Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-06-19
BOY OF ELEVEN
WINS SPELLING BEE
son or Louisville Laborer Wins
Medal and $500 in National
Contest
Gil a-d-i-o-l-u-s.

Slowly but determinedly the let
tiers were enunciated by Frank Mem
hauser, 11-year-old schoolboy OF
Louisville. KY. AS he tongued the
netter IS" the crowd in the audi.
forum broke into a cheer.
The lad had won the first nation
al spelling bee for school children
His last adversary, little Edna Sto-
yer, of Trenton, N T., had tripped
up on "gladiolus, and it was only
necessary for Frank to spell it to
become the national champion.
The Louisville boy was presented
with gold medal and $500 in gold.
and his father, who is a laborer in
sawmill. Immediately announced
that the boy would use it to go
through college.
The finish of the spelling bee.
which was held in the auditorium
of the National Museum, Washing
ton, Wednesday, was a thriller. The
crowd of 500 persons gathered there
for it was alternately tense, merry.
and mournful.
In the beginning there were nine
chill lrcn on the platform These nine
had spelled down more than 2.OOO,-
600 children in the various cities
towns, and states. One by one they
were eliminated until only Frank
Neuhauser and Edna Slower were
left.
"Gladiolus," said the college pro-
lessor who was pronouncing the
words. 1T is the name of a flower. -
Edna looked baff1ed. She was baf-
fled because she had never heard the
word before. However, she made an
attempt.
"G-l-a-d-y-o-l-u-s."
She was waved out. And then
came Frank Neuhauser's turn and his
triumph.
A few minutes after she had left
the platform, Edna Slower broke into
tears. 1t wasn't that she was bad
loser, her mother said, and explained
that it was simply case of nerves.
Girl Wins $3.50
Edna was presented with $3.50 in
gold, The winner of the third prize,
Helen Fischer, of Akron, O., was
presented with $1O0, and the fourth
prize winner, Mary Daniel, of Hart
ford, Conn. was given S100 The
prizes were awarded by Commission
er of Education John ]. Tigert.
The spelling bee started at 8
O'Clock and ended at 10. In the be-
ginning the words were ridiculously
easy, but as the bee progressed they
became increasingly difficult
Catch, black, grant, warm" =
these were the words that started
the contest The contestants liter
ally laughed them out. The first
period of 80 minutes ended with all
nine contestants on their feet.
: Then came the second period and
more difficult set of words
Almeda Pennington, of Houston,
Tex, was the first to fall. The word
that eliminated her was "skittish"
She spelled it selfish.
Mary Coddens, of South Bend,
Ind, was the next to go. Her nem-
esis was COSMOS a word describ-
ing the universe. She spelled it cos
mas.
Loren Mackey, an Oklahoma boy
with bass voice, was driven from
the stage by propeller" He ended
the word with or
The most tragic moment of the
entire bee came a few minutes later
when little 10-year-old Patrick Kelly
fell down. Patrick is an inmate of
an orphan asylum in New Haven,
Conn. If there was any popular ia
vorite with the crowd, it was him.
Spell BLACKBOARD" said the pro-
nouncer.
Huh" said Patrick.
"Blag-gard," enunciated the pro-
nouncer. sit means a rogue or a
rascal"
"B-l-a-g-g-a-r-d," spelled Patrick,
Ispelleing the word as it had been
pronounced. And of the stage he
went, amid the groans of the audi
ence.
Statistician caused the next elm
ination--that of Dorothy Karrick, of
Detroit She spelled it statition.
Mary Daniel, of Hartford, was
stopped by "valuing" She inserted
an ''e.' Helen Fischer, of Akron,
tripped up on ''moribund," and then
came the last word. gladiolus.
The spelling bee was conducted
4 by the Louisville Courier-Journal
Journal and other newspapers. The
Judges were C. C. Calhoun, McKen-
zie Moss, and John Elmer Morgan.