Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-26
|SWOFFORD WINS
0RAl0RY FINALS
Lee Miller of. Illinois Is Sec
ond-BrookIyn Girl
Takes Third.
Continued From First Page.)

contestants voice preceded hers in the
big hall, she launched out bravely into
her speech on The Constitution: a
Guarantee of the Personal Liberty of
the Individual" with vigor that was
unexpected in a person of such petite
and dainty femininity as was hers.
This first speaker chose not to ges-
ticulate. but saw At rather to stake her
chances for victory upon a. voice tensity
and vocal expression thati commanded
attention. Miss Fletcher developed her
theme of personal liberty largely upon
the emancipation of the slaves during
the Civil War period. and at her con-
clusion she bowed gracefully as she left
her contentious in the lap of her audi
ence and her judges.
Applause Greets Busch.
The announcement of the name of
James l.. Butsch, Washington'S own en-
try was the signal for a wild burst of
applause that interrupted the introduc-
ton that Mr.. Leigh later completed
Once upon his feet, Butsch was a. mas
ter of poise and manly bearing. His
voice doomed out across the audience
to carry the orators message to every
cerner Of the hall.
Butsch's oratory last night was ex-
pressive without recourse to excessive
gesture; determined and commanding
without trace of bombaSticS, and sin
cere without studied dramatic effect.
He neglected no section in his audience,
but. by facing first to one side and then
to the other, included every one in his
address
Prolonged applause, which threatened
to delay the contest, greeted the Wash
mgton orator. In few minutes, how
ever, Mr.. Leigh gained sufficient silence
to present Lee Miller as the third
speaker.
Miller was dramatic in voice and in
expression, but he, like the speakers
preceding him, avoided gesture. There
was little Of the 17-year-o boy in the
Chicago orator, while there seemed
much of the trained adult speaker. He
held his audience tense throughout his
time on the stage and bowed to give way
for the next speaker.
Miss Marshall Il Fourth.
Miss Marshall. the girl who made
flying trip across the continent to reach
Washington only this evening. was the
fourth orator to face the audience.
Parading the unsavory allegations
that the United States is fast becoming
lawlesS nation, Miss Marshall pre-
sented these charges as q challenge to
ditional principles of the Constitution.
She forecast golden day" when the
United States would head the world in
q union OF peace, and bowed her con-
clusion amidst vociferous acclaim.
The oratortcal tenseness was broken
following Miss Marshall's conclusion by
an orchestra selection. The music per-
mitted the rapt audience to relax and
after the brief respite the contest con-
tinued. Ben, Swofford was the NTH
orator to take the stage. Something of
military bearing characterized the
young MisSourian's initial stance, but as
he got into his speech he relaxed into
an easy manner typical of the veteran
orator. Speaking upon the writing of
the Constitution, Swofford reviewed the
conditions m the colonies which gave
forth to the new Government in 1887
rather than to the reconstruction of the
old He cited the contributions of each