The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-24

adoption as we'll as love for the colln- try which they left was the keynote of the exercises at the first Slovenian national concert in this city held last evening in St Johns hall corner of Jane and Pembroke streets, in honor Of the birthday of George Washing ton
 bers Of St. Johns Roman Catholic church in East Bridgeport attended the exercises as well as number Of others attracted by the music.
 Two chodrs took part in the concert. one the St. Ceclly choir of the church, of the parish, and the other of school children. It is dif1cult to say which received the most applause. Under the leadership of Richard c. ChIadek, the St. CecIIy choir sang one of tn 2 conductors owu numbers. .Odpadlo by MT. ChIadek, gave very happily four of the Slovenian national airs. Amer ica. r and the The Spangled Banner. being aided in these by the entire audience.
 EgEATFRES OF PROGRAM
 sololsta Of the evening were Miss Rose Krdvy, a sweet voiced soprano. who chose as her selections .Kuku- ffenka Kuka', and in English, 70
 
 baritone. who sang Slovenian ballad and The Last F'areweds' very suc- cessfulfy
 One Of me features or the evening was the playing Of the Symphony or- chestrn under Conductor Chla,dek This body of musicians rendered very creditably a number of selections which were we'll received.
 Mayor Clifford W. Wilson spoke ear " in the evening in a. vein Congratu- latory Of the work being done by the Rev. Andrew H Kornara and his as- Of the Slavoniaus of Bridgeport.
 FATHER Ko11ARA,s ADDRESS.
 Father Ko1nara spoke feelingly, first in the SEavonian tongue and later in sEnglish, of patriotism and good citi-s zenship. two quail lihcations which. he declared, were exernplihed in the life Of the Father of his country Hds ad- dress follows:
 FIRST CONCERT OF SIOVAKS.
 This evening we witness the first concert of the sloyaks of Bridgeport. Gathered in this magnificent hall Of their own is a Slovak people who esa1i- grated to our shores from their am cestra1 homes in far-on Europe Home. indeed, 1t WAS to them and to their fathers for age, but 1t did not satisfy their ambition to advance upward and onward.
 Liberty they had learned to love but could not taste it's sweetness. Ad- vancenent they looked for bat could not escape poverty Intellect rose to grasp higher things but the struggle to keep body and soul together gave. little opportunity for cultivation Of the mind.
 etSo leaving their homes. their beau tifuI country where faith has been = =f<<z 1-~-1E IL God has ever remained the same where the pressure of Magyar selfish ness tried to crush the spirit of their fatheTsthey have turned 10 this Western land to seek liberty and op- portunity denied them in the home that had for ages been their own
 FOUND A NEW HOME
 sIere in our midst the citizens Of this beloved city have been synpathe- tic witnesses of the struggle and the progress of the SIovaks. Many have prospered, adhering strictly to the way of rigid honesty. They are rapidly adapting themselves to the manner of life about them. and their children are given the birthright of natives of the saiL
 aIn short, the slovak people came here to enrich as we'll as to be enrich ed; they came, indeed. to ask from America the best that it could give them but only in return for the best that they could give to the land of their adoption. And those who ever remain loyal to their faith and the traditional honesty of their fathers re- joice in the neW-found liberty and have greatest respect for the laws of God.
 ALL CAN EMULATE WASHINGTON.
 And this people, with history writ ten in blood and tears. are rendering as well as participating tonight in honor of him who made it possible for them to enjoy that liberty and use that opportunity. in honor of him whose birthday we celebrate today George Washington.
 1T am sure that there is not one heart here tonight but feels the sense of deep gratitude, love and devotion to the father of our country. Today every thinking person must feel a throb of patriotism as he gazes at the past history, and sees therein that the charter of civil rigIlt--we enjoy is seal ed in the laeart-b1ood of thousands upon thousands of loyal sons who died upon the battIeheIds of the Republic, that the stars and stripes might wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave
 ALL CAN EMULATE WASHINGTON.
 Paying. then, the homage of our deepest gratitude to those who strug- g1ed and b1ed for us in the past, this day affords for us a lesson rather than eulogy. It inspires us with desire to initiate rather than simply to admire the virtues and self sacrifice of those in the past. For we all have oppor- tunities to become another Washing ton in the sense, that we all, in a more or less degree, can render our fi1ial service to our country similar to his. rTNr@1r0 fez 1aox <Ja %,< ~1-k nor dangers to undergo as he had. Thank God, our country at present is not in any imminent danger from witho out, but we must not forget that Washington has laid for. us a founda- ton only, and it is for us, for each one of us. in every generation, to build up and to give our share of finishing tr,,1cIans