Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-23
.kENE|PP WILL TIME
0RATORY CONTEST
District * Champion, James
HighsaW, Jr., of Memphis,
Visits in Capital.

The timing Of the II district cham
pions who will compete in The Star
Area Oratorical Contest finals Thurs-
day morning will be checked by a
combination of two of the finest and
most intricate stop-watches that sci
ence has devised.
These watches will be In the hands
of George e. Keneipp. manager of the
District of Columbia Division of the
American Automobile Association. Mr..
'Keneipp served In the same capacity In
The Stars fifth area finals last Spring.
He is considered one of the most expert
timers In the country, having officiated
for the American Automobile Associa-
ton at automobile races throughout
the country. The association Is the
official agency for timing all automo-
bile races in the Unired States.
Mr.. Keneipp's timing device will begin
recording a contestants speech, not on
the salutation, but on the opening word
which will check each other as to sec
ondS and split seconds, infallibly will
record the time consumed by each of
the eight boys and the three girls who
will be doing their utmost to win the
coveted Star area prize of 5000 and the
three month tour Of South America.
Mr.. Keneipp will blow a whistle on the
expiration of 10 minutes.
District X Champion is Here.
James L. Highsaw, jr., 15E2-year-
sophomore of the Memphis Technical
High School, champion of the district
K territory in the international high
school contest, arrived in Washington
n 10 ctA,trn Do ~
participate in the zone finals to be held
there Saturday evening.
Young HighsaW is accompanied by
his father, James l.. Highsaw, principal
of the Memphis Technical High School
The champion of district x won his
right to place In the zone finals in
competition with 287 other schools. He
will compete against six champions of
as many newspaper districts in the Sec
ond zone contest to be held this year.
The winner of the zone competition
at Harrisburg will have a place in the
national finals and will obtain the South
American tour as prize.
Hard Fought Contest.
The district x championship was
one of the hardest earned in the coun-
try. Students like Highsaw in all parts
of the United States who found them
selves outside Of territories sponsored by
newspapers, were allowed to compete in
oratorical contests managed by their re-
spective high school principals. Two
hundred and eighty-seven of these
principals submitted to the national
headquarters the orations of their school
champions. Each school so competing
had to conduct thorough contest with
in its student body. These orations
were then judged by the written manu-
scripts by three prominent Washing
tonianS selected by the national con-
test management. Their ballots were
summarized under the low-point-total
system, and Highsaw was declared the
winner.
The District "X" judges were Mrs.
William Wolff Smith. lecturer and or
ganiZer of Nationwide civics and po-
litical classes in women's clubs: Harry
c. Davis Of the board of trustees of
George Washington University and j. F.
Abel, specialist in foreign education sys-
TENS at the United States Bureau of
Education.
Highsaw's School Is Famous.
Highsaw's Grafton is entitled 1.-The
Constitutions Guarantee of the Lib
erty of the Individual" This after
noon he is availing himself of the offea
Of Miss j. Coope. assistant and acting
principal of Mckinley Manual Training
High School, to visit that school during
the course of his sightseeing tour with
his father and to practice his Grafton
in McKinley's beautiful new auditorium
He will hear the Washington finals
Thursday.
The TX" champions father, who
founded the Memphis Technical High
School II years ago and who has built
1t up to membership Of 1900, has led
Some years ago it won the national
thrift prize of the United States, in
competition with all high schools in
the country. It also has held the mill
tary drill record of the Southern States
for eight consecutive years in the Junior