TURNERS DAY AND MUSICAL CONGRESS DAY.

June 30, 1898.

For many weeks the Tuners of Omaha and many other cities throughout the west,
had looked forward to this celebration and the drills for prizes that were to
take place on the exposition grounds, with much interest.  They gathered early
and in large numbers.  The principal drill was at 6 o'clock in the evening on
the plaza.  In this drill about 400 Turners participated.  Other exercises were
had and withal the day proved a great success.

THE MUSICAL CONGRESS.

The principal sessions of the Musical congress were held in the First
Congregational Church of Omaha, but the principal musical feature of the
Congress was the Oratorio of Isaiah, written and rendered by American singers
in the Auditorium building in the evening.  Mr. Willard Patten, the composer,
and his Minneapolis choral organization of 250 voices came by special train for
this rendition.  The orchestral features were rendered by the entire Theodore
Thomas Orchestra, and the following soloists participated:  Mrs. Genevieve
Clark Wilson, Chicago, soprano; Miss Katharine Fiske, New York, contralto; Mr.
Frederick Carberry, Chicago, tenor; Mr. Charles Clarke, Chicago, baritone.  The
audience taxed the capacity of the large auditorium and the enthusiasm was
strong and spontaneous.

The interest in all the meetings of the Musical Congress was great and the
results were most satisfactory to all musicians.

Mrs. Winona S. Sawyer of the bureau of education, speaking of the aims and
purposes of the bureau in arranging a musical congress in connection with the
exposition, said, among other things:

"With the first month of the Exposition as a prelude to a grand symphony, the
beauty of the architecture and the arrangement of the buildings, suggestive of
the allegro movement; the labor of patience and anxiety requisite to secure
these results, typical of the andante; the entertainment, amusement and
pleasure intimating the scherzo movement; we prize this Congress coming at this
time.  It stands out like a fugue subject, with strong marked features of lofty
inspiration and high ideals, which once introduced, will be again and again
taken up and repeated successively in various keys and various harmonies
throughout the exposition."
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