Evening star., 1928-09-09
WORLD ORATOR|CAL
TEST HERE IN FALL
Students of Eight Nations to
Compete in Capital in
October.

The International Oratorical Contest
has won for itself unique place among
| Washngton's educational institutions.
It is intensely local in its contacts with
the students of the city and their par
/ ents. and at the same time. reaches out
| to three continents and turns the
, thoughts of students in eight nations
| toward this city as the goal Of the''
endeavors.
The contest. which is just now round
ing out its third year as an lnterna-
tional project. and its fifth as n1tlor-
wide undertaking. furnishes an excel
lent example of the efficacy with which
schools and newspapers can cooperate
in extra -curricula activities. 1t is 50
organized that the So metropolitan
newspapers VIII ch sponsor it in the
United States-the same general plan
being followed In the organization of
the contest along national lines in eacr
of the other participating nations
handle the administrative details OF
the competition without interfering
with the regular routine of the schools
Within each school the details of the
selection of that schools representative
are left to the teachers committee for
the contest. appointed by the principal
When the winner within a school comes
into competition with the winners from
other schools all the details OF thH1
phase of the contest are handled by the
contest manager for the newspaper
sponsor for that particular territory
Each newspaper sets up contest de,
partment. with a contest manager and
staff to work with the teachers and
pupils. That staff, in turn. is linked
llp with and works under the general
direction of the headquarters OF the en-
tire national contest. which is undaF
the guidance of Randolph Leigh dl-
rector general and organizer OF the con-
test in its national as we'll as It's inter-
national phases His headquarters are
at 323 Star Building.
Magnitude of Contest.
Some idea of the magnitude OF the
contest and its value in spreading the
idea of the importance of washington
in matters of education and OF inter-
national relations is gained When IL J:
realized that outside Of washington c.
major newspaper sponsors OF the con-
test and more than 1000 otner news
napers have printed articles THIS year
pointing to Washington as the ,eoaI u
ward which students in all OF the coni-
netting lands have been working
Tho total expenditure by all Of the
newspapers on the 1923 contest exceeds
81 600 600. of which approximately
con mn went into awards to students.
included in these awards was de luxe
tour of Europe for the seven national
fnalists.
Two important meetings are held III
Washington each year in connection
with the contest. The first of these !.
the national finals. held in May, ana
the second is the international t1nalS,
the grand climax staged in OCTOBER,
At the national finals this year Her
bert Hoover delivered the opening ad-
dress and the judges were members
Of the United States Supreme Court.
President Coolidge has spoken at four
of the national and international meet
ings.
The Judges of the international finals
always are famous college professors
and diplomats, masters of the languages
used in the meet English French.
Spanish and German included in this
years field) and familiar with the tech
nique of public speaking In each of the
nations represented. This board OF
ulti-lingual judges is drawn from men
from different nations. Each national
contest is of course, conducted In the
language and deals with the govern
mental institutions of that particular
nation.
Contest in Capital.
Hence it is that while the national
phase of the contest focuses the atten-
tion of educators and educated alike
upon Washington in the Spring, the
international phase directs the eyes of
practically the entire world of educa-
ton upon the Capital in the Fall.
1t is interesting to note that the
most coveted honor of all in the con-
test is place in the grand internation-
al finals in Washington in October. al
though the only award for that particu-