Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-19
The Sangerfest.

The ArioKaS' SuccesG-The Judges' DeILb-
 eratIOn-The Success of the Festival.
 The Arion Singing society held meeting
 last evening and naturally theS@ngerfest was
 discussed and the triumph of the Arions
 The beautiful standard they won was on ex-
 hibition and was greatly admired. The pres ident of the society, Mir. Harder, Prof. Weh-
 ner and others were seen by a reporter of
 the COURIER. They all thought great injus- tice had been done their society by the pub lished reports. ''In the first place. said Prof. Wehner, ''the statement was made that the judges were obliged to deliberate twenty four hours before they could award the prize
 because the singing of the two New Haven societies was so nearly equal in merit. That is wrong. I have learned that the judges de- cided almost as soon as they heard the Haru- garis sing that the Arions should have first
 prize. The judges could not have deliberated twenty-four hours, as they did not begin till in the morning and at four in the afternoon two of them left the room where the council was sitting. Moreover the judges were appointed by all the so- cieties, and if they had been incompetent they should have said so before the contest began. They were in fact competent men and above suspicion" Objection was made to the statement that the Harugaris re- ceived most of the applause in the parade. The Arions had about TO men, four times as many as the Harugaris, and they had taken much care in their drilling The passive members formed 0 large GA" snd went through various evolutions which met with great applause. Other rumors that had been floating about town which reflected more or less upon the judges were mentioned and de- clared absurd and impossible. The Arions feel that they won their honors by hard honest work, and they naturally want the credit ot it. They have practiced faithfully and no doubt deserved the trib ute given by German critic: ''They sang that piece more correctly than band could play it.'
 The Arions will have an official celebration of their success at Hartford next Wednesday evening the 27th.
 The Hartford Times says of the Ssenger- fest: The festival which ended yesterday was a gratifying success not only in a pecuniary sense, but in its social aspects, bringing togeth CT, as it did, so many Germans from differ ent parts of the State, who returned delight ed with their visit to Hartford, and who ex- press themselves well pleased with the efforts of their German friends here to entertain them. The absence of drunkenness and rowdyism is always pleasing and noticeable feature of these Ger man celebrations. Good nature, jollity, sociability and fun prevail at their gatherings; and although beer flows like water, an intoxicated German is rarity. While bubbling over with good nature, and at times almost rollicking, they keep within bounds of rational enjoyment. These gath erings which are so common among our Ger man citizens are productive of good. They bring together people who have left the fatherland and are henceforth to be American citizens. They bring together the foreign born and the native born, and they see the dividing line of wiped out and merged in the name American, which they are proud to and proud to call themselves. Of all who go to make up our population none make better citizens than do the Ger mans. They are intelligent, industrious and temperate. They love our free institutions and aim to become Americanized, while re- taining all the clements of social life which them at home.