Evening star., 1937-05-25
Louisville Girl, IA, Is Winner
Of National Spelling Contest
Waneeta Beckley Is Victor in Thirteentl,
annual Bee With 'tPIebeian''-C Com.
petition Radi0-Cast Ouer U.S..

Waneeta Beckley, 14-year-old pupil
Of Sacred Heart Parochial School in
Louisville. KY, and representing the
Courier-Journal, won the thirteenth
annual national spelling bee this aft
ernoon in the auditorium Of the Ma
tional Museum
She won with the word "plebeian." "
Second girl in the contest, little
Miss Betty Grunstra, representing the
Passaic News. spelled it "plebean.
The two last contestants had been
at it more than three hours when the
winner was declared.
Before that they had battled in 4
three-cornered fight against Angelo
Mangieri, blind boy from st. JOS
eph's School for the Blind in Newark,
N. J. He was the representative of
the Jersey Observer.
Half Hour Recess.
Angelo fell by the wayside at noon.
A recess Of half an hour was de-
clared-to give the two girls a breath
ing spell.
When the contest was resumed at
1890 p.m.-the spelling bee radiocast
to all parts of the United States for
15-minute period over the Colum-
bia Broadcasting System-these two
stalwarts went at it hammer and
tongs. At that point they had proved
what most experts believe-that boys
are better spoilers than girls
4
of the contests from 1925 to 1886
seven girls were winners as against
five boys.
As the contest started today 1t
looked as If the old order would be
reversed At the beginning, first to
fall by the wayside was girl-Martha
Leahy Snyder, representing the Will
mington News-Journal. A beautiful,
happy, smiling girl-she went out with
the word "morose." That was in the
fifth round the contest only 20 min
utes old. She spelled "morose" with
an "a"
Stumbles on "Georgette."
"Georgette'' was the stumbling
block for Iris Fern Jenkins of Fern
dale, Mich, 13-year-old representa-
tive Of the Detroit News. 'She omit
ted the first "e."
Third girl to leave the platform al
the National Museum was Kathlyr
Armstrong, l3. Red Oak, Iowa, repre-.
senting the Des Moines Register AND
Tribune. She began "cited" with
an IS"
Edward N Noonan, jr., IL, Niagara
Falls, N. Y, lost out when he spelled
ingenuity" 'ingenuinity" in the f1f.
teenth round. He represented tn
Buffalo Evening News.
Robert Farrell. 10, of the Akron Bea.
con Journal left the first "n'' out o.
"questionnaire" in the seventeenth
round. william c. Cooley, IL, Ran
dolph Center, VT, Of the Burlington
Free Press, slipped on accessible
when he ended with an "able,' also II
the seventeenth.
Meringue Is Too Much.
As the fifth boy to take the count
Robert Farrell, representing tn.
AKRON Beacon-Journal, trlpped on tht
word questionable" spelling it with
one "n." That was in the fifteenth
round.
William Crockett Cooley, represent.
ing the Burlington Free Press, fel
over the word accessible" giving II
an added "a"
Frank l. White, jr., who had lastee
until round 2l, went down and ou
with the word "meringue"-ever
though it was laboriously explained
that the word had to do with pie.
Doris Buzard, representing th'
youngstown (Ohio) Vindicator, fount
"gudgeon"-a fish Of the carp famil!
too much for an inlander, and sh'
stepped OF the stage in round "a.
Elizabeth Kenney. representing tn