St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-06-21

rom Int luDllet Oh lnItt Years ago.
The Jubilee OF l-G9 was wholly Ameri
can. while the one of I-72 has contrihu-
lions from all the principal nations of
the globe.
THE COLISEUM.
This Is the name given the huge
building erected on purpose for the
musical gatherings of this and next
week. 1t is situated about mile west
of the Common, between Columbus and
Huntington avenues. and alongside the
Boston and Providence X. X. track, in
new part of the city. Horse-cars do
not run very near the building. IA cir
cumstance unfortunate, to say the least
As the reader knows. the contempla
ted Coliseum was destroyed 10y IL gale
III April, and the plan started upon had
to he abandoned, and one of simpler
architecture substituted. Yet the Col
iseum of le12 is a great improvement
on its predecessor, as far as beauty is
concerned. And the decorations are
very profuse and elegant, and III good
taste. The present building is 800
long. by $50 feet wide fifty feet larger
each way than the building of 1869
and covers over four acres of ground.
1t has what is called a parqurt, OF
ground floor, and galleries on both sides,
and the end opposite the chorus. The
chorus and orchestra occupy perhaps
from nmctourth to one-third of the
whole building -heing arranged i'll IL
>emi-circlc in the north end.
TIE OPENING OF THE il ElLEE.
Monday. the Eth, was the opening
day of the jubilee. The morning was
taken up with rchrar>ing. The chorus
was present. and ii small audience
sprnklcd over the parquct floor while
the carpenters We're busy doing their
last work, and cleaning up. At three
o'clock. the exercises were opened with
prayer hy Rev. Phillips Brooks. addres-
Scs 10y Mayor Castor. aud Il speech by
Gen. \. T. Banks. Mr.. Gilmore. the
prime master of this as we'll as the for
mer jubilee then came forward and Was
received with the greatest enthusiasm.
After the cheering subsidized. he took
the b0fOR and directed his immense
chorus of Il 900 voices and more than
II thousand Instruments, through the
grand choral, odd Hundred" 1t was
Fl, 4
singers aud Observation-Disclosures. did it with
the precision of one Voice. but with
wonderful power and effect
Afterwards came an overture for the
grand orchestra Il chorus; piano solo
10y Franz Bendel. an eminent German
pianist, which was received with great
favor the lntlammatus. with solo by
Madame Rudersdortf Il wonderful sing
era piece by the Marine Band of
Washington, which was encored: the
Star Spangled Banner" with chorus.
bands and cannon-pelhaps the most |
popular piece i'll the program. and done
with great effect. Mrs. Houston-W |
singing solo in third verse.
The enthusiasm of the audience how |
ever, reached its highest pitch. when
Johann Strauss, of Vienna took the |
baton and conducted the orchestra
through one of his compositions -"On |
the Beautiful Blue Danube" The au-
dience would not cease their applause
until he repeated it.
But | have no time to enlarge upon |
this days program. The manner in
which the immense chorus was handled
10y the conductors, -especially 10y Mr..
Gilmore, WIS very remarkable. Many
thought :" large ii body of singers and
Observation-Disclosures (probably double the
number ever brought together beforel
would be unwieldy but never once did
they talter. but sung with the unity and
precision of Il score of trained voices.
SMALL ATTENDANCE
The audience the first day was small
Tor so large an auditorium. | do not .
know. but should say the audience
numbered less than the performers.
This casts little shadow over the ell
telprise, for | understand the receipts !
must be >60O,0O0 to pay expenses But
| anticipate large audiences the remain
der of the week. Not only are the pro-
grams better, but Il large class who are
waiting to see the building fall down,
or the whole thing tizzle, will be assur-