BEAUTY CONTEST JOKE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 740, 19 April 1933, Page 1

BEAUTY CONTEST JOKE.

Boy Masquerades in First Place. (Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON, March 15. Every year the Bohemian city of Carlsbad stages some sort of beauty contest to amuse the hundreds of people, young and old, who go there to enjoy the beauties of the place and seek the curative effects of its mineral waters and its baths. This season the customary pageant was open to school girls only, and some forty pretty young things exhibited their charms before the committee of judges and an appreciative crowd of spectators. By the time the entrants had paraded once, everyone was struck by the smiling good looks of a contestant with wavy chestnut hair, a pair of large brown eyes, and an oval face of the kind that artists always are looking for and find too seldom. The judges obviously were impressed by this person, and. in the first elimination—by which the number of entrants was reduced to ten—this beauty was the first to be picked. Again the parade moved past the judges and the spectators until all but three had been inspected. Among the three was the “ girl ” with the oval face brightened by a pair of large eyes and crowned with a lustrous crop of swirling hair. Won Vanity Bag.

The judges went into a huddle while the three finalists waited for them to arrive at a decision. The assembled onlookers registered their approval when the spokesman of the judges rose and extended his hand to the “ young

lady ” who had attracted attention from the moment “ she ” appeared in the procession.

“ It is our unanimous pleasure,” he said. '* to acclaim Swetschkerl Marischka the winner of this contest. And as a symbol of her victory I present her with this vanity bag.” The second and third prizes were given the other members of the triumvirate and the time came for the winner to make the customary little speech of acceptance. This speech, it turned out, was the big thrill of the day —for it was a confession on the part of the victor that “ she ” was not a schoolgirl. but a boy who had entered the contest just for a lark. The judges covered their embarrassment as gracefully as possible, retrieved the vanity bag, and placed it in the hands of the second prize winner, who, being a member of the fair sex, captured first honours.