Evening star., 1927-05-01
ORATORS PREPARE
FOR FINALS HERE
Wednesday viii See National
Contestants Chosen From
Ten ASpirantS.

the final meeting of the fourth Ma
tional Oratorical Contest. May y
and. by virtue Of that representation
viii sail out of New York harbor
July 2, aboard the L. $. $. Leviathan
for twoand -half-month tour Of
European countries.
The Star finals, to be staged Wed
nesday in three units, will be the
court Of determination. and in that
competition the stage is set for the
keenest regional finals this news
papers area ever has known.
Seven boys and three girls, each a
: winner of school. group and district
contests with his original Grafton on
the Constitution of the United States
or kindred subject, now are chatting
at the delay before their next and
most crucial battle of oratory. Dur
ing the past week some Of them have
drilled and drilled upon the delivery
Of their speeches, repeating them over
and over again while their tfrelesS
coaches listen-critically. Others
have dropped all thought of the com
ing contest, secure in the BELIEF
that the rest from the weary grind
will serve them in better stead than
more labor.
In Three Units
And in three days. all viii be over.
Beginning at 9 O'Clock Wednesday
morning. the 10 Contesting orators
will deliver their speeches IN their
respective unit meetings for the judg-
nent of Il jury of three, composed OF
Judge Mckenzie Moss of the United
States Court of Claims, District Com
missioner Sidney r. Taliaferro and
Mai Allen w Gullion of the office of
the Judge advocate of the Army.
G-cf of
Star finals will be held in the audi
toriun of Central High School. where
the jury will hear the Orations of the
white public high schools Of Wash
ington.
The second unit of the finals will be
staged in the auditorium of Dunbar
High School, where the same jury
will hear the speeches Of the two col
ored public high schools
The third unit of the contest will
be conducted in the auditorium of the
New National Museum There the
same jury will listen to the orations
of the champions of the Virginia dis
trict. the Maryland district and the
Washington private and parochlaI
schools district.
VIII Write Ballots.
Following the third unit, the three
Judges will write their ballots without
conference. each rating the 10 con-
testants in the order which he believes
fheir oratjons merit. The winner--the
boy or girl who will represent this re-
pton in the national finals and who will
tour Europe and at the same time win
a cash award of S200-will be an
nounced in The Star Wednesday
afternoon.
An augmented program has been
arranged for each unit of the contest.
At the opening section of the finals in
Central High School the program will
begin promptly at 8 o'clock. Alvin
Miller. principal of Central, will intro
duce stephen E. Kramer, assistant su-
perintendent OF schools in charge of
the high schools, who will take charge
/ as chairman. From that point until
& the conclusion Of the units program,
Central High School, although hous-
Ing the meeting, will have no further
official connection.
The Central High School Orchestra,
1 under the direction of H.. n. Hoover,
faculty instructor, will play in concert
before the speaking program, during
( the brief intermission between the Sec
ond and third speeches and again at
q the close Of the meeting.
= The first contestant to deliver his
Grafton as a bid for honor and travel
will be Alvin Traves of Eastern High
School. Alvin is II years old and lives
with his mother, Mrs. Clara L. TraVes,
ct 1T Tenth street northeast. His
contesting grafton is Americas Con-
tribution to Constitutional Govern
ment."
Z Son Of Representative. =
Following Graves, Joseph Richard
s Greenwood, II years old, Western
: High Schools champion, will take the
Z platform to deliver his speech OH "The
s Constitution" Joseph is the son of
Representative Arthur II. Greenwood
s of Indiana, and he lives at 2719 Thir-
ty-sixth place.
When Greenwood finishes his Grafton
the orchestra will contribute relief to
the tension of the audience, with it's
rendition of Romberg's Student
Prince" Then, on with the contest.
. Stanley Segal. the Business High
i School spokesman, will speak on THE
3 Constitution and the Ballot Box" as
the third contender for the honors.
i Stanley, who is Is years old and a
s sophomore, is the son of Morris Segal,
) S05 Twentythird street.
. Catherine Birch. 16-year.old cha IN.
3 piOn Of Mckinley High School, will fol,
with her speecr on THE Constitu.
4 ton" Catherine is the daughter Of
Leroy Birch, 1922 r street.
The concluding speech Of the frs:
unit, but the fifth contestant in The
Star finals, win be Ethelwyn T. Hine
Of Central High School Ethelwyn,
the 17-year-old daughter of Edward S.
dine, l364 Harvard street, will con.
4 tend with an Grafton on "Hamilton's
Contribution to the Constitution.
Z At Dunbar High.
s The Central High School Orchestra
swill take up its instruments again and
the judges and National Contest Of
hcials will slip from the building to
waiting automobiles for the quick trip
!. over TO Dunbar High School for the
second unit Of the contest
As at Central, the Dunbar High
School principal will complete his
duties with the introduction of Garnet
&. Wilkinson, assistant superintendent
& Of schools, who win preside. The
Dunbar High School Orchestra viii
& usher in the contestants and. an.
. nounced by Mr.. Wilkinson, Allen An.
4 drews, Armstrong High Schools
8 champion, will take the platform.
= Allen is Is years old and n senior
3 in his school. He win contest with
& his speech on Alexander Hamilton
and the Constitution"
Z Lucius Robinson. representative of
Dunbar, will follow Andrews to the
5 platform and he will talk on "Jeffer-
son and the Constitution. az the
seventh contestant in the finals.
Lucius Is II years old and he lives al
1858 Fffty-eighth place
Music win sound taps" for the
second unit following Robinson'a
q speech. and the judges and other
members OF the official party vii
then journey down to the National
Museum for the final unit of The
Star finals
Fields Smallest Orator.