THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 11894, 23 May 1903, Page 6

THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY.

The concert promoted by the St. Vincent de Paul Society and given in the Garrison Hal last night*was largely attended. The worthiness of the object strongly appealed to the Dunedin public, and we hope to hear that the appeal for aid in the good work of relieving distress has resulted in- a handsome sum being subscribed. 'lt looked like a payable "house," and no doubt there will be a further return from unused tickers. The programme was of a varied and interesting character, and the hon. secretaries, Messrs W. Carr and J. J. Marlow, had the arrangements properly looked after. The pupils of the Christian Brothers' School opened the concert with the chorus 'The organ's peal,' two of the little warblers taking solo parts, and in all respects the churns was a great success, the singers having been efficiently tra'ned. The audience asked an encore, and the boys replied by singing an ' Ave Maria' with nice effect. Miss Pun*muir acquitted herself fairly well in her rendering of ' Dear heart,' and, being compelled to reappear, this young lady sang Tomin' through the rye' very pleasingly, having good ideas about the familiar bal.ad. Mr Eager seemed to be hardly in his best voice when singing "The message from the King,' but his musical knowledge enabled bjin to so far please the audience that an encore was requested—a request which the popu'ar tenor did not comply with. A recitation by Mrs Whiteman was well received bv the audience, who were pleased to find this lady in even h-tter form in her encore selection from 'The Merchant of Venice.' Miss Rose Blaney, a deserved favorite, was in capital voice, and hei rendering of Cowen s appropriate ballad "The children's home' was from a musical point of view the feature of the concert. The audience were also much obliged to Miss Blanev for choosing ' Embarrassment' as hex encore song. Tt suits her voice remarkably well. v In the second part Miss B'aney sang Harrison White's pretty ' Slumber song' in a tasteful and simple manner, but on this occasion begged to be excused * hen to sing atr.vn. Mr W. W. Bnvsden made a deeded hit with his rendering of * A hundred fathoms deep,' a son? that he knows a good deal about and can master, nnd. being compelled to reappear, he sang ' Hear the wild winds b"ow' * not quite so well. Miss E. Leonard secured the favor of the audience by hei svmpathetic singing of 'A dream oi Heaven,' and her encore, ' KWarney,' was even more sncces-ful, and applause freely this ynnng lady's rendering of 'When Jnrk and I were children* in the second part. Miss MacCloskey gained an immediate success directly she commenced 'To the angel'',' her excellent conha'to voice being henrd to fine effect in Zardo's striking and difficult song, to which, bv the way. a vio'in obbligato was nicely added by Mi«s Q. Mepnan. The audience listened vith the greatest pleasure, and insisted on Miss MrcClo'kev singing aga'n. For the encore she cho*e ' 0 dry tears,' and proved her ability as a concert singer. Hot voice is unusually firm and musical. Mr T. Huesey wan also in good voice, and brought down the house with his treatment of 'Thp rhirmed cup,' replving to the encore with ' O'd Madrid.' Acceptable variety was provided by Mr T. Anthony's comic songs, of which ' English as she is spoke : rony be counted the best, and Mr A. C. Hnn'.on's rertntio-n. A peal of laughter amse from the audience as Mr Hanlon be"an with "I am not mad," for "The Maniac' was-the recitation <hnt Mr* White man had necked an hour earlier. Mr Han ■"on must have wondered for a moment wha, caused the hilarity, but his thrilling dramatic work soon bad the listeners soberec down, and ns a matter of fact his treatment of the subject was quite fre*h. Another acceptable contribution was that of Master Ba'n, the little boy who played the negrn with the Pollards in "The Casino Girl.' This little chap volunteered, to come on in the interval, and sang ' 0 Rachel, my darling, if you're in come out' in a way that p«.u- - ed intense amusement. The Dunedir H'ch and Rifles' bayonet exercise was another highly appreciated item. Last, but not least, the part singing by St. Joseph's Choir, under Mr A. Val'ds, claims our attent'on. They sang three choruses, and therein* made a very favorable impression. 'My love is like a red, red rose' being thf p'ck of the three items. Miss C. Hughe: and Mr A. Va'lis plaved the accompahi ments during the evening.