“A Heading for December.” By Walter E. Huntley, age 16. (Cash Prize.)
TO THE DOUBTFUL COMPETITOR.
Unheeding toil and tears,
Shall find a guerdon set apart
Somewhere among the years.
Once in a while, a long while,—once a year, it may be,—some one writes in or tells us that such good contributions as are published every month in the League cannot be original—that they must be copied from some book or magazine, Our reply is: You must remember that the members of the League are the most intelligent young people in the world. You must remember that many of them have been working and striving for many months, even years, before they obtain recognition, and that such effort means a result which cannot be measured by the standard of a child, however capable, who has made one effort without success. There is a talent for writing and drawing. There is also a gift for learning music. Yet the child who could learn to play the violin even passably with one lesson would be worth going far to see. Also, there are many, even of those who have the greatest talent, whose progress is very slow. The League editor has watched the development of boys and girls whose first efforts were so unpromising that for months there was no warrant for mention in the roll of honor, and has seen the gradual improvement which brought these persevering, resolute aspirants gradually to the highest reward the League has to bestow. Several acknowledgments from such members may be found among the League Letters in this issue.
Of course there aré many of the brightest and most capable children in the world who have no gift for creative art, and who do not wish to acquire skill in photography or to give attention to puzzle-making. Such as these will win recognition in other fields, in their own good time and way. The field of art is not for all. Yet even those who may not possess the honors awarded there cannot but be benefited by the effort to win them. Every sincere effort toward expression in word or line brings the sure reward of new knowledge and mental growth, and is never wasted. Recognition and prizes are precious to those who win them, but in the long, long way of years it is the honest and strong endeavor that upbuilds a nation of nobler women and of braver men.
Once in a while, a long while,—once a year, it may be,—some one who has not read the rules, or who having rend them does not care, does send a copied contribution, and the editor, who cannot see everything that has ever been written and drawn, may accept and publish that contribution. Then there is great unhappiness, for among the fifty thousand League members there are always many—oh, very many—who have seen that picture or poem or story before, and most of these write letters (some of them cross ones) to the League and say, “How can we compete against such unfairness as this?” But it does n’t hurt them half as badly as it hurts the editor, nor so much as it hurts the unfair contributor. For the League career of such a one ends right there. The prize is not sent, and the matter is reported in the League Notes, The copier is certain to be discovered. We know this, for every case that has been brought to our notice has been reported not by one only, but by scores; and this, by the way, is one of the very best reasons we have for knowing that there is not one in a hundred of the contributions published that is not “original,” as endorsed, according to the League rules.
PRIZE WINNERS, COMPETITION No. 60.
In making the awards, contributors’ ages are considered.
Verse. Cash prize, Margaret Minaker (age 16), Gladstone, Manitoba, Can.
Gold badge, Lucile D. Woodling (age 12), 302 Prospect St., Cranford, N. J.
Silver badge, Jessie Freeman Foster' (age 1$), 5535 Lexington Ave.; Chicago, Ill.
Prose. Gold badges, Robert Walsh (age 14), 405 E. 4th St., Newport, Ky., and Anna Loraine Washburn (age 16), 377 Marlborough St., Boston, Mass.
Silver badges, Louise Roberts (age 12), 63 Washington St., Hartford, Conn., and Beatrice Frye (age 13), 4346 W. Belle Pl., St. Louis, Mo.
Drawing. Cash prize, Walter E. Huntley (age 16), 263 Verona Ave., Newark, N. J.
Gold badge, John A. Ross (age 16), 312 E. 14th St, Davenport, Ia.
Silver badges, Phyllis McVicker (age 31), Morristown, N. J.; Helen Gardner Waterman (age 13), cor. Hawthorn and Albatross Sts., San Diego, Cal., and Elsa R. Farnham (age 7), Box 511, Laurium, Mich.
Photography. Gold badge. Phyllis B. Mudie-Cooke (age 16), 65 Queensborough Terrace, Hyde Park, London, W., Eng.
Silver badges, Dorothea Da Ponte Williams (age 17), Godolphin Rd,, Shepherds Bush, London, W,, Eng.,176
