The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-24
ANNUAL MASQUE BALL
THE MAENNERCHOR SOCIETY DANCE
AN ENJOYABLE AFFAIR.
Beautiful Decorations and Incandes-
cent Lights Feature-Some
Of the Costumes.


picture presented as that last night when.
in addition to about 500 costumed dancers.
there were decorations of a character sell
dom seen in any similar affair. The occa-
sion was the annual masque ball given
by the Maennerchor to its members and
friends, and although the night was a
bad one so far as weather was concerned,
1t did not affect the brilliancy OF the cos
tunes nor the spirit OF the occasion. The
decorations OF the building were worthy
OF special mention, beginning as they did
with the characteristic draperies at the
street door and covering every portion
of the building. Everything was intended
TO promote mirth and good feeling, and
that IL succeeded was evidenced by the
smiles Of those present. The noticeable
feature of the hall decorations was a
throne on which a fool was seated in
magnificent chair. the arms of which were
Enthusiastically shaped dolphins from whose
eyes. noses and mouths alternate flashes of
red and green electric lights were emitted.
To the left of the throne was bank of
ferns and palms. over which was a
dressed as fool.
In the hall above the effect was beau
tiful. On the north wall was a scene hav-
ing the effect of showing the Grand canal
Of Venice and overlooking several points
of interest in that city of water. The best
Fart of the beauty of this scene was lost
when the innumerable lights in the room
were turned on, but in the half light be-
fore the dancing began the effect was
realistic in the extreme. On the west wall
was a scene showing an opening into a
garden overlooking Naples. This, too. was
beautiful. The stage was fitted up for the
musicians in imitation of the gardens of
the Villa Borghese at Rome during the
time Of the cardinal While the various
scenes formed a beautiful picture. the room
looked little like ballroom until nearly
500 incandescent lights were turned on
with the first strains Of the music, and
then 1t was a blaze of beauty.
Several humorous features were intro
duced before the grand march began. the
principal one being a burlesque on the
Boer army, in which the leading charac-
tiers In the war were taken by well-known
Indianapolis men. First came Paul Krauss
as General Joubert and II. G. G.. Balls as
General Cronje prancing on hobby horses.
great amusement of those present for
few minutes they led the rest of the Boer
army out into the open, with Dom Paul
Kruger, in the person of Charles Kotte-
man, between them smoking a long Hol-
land pipe. Following these distinguished
officers came the privates, as follows:
Otto N. Frenzel, Harry Bauer, Ed Hoff-
meyer, William Leppert, Gus Mueller, +. c.
Krauss and William Off. Then came the
hospital ambulance and the surgeon, the
latter being F. kotteman, walking beside
a Kaffir. who in ordinary life is called
Tony Balls. In the ambulance were two
Miss Cora Goetz.
HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Then came the heavy artillery in the
shape of diminutive Fourth Of July can
non on the end Of string held by big Otto
Levison. Bringing up the rear was a news
boy selling copies of "The Boer Kriegs-
Ruff" containing the latest accounts Of the
war in the Board Of Safety's domain.
Finally. after the Boer army had marched
until 1t was weary, 1t retreated In consid-
cradle disorder to the lemonade stand and
the grand march began. with the floor COM
mittee consisting OF Robert Martindale, w.
w. Knight, Albert Off, Julius Burckhart,
7 NJ Goodloe, George B. Elliott. Armin
lead. All the committee were dressed In
white satin court costumes of the period of
Louis XVI. Following came the Hobo
Band" male and female, consisting of
Emil SteinhaIber, C. III. Adam. Victor Jose,
r. NJ. Mueller, Fred Mueller, DR.. A. G.
Reyer, Theo. Reyer and j. w. Rhodhamel
The female portion Of the band, which in
itself constituted a drum corps, was COM
posed of the wives OF the above musicians
AS they played on kazoos attached to dis
reputable-looking brass horns 1t may be
imagined that noise was plentiful. Then
came some castle Guards" of the medic
val period. Among them were some who
would be called Amazons in this day, but
they were the wives and relatives of the
guards and dressed after the same fashion
adopted by their companions. The party
was composed Of Ed Dittrich, William
Grieb, John Mahl, w. III. Leupen, Miss
Anna Bernd. Mrs. William Grieb, Miss
came "Sousa's Band" composed of Frank
Baden, George Strabel, George Schmidt
Emil Schmidt. Ben Guedelhoefer, Oscar
Jose. William Wagner and Edward Cubel.
OTHERS IN COSTUME.
Then came the. two rival Uncle Sans In
z. F. Moore and John Rauch, and follow
ing them came a party Of female reapers
in German costume. They were: Mes
danes George Borst, Christian Wiese,
julius Burkhardt, Harry Bauer. August
Kuhn. George Richards and Miss Lena
Fertig.
Following this came an indiscriminate
array of fantastic jewellers, filling the floor
so that it was with difficulty that the
grand march could be executed.
Among the notable costumes seen were
the following: John Frenzel, as Wang;
j. j. Stanley, as a Chinese mandarin; Fred
Francke, as a French professor: Albert
Lieber, as a stork; Frank Bellinger as a
courtfer; Mrs. 7. NJ. Weiss, as a witch:
Ernest Zeigler, as a German carpenter
With him were Carl Gieke and Otto Bush
ms, as tailor and shoemaker. respective
ly. Mrs. Henry Jameson and Mrs w. NJ.
Churchman were dressed as Greek women
while Mrs. Frank Bellinger was attired as
a court dame of the Bourbon monarchy.
One OF the best costumes, in its originality
and treatment was that OF Miss Augusta
Jameson, who posed as Trilby.
Fred Mack and Henry Roebke swaggered
around In the guise of flash gents from
the far West" George Shafer looked funny
IN an Elfzabethan courtier's costume. while
w. G. Manifold created great amusement
| in his character OF a colored wench Judge
| Alexander G. Ayers lost some OF his usual
dignity while dancing as an ancient Greek
| priest, wiiile Otto Ehrgott played pranks
| In his character of a gawky schOolboy
Miss Amelia Waterman looked striking in
| the costume of a French admiral, while her
| two sisters, Misses Clara and Rose, were
attired as Japanese maidens. Miss Earla
Bowers was captivating as a dancing girl,
with ribbons galore and tinkling tambou-
rine. George De Luce and John H Undine
| were funny as Irish hod carriers, with
| the hods on their shoulders and clay pipes
| In their mouths.
There were many other beautiful CO.'S
| character usually found at high-class
4 mask halls The rnernherS of tho racaptior