The age-herald., 1899-04-11
THE NEWS AND
 GOSSIP OF SOCIETY BeneftConcert "Wednesday Even- ing for Miss FaIIon. MEETINGFL0RAL COMMITTEE Club Cotillons and Receptions for This Week Noble Women Will Dedi-
 cate the Mercy Home
 Personal Notes.
MEETINGFLORAL COMMITTEE

The concert for Miss Alice Fallon which will be given tomorrow evening at OBrien's opera house will bring out society in large numbers. The programme which has been arranged for the occasion is brilliant one, and number of wellknown people will be heard. The tickets for the concert are sell ing rapidly and the event will be one of un. usual interest in musical circles. Miss Fall Ions friends are ambitious for her to pur- sue her musical studies, either in the east or abroad and they are leaving no stone unturned for the success of the concert. Birmingham has recognized in hers voice of almost unrivaled sweetness and strength, and the public knows full well that Miss Fallon has upon so many occa- sions lent her efforts towards the success of concerts for charity and for other pur- poses, so that fitting tribute to her tal- ents and unsefshness would be a thor oughly crowded theater at her concert to- morrow evening.
 The May Festival is being discussed very generally in society and the rehearsals are regarded as the most important events in the social calendar. The chorus, which number 800 people, Is said to be magnificent, which is not matter of surprise to the public, who are familiar with the superb tra aning of MT. Guckenberger. He has not an equal as a chorale master and it is un- necessary to say that the May Festival chorus in his hands will in itself be alone worth the price of admission. The chorus work in the oratorios, which were given under MT. Guckenburgers direction, was a popular theme for weeks afterward, and increased the public desire for other oppor- tunities to emphasize MT. Guckenburger's remarkable power as a master in the work of training a great chorus.
 The May Festival will at once mark an epoch in musical annals.
 The trend of society is toward everything that is musical, and the Easter season will be more ideal in consequence. There have been several social affairs postponed until the festival season, so eager is society for that week to be made a memorable one. The production of the ever popular operae Martha" will alo be an event in rfasntoaa- ble circles. MT. Will ans, of the Apollo club, is conducting thesrehearsals and will give the most beautiful production that has ever been <seen in this city. As is well known he has engaged Mrs. Lavretta, of Mol le. to sing the title role She has been -ieard frequently in Birmingham, and her appearance here is always the signal for an ovation. The Birmingham party who were in Mobile the past week had the pleasure of hearing Mrs. Lavretta sing She was looking unusually well and was extremely handsome in a black and green toilette that she wore on this occasion. She was probably never in better voice, and her Birmingham friends were very generous in their applause. As an encore she gave that delightful lullaby which she sang on the occasion of her visit here last winter, at what was regarded as the most successful concert in the history of the Apollo club MT. Thatcher, of Chicago, who will have the tenor role In Martha" Is one of the celebrities in the musical world. He is coming south to bd some friends goodbye before he sails for Europe and MT. Will Hams took advantage of his journey and appropriated him for the tenor role in Martha" MT. Thatcher is remembered by a few Birmingham people who met him last summer at Waukeshau. Society is eagerly anticipating the production of Martha, knowing that MT. Williams will present 1t. with all his accustomed care to details. There is surely no one in the musical set who possess a greater delicacy of percep- ton and a sense of all that Is high and noble in music, and also the power of di- recting others to express it than MT. Williams.
 The trousseaus of the New York brides at Eastertide have been read with a great deal of interest by the girls who were ar- ranging their own wedding gowns. One of the smartly attired wedding parties was that of Detroit bride In which Birming- ham was much interested. Miss Quinby who was married the past week to MT. De Funiac, of Birmingham, 1t is sad wore one of the richest of bridal gowns It was of heavy white duchess satin, fashioned with very long train and garniture of deep point lace. The bodice was finished with yoke of point lace with a collar of satin and pearls. girdle of pearls confined the waist and fell to the front edge of the skirt. She wore vail of tulle, fastened with a wreath of orange blossoms, and carried bouquet of lilies and orchids.
 Miss Evelyn Quinby, the maid of honor, wore a gown of pink satin with tunic of pink velvet The bridesmaids wore gowns alike of white satin. with tunics of pink crepe de chine, garnitured with lace. The bodices of pink crepe were trimmed with lace and finished with pink velvet.
 The bridesmaids and maid of honor all carried shower bouquets of pink roses and wore picturesque hats faced with pink satin The square crowns were covered with folds of white tulle and were trim med with a bow of white taffeta, with in- sertions of lace. and a bird of paradise The decorations at the brides home formed a beautiful back ground for the wedding party. The drawing room and parlors were decorated in pink and green, and in the dining room, which had been built for the occasion. and where we'd ding supper was served, the walls were hung with white and the ceiling studded with incandescent lights The frieze was bordered with ropes of smilax and in numerable garlands of smilax were carried from the center of the ceiling 10 the sides | of the wall. where they were fashioned in | double bowknots. The tab'e was 3ecoSated | with ba skets of white roses and lilies. l Tho favors were small baskets of tulle. | with tulle bow fastened the handle l with growing lilies of the valley.