The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-25
SINGING THOUSANDS
DRILL FOR CROWNS.
A TOTchliSht Army to Usher in Its
SOn6 Festival by PdTading.
Six Thousand in One Chorus-Songs
and Men That win Render the Com
ing SaenPerfest Historical.

middle ages spent lifetime in attempt
ing to organize a song army. 1t was TO
contain thousands of soldiers who were to
parade through the world singing songs
as they went. The monk failed He said
such an army was an impossibility.
But such an army will come to New
York in Jlue 1t will hold the city for a
week. 1t will number is, coo men and its
campaign will comprise parades, drills
ana songs. One hundred thousand dol
lars is 2 small estimate of the cost of all
this, for each man among these legions
viii spend much on his own account and
a single committee among the many now
preparing for the festival has $4,000.
The seventeenth national saengerfest
OF the United States is the official desig-
nation of the occasion. The vocal par
tlclpants will come from states north of
Virginia and east of Ohio, but the auXil-
iarles are TO represent every place in the
republic in which the E'atherland has a
turner a sharr shooter or uniformed
affiliate. There is an additional incentive
in the fact that this viii be the first time
in twenty-five years that New York has
been the scene of such effort. All Ger
man America is making ready.
The song drills will be in Madison
Square Garden. The platform now build
ing at a cost of 81 900 will hold 5,0G0 sing
ers drawn up in military lines with song
enblems and international bunting as a
fesLoOned background. The hosts OF the
occasion are to be the united singing So
cleties Of New York city and the honorary
committee tapart from the committee on
invitation anq reception of the President
of the United States}, includes Gov.
Roswell p. Flower, Mayor Thomas f.
Gilroy, Col George B. Mcclellan,
Gen. Horace Porter, George J. Gould,
Edward Cooper, ADram s. Hewitt, Viii
Liam Il. Grace, Oswald OttendOrfer,
Mayor Schieren, of Brooklyn, George
Ghret, Col John A. COckerill and num-
erous others as eminent and every one of
whom has already accepted the
honor in writing. There is, of course. an
active committee, upon whom the real Ia
Dor Will dcvOlYe, ana the men on it are
William Steinway, Charles @. r Wahle,
two of the most prominent German Amer
leans in the country. Commissioner of
Emigration SenueF Felix SdhWartLchild
and Richard H. Adams. The two direc-
tors general are Heinrich Zoellner, direc-
tor of the New York Licderkranz. and
Leader Van der SJucken. The songs, by
the way, will be in German and in Eng
lish, the oIening grand chorus being an
invocation, Hail Columbia," ARRANGED by
MIR Van der Stucken.
1t should be promised that in the gov
ernment of the festival William Stein
way, who is honorary president of the
occasion, and Richard hatzeumayer, the
active president, will have the co-opera-
ton Of a parliament of delegates from
every singing society which takes part
These delegates meet at frequent inter
walls and are now filling in details in the
programme
Advance extracts from this programme
are given below but as individuality is
always subOrdinatcd1to the society as an
entity, it follows that the prestige i'm
parted by prize winning viii not rebound
to the honor OF any single individual but
TO the fame Of the particular society.
Thus among the prizes are many song
crowns and wreaths which, intrlnsically
of no great value, are highly esteemed as
evidences OF distinction by the societies
which get them. Another prize is an i'm
mcnso bust Of Beethoven. Tor distinction
in the chorus. Several pianos will also be
awarded.
The general public will be appraised of
the Inauguration of the affair by the pa
rade of Friday night, June ~. On
that evening there will be a torchlight
procession Of nearly 10000 mon, all bear
ing torches and drilling to the time of
the songs they will sing The route Of
this demonstration will be made known
week in advance, but it
will doubtless be along Broadway
and part of III fifth avenue. The head
quarters OF the festival are TO be at the
Terrace garden, on Fifty-eig.th street,
and the New York societies, such rs the
AriOu and the Licderkrdnz, viii have tri-
umphal arches constructed nsar Madison
Square Garden, and will arrange for dis
plays of bunting. The marshal of the
parade will be Gen. Franz Sigcl
Perhaps the best idea OF the scale on
which the numbers on the programme, as
given Celow, will be performed can beob-
tanned by stating the amounts already APP
propriated for the various items Of ex-
penditure The prizes will cost S.. 600 The
committee on music, headed by Theodore
Keller and Richard Katzenmayer, will
expend $4,000 atleast. The printing will
cost $4,000; $4,000 will be spent on the
parade, for there will be mounted squads
horn solos and choruses, 60 say nothing Of
the singing and uniforms. These uni
forms, by the way, are simple, the New
England men having the mere blouse and
belt, with cap, and the others at1iring
themselves in SLOUGH hats or headdress,
while plain insignia win distinguish the
various organizations. The outside socie-
ties nave made special appropriations for
such special features as they may pre-
pare. The Grpheus sOcisty of Buffalo
has made an allowance of 81 900 in this
way, and there are the bands all through
the country which are spending from
81 900 10 s., 900 on their own account.
1t is an interesting question at present
as to whether President Cleveland will
be able TO attend A special committee,
bearing the parchment invitation, will
visit him personally at the end Of March,
and it is beloved that Mr.. Cleveland's
known partiality TO vocal melody will in
duce him 20 come over for a dav-proba-
bly, June a. The gentlemen who will
bear the invitation are Commissioner
Charles c. f. Wahle, Richard Katzen.
mayer, Richard II. Adams and Commits
siOner Of Immigration Joseph r.. Senner
A word about the practice now going
on. Each of the participating societies
meets regularly, and there are allotted
sections. so to speak. Of the chOruses to
be rendered, according to the part the
particular society will have in each BY
remem bering that it is the excellence Of
one society as a whole, instead OF mere
individual prC-eminence, that tells a
clearer idea of what the song festival will
be can be derived. In a body of
5000 singers-the largest chorus ever
heard in this conntry-it would DO impos-
sible to pick out individuals by any
method of selection. although as the out
line below SHOWS, there is provisions for
solo work. The distribution Of the chorus
is such that 500 men will take up a strain
where saw 600 have left il off and the