The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-06-17
nv EnEDEI,Ir 4. HAsl<1y.

lead to indianapolis. That place will
be tile centre or tic musical map for
4 several days. out OF the East and tho
/ West, the North and the South, have
come saenserrbunders.. tifty thousand
e pars IN the sreal fest
to join their voices IN singing the old
! songs that have Inspired their millions
IN America and In the Tatherland.
! More than I'D singing societies. mailing
| from come thirty cities Will be present
TO compete for tile prizes and 10 take
/ part IN the good cheer of the occa-
sion The New York symphony Or
| chesira. with its one hundred highly
|! trained male voices. IL the nucleus
| around which tile vast volume Of har-
nlopy made by thousands OF voices.
VIII gather. In addition there will be
singers Of International reputation.
such as Schumann- Heink. to take part
In the. exercises, which VIII last for
! several days.
constitute the grand choruses, and
| there VIII also be chorus of some
! 5000 school children from the public
/ schools OF indianapolis. who We're d.
! rlded into fifteen sections and specially
! trained for the work by competent In
/ structors The main exercises viii be
| held In the big coliseum. which has a
seating capacity OF about 1000. over
| ductor of the indianapolis fest. 1t was
! his father, DR.. Leopold Damrosch. who
or: the New York symphony
famous musical organizations IN the
country. Other prominent conductors
/ Of orchestral music Will also be on
hand TO assist him in Leading the
| A million dollars for three days OF
+! music might be the title OF this story.
| for that Is what II will cost, If not
more Estimating the average excenses
1 nj ~
| this is an under-estimate--it means
that II Will cos: them a milllol dol
lars to be there. n the average dis
| tance Travelled is one hundred niles, ii
VIII mean that 100000 miles have
been gone over by the sacngerfest
visitors. one OF the most interesting
features of the fes, Will be the forest
| festival, to be held in Germania Park
at the close OF the meeting Here
thousands upon thousands OF people.
all loyal American citizens. yet tracing
a common heritage back to the Gather
land, viii meet together. and German
| dishes viii be eaten. healths viii be
pledged in German drinks, German
songs Will be sung. and German tales
VIII be told. Here one will witness
what no other country can see--5 q, 900
people gathered together. each loving
his native land and his own people,
but al true and loyal citizens or an
adopted country.
In fact. these saens erfests are trib-
utes to the Fa,heriand. Wherever
there are Germans-and there are some
twenty million of us who are Of Ger
love the songs OF the land from
whence they came. No other nation.
| unless 1t be Italy. has as much music
to the square inch In its makeup as
transplants himself upon the American
shore. he never forgets the songs he
used to sing. They are kept alive in
his hear, and In his memory, and are
Ii n tn n hi 1rav ar1 HI
chiidren's children. Hence, the Ger
man-American finds himself in class
all by himself in the perpetuation of
the songs OF the land from whence he
man musical clubs in tho United
States where there is one OF any other
recruiting ground OF the nation.
Whether they be turnvereins. saenSer-
bunds, mannerchors. or by whatever
name they are called-they all repre-
sent the same devotion to the songs
of fthe. Fatherland and the same deter
IMITATION to keep them green In their
memories and to hand them down to
their posterity
The first saengerfest ever held was
that at Wurzburg, Bavaria, in 1915.
Singers from all parts OF the German
cmpre gathered there. and patriotism
ran high and overfiowed. So success
I, a,a was the event ,.na that others were
followed suit: with their first fest at
Cincinnati. There We're five cities rep
resented. and some fifteen choruses. IT
was not as large an affair, BY any
but 1t was voted great success. and
since then there have been thirty
tests sometimes occurring annually
and sometimes skipping several years.
can saenserbund was held in st. Louis,
in 1908. It was intended to hold It
during the Worlds Fair, but tile fair
was postponed year. In order to have
the fest was held a year before the
exposition.
On that occasion there were some
$4,000 people In attendance, and about
school children took part. One of the
features of the occasion was the trip
through famous st. Louis brewery.
Realing that most of the bunders are
down to brew that is said to have
eclipsed anything that they had ever
tasted, even IN the Fatherland. One
the slgh,s Of the fest was the Mark
Ohio contingent. t was beer pitcher
made to resemble the head OF the late
Senator from Ohio. The likeness Of
1t was carried in the parade. it was
recognized by every one who had ever
seen Senator Hanna. Louisville was
on hand on this occasion with some
of that pleasant. stuff labeled MADE inI
going bunder was allowed to get
away without an opportunity to sample
it. That city Is also expected to turn
out strong force Of singers this
week, and to send along sample OF
the cup that cheers.
II is estimated that the German mu-
steal organizations of one kind and
another in the United States have q
membership Of a quarter of a million.
Most of them are men. In addition toI
those organizations, represented in the
North American Saengerbund there
are many which give allegiance to the
Northeastern saengerbund. One Of the
prizes of this organization is a twenty
thousand dollar statue Of Witnessing
err presented by the Emperor Of Ger
many, At the last meeting OF thel
Northeastern saengerbund, held in
Baltimore. President Roosevelt and
man ambassador went g 6 over to R ;
This is. believed to have been the only
occasion ii the l,istoryl1of either organ
United States attended one Of their
were being brought together to bel
trained Tor the fest. the managers sent