, 1878-03-23
The Spelling Bee and Concert. ,

| "A'S' "oic p1eseut, IL Is perhaps VI
necessary to say that Yesler's Hal
was crowded last evening on the oc
casion of the spelling match and
concert given by the ladies OF the
Methodist Episcopal Church. The
opening anthem, i" The Earth is
the Lords" was effectively render
ed by the choir, consisting OF
Messrs. X. G. Ward and J. D. Lo.
man, Mrs. Northup and Mrs. Ward.
The salutatory address Of Miss Jones
was brief and sensible effort,
though somewhat lacking in anima-
ton and gestures. This was follow
ed by duet, g Changes of the
Bells" by Mrs. Ward and Mrs.
Northup, in which the rich clear
soprano of the former completely
drowned the alto of the latter
simply through lack of confidence
on the part of this lady. This
was amply atoned for, however, in
the quartette which followed, where
in ali did so excellently. as to amply
compensate for all previous defects.
This we consider was the chef d ourre
of the evening. 1t was the old but
always popular "Come where my
Love lies Dreaming" Mr.. Ward,
tenor, excelled himself in this piece.
and we believe never sang to better
advantage. Naturally possessed of
sweet and we'll modulated voice,
the only defect we have hitherto
noticed in his singing, was tenden-
CIV to restrain its volume. In this
piece the soprano is of course the
most difficult part, and it was sus-
tanned by Mrs. Ward, in a manner
worthy OF a professional. This lady
has voice of great flexibility, and
extraordinary strength, which was
evidenced by the ease with which
she sang the higher notes, and were
combined with the soft ard pleasant
alto of Mrs. Northup, the effect was
most charming, indeed. Mr.. Lo-
man has voice of much sweetness,
though somewhat lacking in
strength. But in this quartette we
think all did exceedingly we'll, and
it was fair test OF the ability of
the respective singers. The two fol-
lowing selections-a duet, Voices
from the Waves" and a triq, Life
has no Power" although. diff
cult, were sung we'll. The: entire
selection of music exhibited good
judgment and taste. and aside from
the shertness of the programme, Is
entitled to all praise. The accompa-
niments were played by Miss Clara
McCarty. and are not fair test of
that young lady's ability, from the
fact that the instrument used was
slightly out of tune. and not in
condition for use. Were it not for
this we might have had a chance to
criticise the accompaniments, but
we feel that under the circumstances
it would be unjust to do so. A little
mite of a girl, Annie Kolberg, re-
cited i" Ready for Kiss, Mamma"
very cunningly. The readings of
Mrs. Keith and Prof. Ingraham
elected marked appreciation. When
the spelling match was announced
there was considerable difficulty in
getting contestants. At length about
twenty persons were formed in the
class, and Prof. Ingrahan gave out
words from Sanders Union Speller.
The first word foored a member of
the school board, the representative
of the perss followed, and justice
of the peace kept them company.
The words were of similar pronunci-
alton, but not similar in spelling.
Soon all were down but J. W. Eas'
ter, Mort. Coombs, and Tillie Pi-
per. These three held their ground
for long time, and the words were
pronounced and spelled rapidly. At
length Easter was brought down by
a word which he evidently would
have spelled but for this haste. The
others spelled a few words, then
Coombs spelled ".wady" with two
ds, but it was not noticed in the
haste but by Miss Piper. The word
'shoddy," was next given out. and
spelled correctly by Miss Piper; she
was asked to spell it again, and left
out one d. The question was then
asked how Coombs spelled "wady,"
and it was discovered to have been
missed; Miss Piper then spelled it
correctly. winning the $40 gold coin
premium. The premium was award
ed by Judge Lewis, in an instruc-
tive and interesting address. Sup
per followed. The receipts above
expenses were little more than
800.
SOLD OUT.-Mr. John Mcknight
has sold his meat market on Front
street to Messrs. Thompson & Bige-