Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-11

] the lessening of the animation will be
| but a slight alteration. Blackwell used
| prolonged pauSes in his speech last
night which were calculated to lend ef-
fectiveness to his delivery and by short
| ening these slightly. he is destined to
| be definite placer in the Virginia
| finals. He is II years old and the son
! of Mr.. and Mrs. j. S. Blackwell of 101
North View Terrace, Alexandria.
The meet was opened by Capt. Thur
low White president of the Alexandra
| Kiwanis Club, who sketched briefly the
magnitude of the contest. Picturing the
/ audience in the Maury Elementary
School as but small part Of that vast
worldwide project" the Sixth National
Oratorical Contest and the Fourth In
ternational Oratorical Contest, Capt.
White appealed to his audience to Wis
| ualize the effect of more than 100000
boys and girls studying the Constitu-
ton upon the Nations future genera
tons, and the effect of similar govern
mental study in % of the ma jor nations
of the world upon international rela-
tons of the future.
He paid tribute to The Star when he
characterized the contest as "one of
several educational projects which that
newspaper Is sponsoring" He cited the
nightly radio broadcast of the days
news as means of spreading public in
formation In the interest of public opin-
ion, and he commended the weekly radio
forum. by which large percentage of
the citizens learn the functions and
principles of the various governmental
departments direct from the high Off
Gals who themselves are in charge OF
those departments.
Fiery ElOquence Exhibited.
Capt. White then reviewed briefly the
rules of the contest and presented Miss
Margaret Stephenson of the George,
Mason High School of Del Ray as the
first speaker. Speaking on Lincoln and
the Constitution" Miss Stephenson
used the traditional fiery eloquence OF
Virginia to put over her ideas on the
Emancipator. She used 8 minutes and
10 seconds of her time and when she re-
sumed her place upon the stage she was
regarded as a strong contender for the
| decision.
Miss Helen Detwiler of the Clifton
| High School, the second speaker, spoke
for exactly seven minutes on THE Con-
| stitution-A Guarantee of the Liberty
of the Individual" Hers was rapid
fire delivery, and during most of her
speech she clasped her hands behind
her back, while she turned her face to-
ward listeners in every corner of the
| hall.
! Miss Cathryn Tobin, representing the
! Fairfax Junior High School, followed
| Miss Detwiler, and if she didn't win the
| contest she won the hearts of most of
| the audience. She spoke on The De-
velopment of the Constitution" with
charming earnestness. She was a
speaker who registered wide-eyed as
constituent at the facts she passed on
to her audience. Miss Tobin, who is
F, Is, is not scheduled to be graduated
! from her school until 1882.
| Blackwell followed Miss Tohin and
then Capt. White summoned John
| Trevett Allen of the Swavely Prepare
| tory School to forensic battle. Allen,
/ deep of voice and unmoved in posture,
| made strong bid for first place with
! his speech on Public Responsibility
| to the Constitution" 1t was an in
terestingly original speech and one
which Allen delivered well during the
| 6 minutes and As seconds he was on
his feet. The official decision placed
him in second place and made him
alternate to Blackwell.
The minutes before the opening OF
the contest were spent by the student
rooters in giving school yells for Their
respective orators, and finally. when
the speakers took the stage with Capt
White, burst of prolonged applause
greeted them. At the conclusion OF
the meet. when Capt. White had an
nounced the winners, a troop of wildly
enthusiastic and proud Alexandra
High School boys bore down on the
stage to hoist Blackwell to their shout.
ders and bear him, grinning, OUT OF
the auditorium.