The New York herald., 1869-02-26
BALLS LAST NIGHT.


.sThe Jews had light and gladness, ana Joy, and
% .And in every province. ana ~ every city. with.
came, the Jews had JOY and gladaess feast and o
good day.
pointed according Mordecai the Jew, and Esther,
the Queen, had enjoIned them, and as they had de-
creed for themselves ana ioE their seed.
tiers OF Purim, and II was written In the b00k.n
And although these things, Of which the days Of
Purim are instituted as perpetual memorial oc-
Cured more than 200 years ago. the visitor Of the
Academy last night was vividly reminded OF the
sion. On entering at the main door the brilliant In
scription on the rear wall or the stage, merry
Purm,. in flaming gas jets, with the letters U RIM
enlwined in a beautifully designed monogram, also
composed OF gas In the midst Of the semtcircle met
the eye. The whole stage was changed into gi-
gantic arbor Of vines from which luscious grapes de-
pended OF size and beauty as to almost equal the
Biblical description of those which Joshua's mes
sengers brought from the land OF Canaan. Close to
the background there was erected q huge cask,
pretty nearly OF the circumference OF that world
renowned at Heidelberg, bearing the inscription,
..ls69-Purim Wine,n as II indicating that it was
fun OF the juice OF the delicious grapes surrounding
it. The cask rested on fve-wheeled vehicle, by the
side OF which stood two men, In the ancient costume
Of the Hebrews IN the desert, looking up to Bac-
chus astrlde the cask. This Bacchus was queer
chap kind of your modern inventiOnist for
being the king Of VINE and OF WINE drinkers he had
put or caused TO be put through his manager OF
decorations Mr. Macmillan, the cask on vel0ci-
pede OF undoubtedly Olympian invention, for 1t had
i've Wheels, indicating the necessity OF fifth wheel
to wagon which mas load OF wine on 1t, and that
your two wheeled yeloclpede5 are OF no account in
that case. What the two men were intended to
mean was difficult to say Some one Of the conf
mittee suggested that 1t designated the Arion and
Liederkranz in utter stonshment at the pagan god
D.trtts,
pearing as II about TO run away with II with velocl-
pede speed. The true meaning, however, renamed
q profound secret.
The arrangements for order and for the comforta-
BILE entertainment OF all the guests were complete
and scrupulously adhered TO throughout, and great
credit is due to the floor and reception committees,
the first being Sol. b. solomon, chairman, Chas. q.
Allen Adolph L. Sanger, Joseph A. Levy, Joseph
Frederick 1anzer and Leopold Ress; the latter con.
sisted Of Jacob s. Isaac, chairman, Simon Schai1er,
George s. Levy, Arnold lanzer, Isaac s lsaacs,
lsdor Rosenheim, Judah Ii. solomon and Leo
Moses. They were all dressed in the style OF pages
OF Louis XIV, made by Mr. Wolf.
The ball commenced at hafpast nine O'Clock, at
which hour both the committees appeared on the
moor. ana marching around and saluting The guests
In the dress CIRCLE and the boxes retired to the rear
They were followed by number OF clowns uniform
ly dressed. accompanied by two pierr0ts, who per-
formed some gymnastic evoutions. This was the
opening Of the ball. for while the clowns were per.
forming in front OF Bacchus and his cask, as II to
do homage to the spirits within and hoping for their
escape, the company on the platform had formed
into "sets" and The first dance on the programme
Lancers-was gone through with. At this moment
it seemed If the ball would be failure; for but
gregated on the platform, the dress circle
was but hall oiled .Sd and only here and and
an as u This s gMRpsd M evsn ers ooc
the crowd pouring in was steadily on the increase
and by the latter hour the Whole house was dense
Academy presented to the eye looking down upon
the surging, whirling wheeling multitude was truly
their many-cnorqd Ghadaa
changing and ever changing, like living kaeido-
scope Of thousand brilliant colors, In unison and
monious, sparkling sheet Of varying beauty; the
brilliant array or ladies in rich evening toilets oc-
matte eect Of the reex Of the thousand lights
from the Jewels diamonds and other precious
stones which ladies know so well how to dis
play to their own advantage and TO the de-
light Of the beholder; the pleasing melodies
Of the two monster orchestras, now inviting
hands ana all the muscles and nerves Of the body
unwillingy beating time to the strains OF the music.
and then again charming the ear with sweet melo-
dies OF Mozart and Beethoven or the rousng gayety
or 0ffenbach or Lecocq-au this, indeed formed
picture but rarely witnessed and never forgotten.
ments were fully repaid by the character Of the
guests which had assembled. 1t was one OF the most
select and at the same time most numerous congre-
CATION to visit Purim ball or any other OF the mask
bahs this season, to such an extent that more CON-
plants were heard than even at the Leiderkranz
dancing comfortable. great number OF the nota-
bles OF this city were pTesent-Mayor Hail. Fisk, Jr,
the Erie King; Pike, his predecessor In opera man
agement; Recorder Hackett and hundreds OF others;
all the most prominent divisions OF trade and manu-
facture OF our city were represented by their FORE
most men.
Among the many good MASKS the many costly
and splendid fancy dresses noticed in all parts OF
the house, 1t were invidiOus TO make any distlnc-
ton. But q few. who less for their costness or
splendor but more on account OF ingenious oddity,
or perhaps appropriateness, merit special mention
One, lady, appeared as the representative OF st.
Valentine, and her dress, cap, and even fan and
mask, hwere nothing but comic valentines OF the
better order, and called out general approval.
gentleman peddled . tin box In which he had
"Kosher sausages' and "Kosher cakes" and clad IN
the costume Of like pedlers often at European
fairs.
The religious character OF the bali was preserved
by the presence OF q number OF Hebrew clergymen
In their priestly robes.
The dancing music was furnished by r. I. Eben
and the promenade concert by f. Dietz, and was In
every respect worthy the occasion.
Thus endeth Purn for the year 1s6e in full glory.
merrlment and Joy. to make way for the fast and
purlicatlon Of Pescnach, or Easter.
Purim Bail Of the Actual Literary and Ora.
matte Association.
The Actual Literary and Dramatic Association