Stock Exchange: Vocal and Gustavus Hall Concert

“The members of the Stock Exchange are noted for their eccentricities. Let a newly-elected member or a noted visitor enter, and he will receive pretty much the same sort of initiation that a green sailor gets when he first crosses the line; or if an old members makes his appearance with a new straw hat, he is pretty certain to undergo an ordeal of ridicule which will put his good humor to no ordinary test. Occasionally the programme is varied by an impromptu concert. A dozen jolly fellows will strike up some familiar air; and hardly is the first line sung, when a lusty chorus of forty or fifty voices rises, strikes the ceiling in resonant echo, and fills the entrance with rolling melody.

“There is no interruption to business. Everything goes on as before. Lake Shore, Erie, Central, or whatever may be the leading feature, is bought and sold with the same frantic energy, amid and above the sound of the swelling harmony, as though nothing out of the ordinary routine of business were taking place. Indeed, now and then a most interested singer will chop a word in two in the middle of a line, and bolting out of the throng of choristers will rush down and shout, ‘I’ll take that!’ in response to some offer his ever open ear has caught. And there are some magnificent voices among them, and their time is excellent.

“The immediate cause of demonstration was the visit to the Exchange of Mr. Gus Hall, a tenor of the Parepa-Rosa troupe. It was at once proposed that some singing be had; and among such men as there congregate propositions seldom go long unchallenged.”

[Lists singers.]

“The concert was opened with ‘My Country ’tis of Thee,’ Mr. Gus Hall leading in the air, and ably supported by Mr. R. B. Hail as basso profundo. Next to the above, Mr. Crommelin was perhaps the most marked person in the company. He was faultlessly attired in light pantaloons, a claret colored coat, violet neck tie, and three diamond studs—spiral studs. He was chiefly noticeable for the vigor with which he beat time with his head. This performance was loudly applauded, and, encouraged by the favor manifested, the performers ventured into a new field, and gave ‘John Brown’s Body.’ This would no doubt have been rendered with a gusto, had not some person surreptitiously distributed copies of the song among the non-singers, and to the astonishment of everybody, it was found that what would otherwise have been a novelty and surprise was bet[illeg.] joined in by outsiders. This somewhat marred the time and unity of the piece, but on thew hole went off very well.

“Mr. R. B. Hall particularly distinguished himself in this, the staccato passages being given with marked effect. His make-up was all that the most fastidious taste could demand. He wore white pantaloons and vest, an invisible blue coat, and a white silk plug hat.

“‘Home Again’ was rendered with most pathetic effect. Indeed, it was beyond doubt the gem of the concert, and was the only performance which for even a moment served to interrupt the whirling tide of business. Hardly had the opening bars been struck, when the tender memories, so beautifully expressed in the familiar words, took possession of the entire company. There was only one dry eye in the house, Mr. Burke, the doorkeeper, was the possessor of that eye. He has it yet. It was his left eye. If any one does not believe this statement, let him try to get past without a ticket.

“‘Rosalie, the Prairie Flower,’ was well received, but created no very marked impression [illeg…] effect was, moreover, somewhat marred by Mr. F. S. Munroe, who, in the third line of the second verse, elbowed his way out, memorandum in hand and rushed from the orchestra into the pit to make a bid on Lake Shore. The climax was ‘Old Hundred.’ It was sung with a vigor throughout inspiriting. Messrs. Cross, Bussinger, Haight, Struthers, Stokes, and Chapin were conspicuous, and give evidence of pious training.

“After the concert proper, Messrs. Webster, Skaats, Palmer, and Ely delighted the audience with

‘Rock me to sleep, mother,’

Mr. Webster’s resonant bass and Mr. Ely’s sweet tenor eliciting warm encomiums.”