The New York herald., 1873-07-02
The Flush and F1utter at the
Academy Of Music.
Stage, Boxes and Auditorium Quivering
Like a Prairie in Flower.
Seventy.eight Freshly Educated Young
Ladies Graduated.
Prizes and Medals for German, Elooution,
Singing, Teaching, Physiology, Physics,
Latin and Shakspearean Essays.

properties which have been used over and over
again In description, and which will probably be
used over and over again for many year to come.
Thus, II the writer wishes to intimate that an
audience ID picturesque and crowded. he nkens 1t
TO kaleidoscope or q flower garden or a rain
bow, or drags in some Other figure OF speech equally
tlmeworn. The preparer Of this notice lays no
claim to being strikingly original and when he
hastens to say that the audience assembled in the
Academy of Music last evening in order
to celebrate the fourth annual Commencement
OF the Normal College OF New York re-
sembled prairie in full nower he would
not be too literally interpreted. 1t will
be suacienty accurate to insist that the scene was
extremely lively and varied The Academy was
enormously crowded, and the toilets included all
those delicate and charming hues which the sea-
son sanctions. There were plenty OF nowers an
abundance Of music. brilliant lights, groups OF
young, and in many cases pretty girls, and bevy
OF intelligent young ladies bent upon pleasing with
their various essays and recitations, and finally an
audience bent upon being pleased We all know
what must be the result when elements like these
come into contact. The product OF oxygen and
hydrogen is not more certain. When Of two parties
one is anxious to crafty and the other equally
anxious to be gratifed fate IS seldom spiteul
to refuse . happy denouen,ent. The antecedents
being everything that could be wished,
the sequences are pretty sure to be
delightful. And so 1t was with last
evening 1t spite OF oppressive weather,
in defiance OF an atmosphere reeking with the
warmth OF innumerabe gas jets, in the face Of
dismal premonitions OF cholera and anxious FORE
bOdings engendered by the long drought the occa-
sion was pre-eminently gala one. 1t passed OF
In smooth triumph. No midwinter celebration
could have been more genial and genuine; and
bouquets fell fast and thick from the first moment
to the last.
MIDSUMMER COMMANDMENTS
are like nothing else in art or nature. BY far the
greater number occur in midsummer and prove
their independence Of all rules by the immense
crowds they draw together and the enormous
trium1xe they insure. Is anything on earth
30 crowded as Commencement, particularly the
Commsuoement Of young lady's colleges We
think not. box of sardines or a drum
of figs Is comparatively loose and full of elbow
room. The jam and confusion OF last evening we'll
nigh defy description 1t would be pleasant to say
nothing but what was complimentary, but our de-
votion to truth forbids us to sacrifice veracty to
courtesy. There were mistakes in the manage
ment OF last nights entertainment which 1t would
be advisable to have remedied. For instance, en-
tirey too many tickets were issued, and the copse
9uence was that the Academy was ready TO burst
with its audience. The auditorium was squeezed
O'Clock (the entertainment was advertised to
begin at halEpast seven) wandered around In
vain. The aisles were appropriated, the steps
were blocked, people were standing in the open
space between the seats in the parquet and in
the parquet circle. The lObbes were thrOnged.
You might have thought it was Central Park Gar
1mprudent wretches who had come without tickets,
trusting to their lucky stars and the good nature
tnreshods Ike the Peri at the gate Of Pa Paradise
Fresh arrivals continued up TILL half-past eight. BY
that time the whole house was IN frantic state of
perspiration, but evidently enjoying itself in an
eminent degree. The good temper of Com
mencement audience is something proverbial
and miraculous. But there Is philo-
sophica reason for it. For what does such an
audience come together, do you suppose Let
for intellectual entertainments not for the enjoy
1hOughifully diversified, not even to display its
dresses and gossip about those OF its neighbors.
No; your Commencement audience Is made up OF
individuals each OF whom attends to listen and
applaud Mary's or Matilda's or Thomas or Harrys
each young man or young woman who is 10 he
appauded is the cynosure OF large and admiring
bevy Of relatives and friends. But even making
all allowance for the desire of the managers OF
entertainments Of this kind to yield qualification
to as large number OF people as posslpie ~ seems
In regard to the aggregate OF those who are to be
thus accommodated.
AS great as were the discomforts of last evening
there were ameliOrating and cOmpensating cir
cumstances The scene on the stage at the rising
water aud bring a mist before the eyes Imagine
rows Of seats ascending IN an inclined plane one
stage to the other and extending, from the line
usually occupied by the lootghts, to the entire
cupied by girls, rom twelve to eighteen years Of
age, dressed for the most part, in white but with
TO lend the needed points OF contrast The eject was
t,ergeOus-Do, not gorgeous, that is too warm
word and the eect m was With to no GoG put
strewn above it or oi a preternaturay large pea
cocks TAIL studded with manyseolored eyes, II all
the bouquets that all the prime dome who Ever
sang in The Academy Of Music nave received were
piled one on another the Ensemble would not be
more brilliant and bewilderlng. And then remem-
Der That each girl had a fan and that each fan was
In perpetual motion, and that blonde heads and
iblack heads, and auburn heads, and brown heads,
and faxen heads and nondescript beads kept gen.
tly bobbing as words were lnterchanged of private
gossip circulated, and you Will have some idea
,he on S wbv ns cron o' was s
nothing to 1t. Niblo's was shamed before TINS edu-
catiOnal piece of sensatlonalism. Imagine MIL
lion butterflies reciprocaly palptatlng In layer
OI harmoniZng light, and IL Will help you to realize
the scene The stage proper OF the Academy was
too small to accommodate the entire number. An
extension was therefore made TO 1t, which covered
the space usually occupied by the orchestra. In
the front centre OF this extension stood large
table covered with red cloth and containing the
diplomas. Benches on each side accommodated
the teachers and the various committees. small
orchestra, little to the rear OF the table, was
led by Mrs. Charlotte V. Winterburn, the musical
drecress Of the Normal College. The private boxes
were TcscTNtu lOT eSpcCiai Eucoeo uh" wv 'iiOh"S
o. the graduating class. Busy ushers were con-
stanty kept at work bringing in instruments or
mowers wrought into every c0ncelvaDle device In
short the commencement last night was the only
entertainment OF the kind given In TINS city during
toned in highly eulogstic terms Fate was against
IL, so far as the weather was concerned, but 1t
trumphed over fate and succeeded IN enrolling
itself among the educational celebrations or the
season.
TUE PROGRAMME.
The following IL the complete programme In
tended Interpretation last evening"
l. Overture, ''Masa nclls' Aubcr
March, "Rienzf wagner
Il Choral Cathaischcn Cantioral uTl5
g. Praycr..............Rev Rev. Samuel d. Burchard DID
a. Aria, from MESSIAH. Hande
- Sautatory Ooiioru
g. Duct Aubama song. ............... Mendelssobn
~ Essay, Power Of kidcue. .Urlaville Asten Wilbur
anu rras raSo
10 Quartet from Paradise and Peri .schumann
H. Recitation, "fhe swineher Ada Louise Courtier
H. Song IRON Lady OF the Lake" arranged by