The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-10-26
KIRMESS AT THE ARMORY
SPLENDID ENTERTAINMENT FOR
 CHARITY BENEFIT.

0e~S @NNAsosACS oA AAao NANS NA pC |
 fitted by the EnterprIss-ExceIIene of
 Programme AssuEed-Citizsns NiH
 Doubtless Attend in Large Numbers. |,
 The KiFmess for the benefit of the Day | nurseries, which is to be given at the state armory on Meadow street on ths evenings 1 of November 3, 1, 5, 6 and ', with matinees i Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Satur- | day, promises to be rare treat, and as the | funds secured are to be devoted to a most | worthy cause it is certain that there will 1 be very generous outpouring of the public | of the city and in consequence the eoffers l of the several nurseries which are to be the 1 benefctar'es will be substantially replen- ished.
 Arrangements are fast being completed, 1 and by the time of the first presentation perfection will be attained seldom known in amateur productions. This is due to the careful and able, management of those in charge of the instruction of the partici- pants. Their work is being done thoroughly
 and well, and especial attention is being
 paid to details, which is always a guarantee
 of success. Miss Agnes Stewart, of Middle | town, N. Y., is the skillful directress of the entire affair. '.- t:| | It is not amiss to give brief sketch of | the Day nursery work in New Haven.
 The first Day nursery, the Leila, was
 started twenty years ago last March by five | or six ladies, who felt that New Haven cer- tainly ought to have one or more such
 places where poor women, who were oblig-
 ed to support themselves, could leave their children in safety while they went out to work. At first one good-sized room was
 hired for the purpose at 64 William street, \ where for long time only four or five chi- | dren were brought daily. But little by lit-
 tie, as it became known among the poor I people that there was such q thing as | Day nursery, the numbers steadily increas- | ed. In August, 1887, the society was ineor- 5j porated under the name of the Mothers Aid
 society, Under such name it could, in ad- dltion to the Day nursery, add any branch ! of work that would in. any way help poor women, and 1t soon did add an intelligence department, by which the first year of it's l existence ce-18SS -twenty-four women got em- 5l ployment, while in the year from May, 1902, to May, 1903, between the Leila and the Hops nurseries, 13059 days work were pro cured for different women. Owing to the llbemlity of its many friends in addition to pose, the Mothers Aid society raised enough money with which, in 1885, to pur-
 chase the house 69 Greene street, where the
 Leila nursery now is.
 It was through the generous and unsolc-
 tied gift of the then unknown donor, Mrs. T Oliver F. Winchester, that the society was
 enabled, in 1894, to purchase I house in a
 different part of the city, 107 Hill street, in
 which It established the Hope nursery. While the Mothers Aid society owns the
 buildings in which the two Day nurseries
 are, it has to rely largely ons the generosity
 of the public, which has never thus far
 failed it, for the means of supporting them \ from year to year.
 The board of managers is composed of the , following: President. Mrs. J. B. Sargent;
 first yicepresident Mrs. George F North3 second vice-president, Mrs. M. F. Tyler;
 treasurer, Miss Lima M. Phipps; secretary Miss Theodora Van Nama; Corresponding
 secretary, Mrs. K j.. Kingsbury, jr.; Mrs s. D, Bowers, Miss Mabel Bradley, Mrs E. M Clark, Mrs Henry E. English, Mrs. Otto
 Ramsay, Mrs Lynde Harrison Miss Fran
 ces Hall, Mrs. John M. Hall, Mrs. Henry s. Parmelee, Mrs. Leo Herz, Miss Hesse Mitch ell, Miss |. A: Reed, Mrs c. r. Dickerman, , Mrs. Isham Henderson, Mrs. "A. E. MorTell,
 Miss Robertson. Miss Terry Miss Towner, Mrs James D, Wheeler. Mrs. Henry War ner, Miss Whitney, Miss Winchester, Mrs.
 c. Robinson and Miss Julia Parmelee.
 . STORY OF THE KIRMESS.
 : The Kirmess is an old German festival, < during which 1t was the custom of young
 and old, the peasants and the nobility, to l indulge in public amusement with absolute , freedom. 6g
 ! "A young girl, while preparing for the fes. :. tiyal, hears serenade and throws a rose : from the window. She then rehearses a
 dance planned for the entertainment of the
 royalty. This is carried out by the as ], sfstance of a friend With the aid of the : false mirror two girls are seen Instead one. i Upon the entrance of the serenaders the | trick is discovered Then follows the dance of the Troubadours, and the curtain falls
 upon the group of merry dancers. to rise
 again upon the magnificent tableau of the : Kirmess with it's grand procession and its s bright attractive dances - 2 The Klrmess, or church fair, derives its 2 name from the old word Kirchmesse, mean s ing "Church-ale,a referring to that portion n of the brew and yintage given as a tithe
 | to the churches.
 . In the middle ages, the annual fair was : held in the open place above the village Q Kirmess to another with their goods fol ' sale. In process of time, the old Kirmes: , lost its distlnctively commercial character a and assumed that of merry-makng, Tht - and was so applied by the people of Spain t France and Italy to any festivity, bazaar ol n entertainment which gave pleasure to tn ' populace. Puritan America, ever ready t $ has revived and idealized the purest mos 7, beautiful and most graceful features of tht 7 festivals of the middle ages, and uses it ?, merry-makfng for the accomplishment O a I good.
 The floor committee will be: Samuel A
 York, chairman; Amos F. Barnes, Franl W G.. P. Barnes, Frank l.. Bigelow. James K \ Blake, Bertram B. BoItwood, Edward M v Bradley. Frederick E.. Chase Harry G 1T Day, Oliver Day, Osborne A. Day. Samue e H. Fisher. Nathan B. Fitch, Yandell Hen <, derson, Stuart Hotchkiss, John Day Jack son. Dean B. Lyman, Alfred K. Merritt l. George H. Nettleton. Henry F. Parmelee j. John K. Punderford William A. Rice, Ed . ward k. Sargent, Louis F. Stoddard, Her F' " Fl. Townshend, Raynham TOwnshend IT Hayes Q. Trowbridga Eliot Watrous r. James D. Wheeler, William H. Wurtenbere
 l Charles H. Zimmerman,
 Military committees: Col, Theodore H
 Sucher chairman; Commander Fred. ! l Ayerill, Major Charles r. McCabe. Maio II. John c. Tilson, Major Albert M. Johnson U Lieut.. Earl H. Hotchkiss, Capt. Jerome
 Donovan, Capt. Frank. Pauly, Capt. Ed st ward 0. Gruener, Capt Ernest l.. Isbel io Lieut.. Robert G. Morley Capt. Geo. I e Hall Capt. Luzerne Luddington. Cap 'I William H. Sears, Lieut.. John K. Murphy d Executive committee in charge of Xxi .e mess: Chairman, Mrs. George P. Nortl
 secretary, Mrs. George B. Adams; corr,
 spending secretary. Mrs. George L. Dicke to man; treasurer, Mrs Lima w. PhiDp d assistants, Mrs. Mary M Whitney, Mr m Henry F. English, Mrs Chalfant Robinson ~ Press committee: Chairman. Mrs: Charlt IS Whittlesey Pickett; Miss Mitchell, MT as Lucke, Mrs. S. F. Barry.
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 SPENT SUNDAY AT HOME. a, The recent change in the schedule (