St Marys College - Dial Yearbook (St Marys, KS)

Page 140 text:

Left to R ijht: Normilc, Classman, I.. O'Rourke, Adler, llcffcrnan. 3 van Oratorical Contest Kl IK Ryan )ratorical contest is an annual event held in the late spring of each year. The donor of this medal is Mr. T. J. 'Ryan and his sons, f j { S Harold K. Ryan and Raymond Ryan of St. Marys. The late Doctor Miller of St. Marys, was the donor during the years 1801 to 1022. and the contest during those years bore his name. The medal was established bv Mr. Horace II. Hagan, A. I’82. in 1885. The object of the contest is to offer an inducement for students to take up the study of oratory and thus aid themselves in attaining a proficiency in public speaking. 'The contest was held in the Auditorium. May 1( . The contestants in the Ryan Oratorical Contest were Paul Normilc, who chose for his subject the “Happy Warrior ; John Adler, who dwelt upon the timely topic of the Flood Menace in the Mississippi Valley; Robert Heffernan. who selected Ireland for his speech: Lyle )’Rourke, who considered the merits of A1 Smith’s reply to Marshall on the relative positions of Church and State; and Remi Gassman, who offered reflections on the Decay of Leadership. The contest was very even and gave evidence of careful preparation on the part of all the speakers. The judges awarded the gold medal to Lvle O’Rourke for the best oration. Lrnest Hagen of Fourth High represented the High School in the constitutional oratorical contest of northeastern Kansas, held at Hiawatha. Kansas. He was awarded first place and given the honor of representing the seventeenth district in the state contest. In the latter he made a very creditable showing. One Hundred Twenty-six