Evening star., 1927-05-17
.LOKER GIVEN PRIZE
At LEONARDTOWN
Orator of The Star Area Re-
Ceives 5000 Award Before
800 People.
From a staff Correspondent of The Star.

/ r rom SidH correspondent OF Inc >ldE.
LEONARDTOWN. Md, May IL
! This southern Maryland town saw it's
! champion and the champion of The
! Star region in the Fourth National
| OratoriCal Contest in his hour of tri-
! umph shortly before noon today.
! William Alexander Loker of Leon
ard Hall School, 17-year-old youth, who
| through a series of contests won the
| right to represent The Washington
| Evening Star in the national finals to
| he held in the Washington Auditorium.
| Nav q, received the second concrete
| evidence of victory at a meeting at
| tended by 800 students and fellow
| toWnsmen Fleming Newbold. business
manager Of The Evening Star, pre-
| scented to the Young orator that news
| pa per's check for $500, the cash prize
accompanying his conquest in the
| recent zone finals.
Mayor Welcomes Visitors.
! At 11:30 o'clock b. Roland Duke.
mayor of this place. delivered a brief
! address Of welcome to a group of
newspaper and national contest rep
resenta tives. including, with Mr.. New
bold. Randolph Leigh, founder and
director of the contest, and Miss
| Louise Proctor, contest manager for
/ this region. Brother Ambrose, G.. +.
| X. director of Leonard Hall School
! and chairman of the presentation
meeting, sat just behind Mayor Duke
as the latter spoke.
| In welcoming the Washington party
! to the city Mayor Duke declared that
| southern Maryland is not strange ter
ritorY to the National Capital; thou
sands of Washingtonians, he said,
! fas1 I0T
| front yard' and as their playground,
where they hunt and fish every year.
! He declared that Leonardtown
wished all Washingtonians to feel as
though they were visiting their next
| door neighbor. Expressing gratitude
| to The Star for embracing this county
| in its contest area and for the subse-
| quent publicity that newspaper has
! given it. Mayor Duke paid tribute to
| Leonard Hall las the reason for it
| all"
Ten-year-old Charles Won Lowen.
| field. fifth grade pupil of Leonard
| Hall. gave a recitation from Coesar
| Brother Ambrose had introduced this
diminutive speaker or orator, as IAN
orator in the making" and when the
lad. scarcely taller than the table near
| which he stood, lashed out into the
| story of Caesars assassination, the
audience believed Leonard Halls di-
rector.
Mr. Newbold was next introduced.
and smilingly he apologized for his
speaking effort in this "hotbed of
oratOry."
They say Demosthenes used to put
A pebble in his mouth when he
talked" he said. Well, you must
have pretty sandy soil down here
with plenty Of pebbles"
Million Dollars Spent.
Regaining his seriousness. Mr..
| NeWbold declared that newspapers
throughout the country had spent
over a million dollars in the conduct
OF the National Oratorical Contest.
This expenditure, he said, represented
q newspapers investment 'in service
to the public" as that is their only
return realized upon the investment.
The service that the papers are doing
for the public through the contest,
Mr.. Newbold said. was in the spread
ing of the realization Of the value and
the appreciation of good citizenship
and interest in their Government.
At Mr.. Newbold's request, Brother
Ambrose next introduced Mr. Leigh
| The Stars business manager had
director of the National contest and
Mr.. Leigh promptly disclaimed full
credit for the accomplishment in pay
ing tribute to the leading newspapers
of the country.
He said: 1T would have been i'm
possible to make this contest a sue
cess without the assistance and real
cooperation of the newspapers and
in this connection let me say that
when | first came East from Cali
fornia with the idea, The Washington
Star was the first paper to realize
the true value of the contest and it's
purposes"
The contest itself Mr.. Leigh char
'acteriZed as "a vast movement to in
terest people in their Government.
and likewise it ties together the press
and schools in a thorough realization
of the value of good citizenship"
Quoting Webster. who said 1T is a
small college, but there are those who
love it," Mr.. Leigh complimented
Brother Ambrose on the policy of
Leonard Hall, where, he said, individ-
ualistic training, rather than mass
production prevails.
Mr.. NeWbold took the floor again,
and this time addressing Brother
Ambrose and "Aleck" Locker, he con-
graduated the youth upon his ac-
complishment in the contest. at the
same time he handed "Alecll" The
Stars check for 5000, which he said
he hoped would help to defray some
of the incidental expenses on the
European trip.
'Aleck" Loller stood and while the
audience applauded he seemed to be
trying to master himself for the
speech he felt called upon to make.
Ard there were tears in his eyes when
he began speaking.
'Alecl' first paid tribute TO the
toWnfolks of this place and to the
fellow students, TO whom he said he
owed a debt Of gratitude for his
victory in the contest. Later he ex-
pressed a feeling of gratefulness to
Brother Walter of Leonard Hall and
his teacher and to Brother Ambrose.
Orator Shows Gratitude.
II opine to every individual there
comes a time in life when words
seem utterly inadequate to express
the JOY, gratitude and affection felt
for kindness shown. Certainly this
time has reached me here and now
and l am egoistic enough to say that
were any of you in my place, under
like circumstances, overwhelmed as l
am with gratitude for so much 10y
atty shown, you would be. like me.
almost speechless," Aleck said, with
evident difficulty to control his feel.
ings, which displayed themselves with
tears that struggled for freedom.
The oratOrical champion then ex-
pressed his thanks to The Star for
what he termed was it's kospitable
and kind support throughout the
contest.
'Aleck's" next contest will be in
Washington Auditorium. May 27,
when he will carry the banner OF the
District of Columbia, Maryland and
Virginia in his contention for the Ma