Concert for the Relief of the Skidmore Guard

“A concert was given at this hall last evening for the relief of the Skidmore Guard, a colored military organization of this city. Mr. F. J. Eben’s orchestra played selections from [see above], and works by Offenbach, Faust and Jungmann, but failed to make any particular impression on the audience, which was rather small in numbers, and which, strange to say, located itself principally in the gallery, leaving the greater part of the floor empty. Mrs. G. F. Hess was the soprano of the occasion, and despite the drawback of a cold, so sang the ‘O luce di quest anima,’ from ‘Linda,’ that her appreciative hearers rewarded her with an encore, which was graciously assented to with ‘Five o’clock in the Morning.’ Her voice is a rich, well cultivated soprano, and she evinced a keen appreciation of the requirements of the music she selected for this occasion. Mr. C. Fritsch, the tenor, sang a ballad by Wallace in admirable style, and Mr. Eben played a flute solo with many variations. The entrance of the hall was resplendent in uniforms, and beside many blushing representatives of the gentler sex, the same bewitching masculine attire attracted attention. But we fear, from the smallness of the audience, that the Skidmore Guards’ relief was not of a nature calculated to inspire feelings of bounding hope and exuberant joy.”