mentioned, We're born and
have been reared entirely in this
country. All of them are from the
public high schools. with the excep
tion of one, who is a pupil in a Cath
Ole parochial school and has been
there throughout his educational ca
reer.
incidentally the private and pa
rochial schools made a much better
showing in the 1925 contest than thev
did in the one of 1924 In 1924 oniy
one paroChial school candidate won
the championship of q newspaper ter
ritory. This year four territorial
championships went to parochias =
school representatives. and one OF
those territorial representatives won
IA place in the national finals. thereby
establishing record for the parochial
schools in the contest.
One newspa per territorial champion
ship went to a private school In New
England, and that contestant was
chosen alternate for the Northeastern
zone. Last year not a single private
school representative won news
paper championship, and only one
private school was represented in the
finals within a newspaper territory.
All indications point TO the fact that
the meeting on Friday evening will be
unusually interesting from a number
of angles, in addition 10 the contrast
ing and picturesque types which will
be represented by the contestants.
Music for the occa sion will be fur
nished by the United States Marine
Band Orchestra. John Hays Hammond
will be the chairman OF the meeting
President Coolidge will make an adj
dress Chief Justice Taft will be the
chairman Of the board of judges. which
will have the task of rating the seven
l
speakers will be a highly important
one, even down to the question of
sixth and seventh places, for each car
ries a cash prize with it. and the diff
ference between the amounts payable
| TO the winners of the different posi-
| uons is substantial
/ Supporters for All.
The various contestants will have
enthusiastic supporters, the tickets
! having been 50 distributed that the
| Washington element will not have an
overwhelming majority of the audi
ence. The largest single block Of
supporters will he those backing
/ Philip Glatfelter of Columbia. Pa. In
! the aggregate the Pennsylvanians
will come down about 700 strong
They will be headed by United States
| Senator George. Wharton Pepper
| chairman of the Philadelphia regional
committee, which supervised the
handling of the contest in that terri
tory, and William L. Mclean. pub
/ Usher of the Philadelphia Bulletin
which conducted the contest in that
region. Though the PennsylvanianS
one group in the auditorium. they
will not make the trip down in one
group.
| Seventy-siX people from Columbia
Pa, VIII drive down in automobiles
coming by way of Harrisburg. With
them will be the spokesman for the
Eastern zone. The Germantown High
School group, with bands. banners
cheer leaders and all the usual auxiIi-
/ airy equipment of educa tional insti-
| tutions on tour. will come down in
a number of special cars. That party
will be about $50 strong. The other
groups from the keystone State will
arrive on varying schedules through
out the morning and afternoon of the
final meeting.
Every national finalist will have a
group of hackers, the number depend
ing largely on the distance which the
contestants have to travel TO reach
| this city.