Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-25
WINNING ORATORS
BACK FROM CRUISE
Leonard Butsch Says He Has
Decided to Study for For.
eign Service.

James Leonard Butch, ST. johns Col
clege graduate, was chosen last May as
the best high school orator in Wash
ington, Maryland and Virginia, he de-
cided that fate had decreed for him
s...,,,.ent career in the legal profession,
and he made preparations forthwith to
begin the study of Law. But Butsch
has changed his mind, as young men
sometimes do. He's going into the
foreign service.
Butsch made this announcement
few minutes after hi stepped down the
gansplank of the Mtinson liner S S.
American Legion. which brought him
and seven other regional winners IN the
Sixth National Oratorical Contest back
to the United States after an eventful
l2.000-mile educational tour OF Cuba
and the Latin American republics.
The trip was the major reward Tor,
victory this wear and 1t led Butsch to
toss into oblivion the plans he had so
carefully laid to specialize In law when
he returns to college within the next
few days.
Sees Vast Opportunities.
''Instead of a law course" Butsch
said. st am going to study for the
foreign service. The trip impressed on
me more deeply than anything else the
vast opportunities for a young Americsn
in South America. am going to pre-
pare to take advantage of them.
In the long days at sea on the home
ward journey, ButSch revealed, he built
the foundation for his career in Latin
America by studying the Spanish Ian
gusge under the able tutelage OF ROBERTO
ortiz Girls Oaxaca. the Mexican orator.
cal champion, who accompanied the
American orators.
Although Butsch does not claim to
have mastered the new lingo. he gave
q demonstration on the pier which
sounded maSterful enough to an I'M
trained ear.
Leaves for His Home.
Butsch left yesterday afternoon for
Washington, where he will rest at MS
home, APO Fifteenth street, for several
days before going to Florida to enter
the University of Miami.
Randolph Leigh. director of the Ma
tional Oratorical Contest, met the eight
finalists at the Hoboken pier OF the
Munson Line when the American Lee
gion docked and turned over to them
an accumulation of their mail that had
been forwarded to him in washington.
Parents and friends Of the contestants
also we're at the pier.
Besides Butsch, the oratorlcal aces
who made the trip were Ben W. Swof-
ford of Kansas City, holder OF the 1923
oratorical championship. who VIII go
to washington In November to compete
in the International Oratorical Con-
test: Miss Elizabeth Corey Of Portland.
Me; Lee Miller of Chicago, Howard
Finch Of Kalamazoo Mich. and Miss
Katherine Marshall of Quanah, Tex.
Accompanied by Chaperons.
with them m the Journey we're DR..
and Mrs. @. L. Swiggett OF washing
ten. the chaperonS.
The three girls brought back FASH
ionable tan coats that would rouse the
envy of every woman who Is spending
money for artificial sun baths. 4 vas
the work of tropical sun.
The boys, however. did not go in Tor
that sort of thing. Aside from a rudy
complexion there was nothing about
their appearance to indicate that they
had twice crossed the blazing Equator
The eight contest finalists set out on
July 4. and visited Cuba, the Canal
Zone and five Of the principal South
American republics - Peru. BOLIVIA,
Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. The timer
ary closely paralleled the epoch-making
good will tour of President Hoover.
Cuba First on Trip.
From Jacksonville, the young orators
went to Cuba, thence through the Pan
anna Canal and down the west coast
of South America, stopping at Santiago.
After crossing the mighty Andes they
proceeded up the East Coast to Buenos
Aires and then on to Rio de Janiero.
where the American Legion was boarded
September IL for the final lap OF the
journey homeward.
Acting as spokesman for the group,
Butsch explained that In each city the
finalists visited the principal educa-
tional institutions and addressed the
students, stressing the friendship ex-
listing between the United States and
the Latin American countries. Their
speeches were interpreted by teachers
in the schools.
Received by Ofilcials.
The orators were not only enthus-
iastic about the reception given them by
South American students. but the regal
way in which they were entertained by
government officials in every country.
In Valparaiso and Buenos Aires they
also were entertained by Rotary Clubs.
The trip was unmarried by accidents
or illness and the orators denied there
was the slightest touch of seasickness
among them.
En- route down the west coast OF
South America, aboard the steamship
Santa Barbara, all were initiated into
the dreaded order Of King Neptune at
the Equator.
The feature of the long return trip
was an entertainment, in which the
orators took the principal part. deliver
ing excerpts from their orations.
Drawn in Friendship.
After the American Legion had locked
the contest winners. drawn together
in close friendship by the long trip,
parted for the first time since indie
pendence day.
To DR.. and Mrs. Swiggett. the orators
credited much Of the success of the
trip. It was Washington's representa-
tive, Butsch, who paid the most glowing
tribute to these chaperons for making
the journey interesting and valuable
educationally. DR.. Swiggett's knowl-
edge of Spanish, German and French
and his familiarity with the folk lore,
history and geography of the countries
visited, Butsch declared, enabled him
and his companions to get the utmost
benefits out of the tour.