Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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i Boys' Debate Squad Westport vs. Northeast At Manual, Westport achieved a won- deful victory over Northeast. From the time that Purd Wright. our first speaker, opened up, until the last word of Jack Kollman's rebuttal, Westport's team was far superior to Northeast's affirmative. The first aflirmative speaker, Joe Bir- mingham, although he had a fairly good argument, lacked the ability to make the points stick in the minds of the audience. Purd Wright, as first negative speak- er, had a strong, well-organized speech, and his size and delivery served to strengthen it. The second opponent, Harry Carpenter, tried to prove that government owner- ship is sound in principle, but he was handicapped by a monotonous, ineffective delivery. Allan Browne followed as second nega- tive speaker. With his forcefulness and pep, he made a distinctive speech, and when he was through, the applause showed that he had found his way 'to the hearts of the audience. Alexander Curtis was the last North- east speaker, and he gave us some of the characteristic Northeast hot air and elo- quence. Jack Kollman, as the last Westport speaker, broke his record for fine debat- ing in showing positively that a substi- tute plan of divisional pooling would be most desirable. With the help of Justin Mooney, al- ternate, our boys cleaned up the points of the other side and valiantly defended their own. The affirmative, however. was not at all prepared to refute the substi- tute plan and did not successfully refute the other points. The decision of the judges was a glorious five to nothing. GIRLS' DEBATE The question debated by the girls, Re- solved, That the United States should so change its constitution as to make the Cabinet responsible to the people through the House of Representatives, also had its origin in the present war situation. The question is a timely one, and as such it aroused much interest.

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'QTET BOYS' DEBATE The war has reached out and touched every phase of American life. Both the boys and the girls debated questions that had their origin in the war situation. The boys' question for debate was, Re- solved, That the United States should own and operate all the railroads in the United States and its possessions. The recent congestion of the railroads and the partial control exercised by the United States government served to make the question of unusual interest. This was shown in the large number of con- testants that tried out for places on the two teams. The afiirmative team lost to Central by one point, but the negative team more than evened the score by winning a unan- imous decision over Northeast, thus caus- ing Northeast to lose her lease on the Amherst cup. We got seven decisions out of ten--some record! Westport vs. Central Our affirmative team, composed of Hu- bert Parker, Jules Guinotte, Robert Sloan, and Dan Silberberg, met the negative team of Central at Northeast. Hubert Parker, our first speaker and the only old man on the team, started the ball rolling by proving that govern- ment ownership of the railroads is right in principle. His speech was as solid as a stone wall, it could not be refuted. He was cool, collected, and was at ease throughout his entire speech. All argu- ments were brought out with great di- rectness, and in t1'uly a masterful man- ner. Jules Guinotte, our second speaker, was truly a joy to listen to, not only because the speech was so sweet to our ears, but because it was so rich as debate. Jules proved that government legislation has failed, and that it will always fail. His great knowledge of the question was ap- parent from start to finish. The speech was a marvel for clear thinking. The last speaker for Westport was Bob Sloan. Bob p1'oved that govern- ment ownership is an economic improve- ment and also an economic necessity. He certainly did himself proud. The nega- tive was utterly unable to shatter the foundation that he laid. Throughout his speech there was an apparent genuine- ness that carried conviction. Dan Silberberg, our alternate, worked like a Trojan through the weeks of prep- aration, and did valiant service during the debate by gathering the points for re- buttal. You should have heard that re- buttal. Parker, Guinotte, and Sloan met every argument in a manner that would have done your hearts good. It looked like Westport when they were through, but oratory won the decision. We hope that it may not always be so.

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32 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. We feel proud of our boy debaters, but, if possible, we feel even more proud of our girl debaters. They debated Central and Northeast, the same as the boys, but with this difference-they won both de- bates. Out of a total of ten points, the girls won eight. If the boys made some record, the girls made more than some record. Westport vs. Central Our affirmative team met the Blue and White in the Northeast Auditorium and defeated them five to nothing. The unani- mous decision bears eloquent testimony as to the forensic qualities of our squad of girl debaters. A Sarah Pratt opened the contest for the affirmative by showing in a clear, concise, and logical manner that the present sys- tem is inadequate. The first speaker for the negative was Martha McLendon, who showed in a straightforward manner that the cabinet system is overestimated Qpre- sumablyl. The second speaker for Westport was Corinne Richards. With a convincing style of delivery she proved that the new cabinet system would be more demo- cratic. Corinne was followed by Florence Aughe, who declared that this plan would be unsuited to the peculiar conditions ex- isting within the United States. The concluding speech of affirma- tive was delivered by Helen Bingham. The efiiciency of the proposed plan con- stituted her main argument, and her prop- ositions, as were those of her colleagues, were strongly reinforced by a direct and earnest delivery. Alice Willard of Cen- tral closed the main speeches, but the oratorical indirectness of her rendition overshadowed the importance of her state- ments. The superiority of the affirmative was still more clearly established during the rebuttal. With calm logic and the elo- quence of conviction, our girls smashed point after point, until opposition prac- tically ceased, and victory was assured. The thoroughness of the refuation, which was a feature of the battle, can be at- tributed largely to the efforts of the silent but active alternate, Alline Smith. Westport vs. Northeast The negative team journeyed to Man- ual where they won a three to two de- cision over Northeast, thereby making it two in a row for Westport. The first Northeast speaker was Har- riet Harbaugh. Her delivery was more pleasing than her speech was forceful. This last point was made all the more noticeable when it was contrasted with the clear grasp of points presented by Helen Rowe, our first speaker. Helen did not use her notes once, thus adding to the effectiveness of her delivery. Sarah Fox, second negative speaker, was popular with the student body, although she was inclined to be sarcastic at times. Elizabeth Stevens was also popular with the audience, but it was a different sort of popularity. Elizabeth's speech was a difiicult one to deliver, as she had so many points to make. She made every one, however, in an admirable manner. The last Northeast speaker was Grace Spoore, the best all-around debater of the affirmative team. She was inclined to be sentimental, but she held the attention of her audience. Gladys Danielson conclud- ed the main speeches for Westport. She was at home on the platform, and her strong, sensible speech seemed oddly at variance with the sentimentality and ora- torical air of the opponents. It was the rebuttal speeches that won the debate for Westport. All of the girls spoke extemporaneously, while the North- east debaters read their rebuttals, often