The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-08-12
ON
LENGTHOF
ESSAY
Contestants for Greater Movie
Season Trips Crave
More Words

WasnlngtOnlanS are not all 1ru-
gal in their use Of words. At
least that is the conclusion ar
rived at by the greater movie
season contest editor of The Times
as a result Of flood Of inquiries
as to whether or not more than
300 words can be written in es-
says on "What the Motion Pic
ture Means to Me" or what the
Motion Picture Means to Ny
Community"
Quality, Not Quantity, Wanted
Practically all Of the inquirers.
men, women and children, in all
walks of life in all sections Of the
city, ask IL more than 800 words
viii disqualify their essays. All
have been informed that exceeding
the limit Of 300 words will not dis
qualify their essays, but. for the
sake of uniformity and facilitating
the awarding of. the prizes, the
judges have requested that the let
tiers be held as close to that MIN
Der OF words as possible.
However, it will not be the
length of the letters which will de-
termine their merit. Clearness, orig.
inality and expressing a definite
Thought Of appreciation in simple
language. will decide the issue be-
tween the contestants in Washing
ton and throughout the country.
Many of the letters thus far re-
ceived by the Greater Movie Season
Editor are less than 100 words in
length but they are excellent in
and clear and original
in their expression Of the writer's
thoughts. Therefore, stick as close
to 800 words as you can, but IL you
must exceed or stay below that fig
ure, just~tell your story in your own
way and the judges win not be
captious about a few words over or
under.
Trip Around World
First prize in this national con-
test, in which readers of 100 other
are participating, will
be a trip around the world on the
Red Star liner BelgenIand. The
second prize winner will have his
or her choice between trip to
Hollywood or Miami, and the third
winner will go to Miami or Holly
wood, according to the second win
ner's choice.
The three best letters received by
The Times will be sent to che ma
tional judges in New York 20 be
considered along with the letters
from other cities. The better you
make your letter, the greater the
probabilities of your winning one
of the local prizes and having your
letter sent to New York for judg-
ing and comparison with the best
from the other cities. Irrespective
Of who wins the major prices in the
national contest, a large number OF
local prizes consisting of annual
passes to Washington theaters. auto
graphed photographs Of motion pic
ture stars, ETC., will be awarded by
The Times.
Closes in ten days
The contest will close in ten days
from today at 6 o'clock on the
evening of August %, and an
nouncement of the local winners
will be made August 20. At the
same time the names of the writer's
of the three best letters to be sent
to the national judges will be an
nounced.. The names of the win
ners to make the trip around the
world and to Hollywood and Miami
will be announced by the national
judges September 8.
1t costs nothing to participate in
this contest. Neither is 1t necessary
to be a subscriber to The Times. All
the contestants are required to do
is to write approximately 300, words
on What the Motion Picture Means
to Me" or What the Motion Picture
Means to my Community" and at
the end of their letters give the
name of a motion picture they have
seen in August and designate the
theater in which they saw it.
Employees Barred
All employees of The Times and
other newspapers are barred from
participation in this contest. Per.
sons who make their living in
whole or in part by writing also are
ineligible, as well as persons iden-
titled with the motion picture in
dustry. All persons who are not
included in these three classified
tons are eligible and can send in
as many letters as they care to
write. All letters must reach the
Greater Movie Season Editor by
August %. In sending in or bring
ing in letters be sure to write your
name and address on the same
sheet of paper on which the letter Is
written. T.