Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1915-05-08
WILL SING MESSIAH TWICE
Pittsburg Making Preparations for
Big Musical Festival During First
Week in May

of9 tU0StSdf CSliNdt Ddfin9 Ok
Week in May
May music festival is to be given
at the State Manual Training School
at Pittsburg the week of May g. Two
renditions of The Messiah are to
form the climax of the festival
Prof Walter McCray. head of the de-
partment of music, has been preparing
for the production of 1.-The Messiah
all during the present year. He will
present the famous Handel oratorio
the night of Thursday, May 6, and will
repeat the rendition the next night
There will be one hundred and fifty
voices in the chorus. Twenty-Five mu-
sicians will compose the orchestra
Miss Gertrude Concannon of Kansas
City and Miss Rhetia Hesselberg of
Joplin, pianist and yiolinist, both mem
bers of the faculty of the music de-
partment of the normal, will appear in
the renditions.
Nine Iva Bigelow Weaver, Milwau-
kee soprano, will be one of the SOLO
lists Ella Van Huff of Kansas City
will sing the contralto parts of the
oratorio. Otto Booker will be the ten
or soloist and ]. D. Barker, jr., young
Kansas artist, now studying in Chi
cago, will carry the barytone parts
Professor McCray. who is serving
his first year as head of the normaTs
music department. is determined to
make THE Messiah" an annual event
for the music lovers of this corner of
Kansas He served at Lindsborg I'M
der Samuel Thorstenburg, the great
oratorio director, for two seasons, and
he has directed productions of THE
Messiah" elsewhere.
Fine Wheat Prospect.-According
to farmers from Western Kansas who
have been in Salina recently this
spring is the first year in many that
in the blown districts the surface of
the ground has failed to rise up and
wander around promiscuously over the
prairies in March and April. This
year in portions of Cove, Thomas. Lo-
gan and Sheridan counties, where the
drifting of soil has caused much loss
in previous years, the surface is lying
perfectly still and raising wheat. The
twelve inches OF snow and the four
inches of rain since the first of De-
cember throughout the western coun-
ties have thoroughly soaked the soil
so that it can not blow, and has made
the sub-soi1 wet several feet deep.
Never before have conditions been as
good as at present, and the wheat
crop is even better now than a year
ago. Because of the wet soil during
March and early April only small guam
titles of oats have been sown. but the
farmers say there will be plenty of
alfalfa to take the place of the oats
The oats ground will be planted to
corn
Cheated the Prison.-Rather than
go to the penitentiary under life
sentence, Walter o. Mullins. wealthy
retired farmer. who was convicted in
| the Wabaunsee county district court
| two years ago on the charge of hirin g
a man to kill Anthony King, a restau-
rant keeper, at Alta Vista. killed him
self in lonely spot on country road
near Junction City. recently. The
suicide was as premeditated as was
\ the crime which he was charged with
| melting, and it was executed after a
| night filed with thrills both to him
| self. his family and the officers of
Geary county
| Woman Dies at 102-Mary Kane,
1O2 years old. is dead at Parsons. fol-
| lowing an illness of two months
Prior to that it had been her boast
that she was never i'll a day in her
| life
| X \
To Enlarge SchooI.-At a meeting
/ of the board of directors of Friends
university at Wichita a movement to
secure a 100000 endowment to add
to $250.0o0 endowment fund was
launched
/
concordia Newspaper change-Linn
W. Bloom has sold his interest IN the
| Daily Blade and Weekly Empire to his
| partner. Ray Green Mr. Bloom ex-
poets to remain in Concordia. where
| he has other interests He came to
/ Concordia from a Topeka newspaper
in 1909.
| u
A Garnett Pioneer Dead.-WiIliam
| Davis. 50 years old. is dead at Garrett.
| He went there in 1869 He leaves two
| sons and two daughters living in Gar