Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

Page 31 text:

,X , , ' i If '. ,rf CONTESTANTS. George Pfingsten. Nellie Boyle. Herbert Elliott. Eva Smith. Harmon Waits. Bertha Jeffries Dalton McDonald. Emilie Wright. A. B. Wolfe. Walter Pike. Anne Hill. Marien Lyons. Vera Peck. Daisy Benthuysen.

Page 30 text:

24 the llnoeg THIRTYSSEVENTH ANNHALZW INTER-SQCIETY Gomrcsrzw wi-N wtgijj7 is extremely uncertain to say the least. Fortuna is fickle indeed, yet pf 5 We are all at her mercy. Especially is she capricious when embodied in the form of six judges deciding our fate in the Inter-Society Contest. We QQ, work and fight, swear by our society, hold secret meetings, sit in solemn f judgment over half a dozen aspirants for the same honor, deceive our friends on the other side, spy in the enemy's camp, perhaps, cry.a little because the society we love so well fails to appreciate our ability in speaking pieces, run a candidate because he 's running us, goad our contestants on to the verge of nervous prostration, and so on indefinitely through three desperate feverish months. And then arrives the fateful night. Fortuna turns the wheel, and the society drawing the blank concludes the judges to be old fogies unacquainted with their business and goes off to wax eloquent over chicken salad and the wonders to be accomplished next year. The contest of '97 started in with every show of great earnestness. We all remem- ber that little melee in the drawing-room that eventful noon when we accused each other of being guilty of the crime for which Ananias and Sapphira suffered death, and ugly names and expletives were as thick as peanuts at a circus. Isn't it thrilling! a fair- haired girl remarked from the top of an art bench where she had taken refuge. 4'Isn't it thrilling! Makes me think of those terrible riots you read about I And she swung her feet in ecstacy. The fight over, we began to flaunt our sure things, our winners in the face' of the enemy. We hurried our contestants off to mysterious and wonderful trainers living in foreign parts QBloomingtonj, discovered books for our debators containing valueless in-

Page 32 text:

26 ' 'Ciba llnbeg A formation, and put up little bets on the outcome, only little bets, you know, quite harm- less, a box of Lowney's or a pair of gloves. And then all signs failed. The long victorious side was vanquished and the Wright- onians comforted themselves with the crust that at least they had one Hill which the Philadelphians couldn't surmount. The debate of '97 is memorable in that it proves the efficiency of grasping one or two strong points and hammering on them until they are driven in to stay. The instru- mentalists were both hampered with the mechanism of the Rubenstein Valse Brilliantef' Only when the emotions are untrammeled in expression is playing what it should be. The Philadelphian singer showed the ease in manner and expression which comes with long training. Her voice, however, hardly revealed the purity and fullness of her op- ponent's. The essays were both excellent. A broader theme and a simpler handling, perhaps, gave the point to the Philadelphians. Yet, after all, it is Fortuna. The ora- tions were able efforts. Both were on subjects near to the heart of every American. The recitations were 'again strangely alike, and both were delivered with power and feeling. ' The result of it all was that Philadelphia won everything, with the exception of the recitation. Miss Hill saved Wrightonia from a whitewash. High praise is due all the contestants. They worked hard and faithfully, and each acquitted himself so that none may not say-4'Well done. t O. A. M. CONTEST RECORD. Number of contests .......................... .. . . .... 37 Contests won by Wrightonians ................. .... 1 S Contests won by Philadelphians .... ---- 1 6 Number of ties ................... .... 3 Points won by Wrightonians ..... --.- 1 18 Points won by Philadelphians ..... . . . 122 Wrightonians whitewashed ...... . - Philadelphians uwhitewashedv ..... . - 3