O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 | Page 2

Derieux
(_American_, June).
8. April Twenty-fifth As Usual, by Edna Ferber (_Ladies Home
Journal_, July).
9. The Mottled Slayer, by George Gilbert (_Sunset_, August).
10. Dog Eat Dog, by Ben Hecht (_The Little Review_, April).
11. Blue Ice, by Joseph Hergesheimer (_Saturday Evening Post_,
December 13).
12. Innocence, by Rupert Hughes (_Cosmopolitan_, September).
13. Humoresque, by Fannie Hurst (_Cosmopolitan_, March).
14. The Yellow Streak, by Ellen La Motte (_Century_, March).
15. The Elephant Remembers, by Edison Marshall (_Everybody's_,
October).
16. England to America, by Margaret Prescott Montague (_Atlantic_,
September).
17. Five Thousand Dollars Reward, by Melville D. Post (_Saturday
Evening Post_, February 15).
18. The Lubbeny Kiss, by Louise Rice (_Ainslee's_, October).
19. The High Cost of Conscience, by Beatrice Ravenel (_Harper's_,
January).
20. The Red Mark, by John Russell (_Collier's_, April 15).
21. The Trap, by Myra Sawhill (_American_, May).
22. Evening Primroses, by Anne D. Sedgwick (_Atlantic_, July).
23. Autumn Crocuses, by Anne D. Sedgwick (_Atlantic_, August).
24. The Blood of the Dragon, by Thomas Grant Springer (_Live
Stories_, May).
25. Contact, by Wilbur Daniel Steele (_Harper's_, March).
26. For They Know not What They Do, by Wilbur Daniel Steele
(_Pictorial Review_, July).
27. La Guiablesse, by Wilbur Daniel Steele (_Harpers_, September).

28. On Strike, by Albert Payson Terhune (_The Popular Magazine_,
October).
29. The Other Room, by Mary Heaton Vorse (_McCall's_, April).
30. They Grind Exceeding Small, by Ben Ames Williams (_Saturday
Evening Post_, September 13).
31. On the Field of Honour, by Ben Ames Williams (_American_,
March).
32. Turkey Red, by Frances Gilchrist Wood (_Pictorial Review_,
November).
Although the exiguity of the vessel forbids inclusion of all these stories,
yet the Committee wish to record them as worthy of preservation under
covers. Publishing by title, therefore, carries all the honour attached to
publishing the complete story.
Awarding the prizes proved difficult. No title stood first on all the lists:
rated best by one judge, any story lost rank through lower rating by
another. But the following held from first place to fifth place on the
separate final lists: "La Guiablesse," "England to America," "For They
Know not What They Do," "Evening Primroses," "Autumn Crocuses,"
"Humoresque," "The Red Mark," "They Grind Exceeding Small," "On
Strike," "The Elephant Remembers," "Contact," and "Five Thousand
Dollars Reward." It will be observed that three of Wilbur Daniel
Steele's narratives appear. If the prize had been announced as going to
the author of more stories rated first, he would have received it. But by
the predetermined conditions, it must fall to the author of the best story,
and according to a recognized system of counts,[A] the best is
"England to America"; the second best, "For They Know not What
They Do." The first award, therefore, goes to Miss Margaret Prescott
Montague; the second to Mr. Wilbur Daniel Steele.
[Footnote A: Since there were five judges, the system used was the
following:
A story of place 1 was given 5 points " " " " 2 " " 4 " " " " " 3 " " 3 " " "
" " 4 " " 2 " " " " " 5 " " 1 point.]
The Committee were remarkably unanimous in answering the question,
"What is a short-story?"; but they differed, rather violently, over the
fulfilment of requirements by the various illustrations. Without doubt,
the most provocative of these was Mr. Steele's "Contact." Three of the
Committee think it a short-story; two declare it an article; all agree that

no finer instance of literature in brief form was published in 1919.
Their diverging views, however, challenged curiosity: what did the
publishers think about it? The editor of _Harper's_ wrote:
"Contact" was written by Mr. Steele after a personal visit to the North
Sea fleet. It is a faithful portrayal of the work done by our destroyers
and therefore falls under the category of "articles."
And the Author:
I am not quite sure what to say. The piece, "Contact," of which you
speak, was in a sense drawn from life, that is to say it is made up of a
number of impressions gained while I was at sea with the U.S.
destroyers off the coast of France. The characters are elaborations of
real characters, and the "contact" told of was such a one as I actually
witnessed. Otherwise, the chronology of events, conversations, etc.,
were gathered from various sources and woven to the best of my ability
so as to give a picture of the day's work of our convoying forces in the
War.
These data reconcile, in part, the conflicting points of view, or at least
show the tenability of each.
In addition to the first requisite of _struggle_, "the story's the thing,"
the judges sought originality, excellence in organization of plot
incidents, skill in characterization, power in moving emotions--and,
again, they