The First of June
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The First of June.
Monday next, the first of June, is a great day among the Germans, being the anniversary of a festival observed by them under the name of Pfingstfest1, analogous to our Whitsuntide2.
The German Turners3 of Williamsburgh intend turning out in great force on the occasion. They meet at seven o’clock A.M. for the purpose of proceeding to Peck Slip ferry to receive their guests, of whom a large number are expected from other cities. They will form in procession at the ferry, and proceed to Montrose avenue, between Union avenue and Ewen street. The procession will comprise several military companies, singing societies, &., besides the Turners themselves. The procession is expected to comprise a thousand or fifteen hundred individuals, and will be under the command of Captain Kiehl, of the Jefferson Blues, as grand marshal. The line of march will be through the following streets—Ewen, Meserole, South 4th, Fourth, Grand, back to Ewen, through which to Division avenue; along Division avenue to Bowronville, near the termination of the Myrtle avenue R.R. Car route, in the neighborhood of the Franklin Hotel. After an intermission of half an hour, the exercises of the day will be commenced by an oration from Mr. F. Hune, followed by gymnastic exercises, music and general amusements. The Common Council have been invited to attend, and have signified their acceptance of the invitation. Casual visitors will be charged 12 cents for the admission to the grounds.
Meanwhile, Mr. Schneider’s new building, the opening of which is anxiously looked forward to by the 10th warders, will be formally inaugurated, the occasion being honored by the presence of Colonel Samuel Graham4 and the Regiment (the 70th,) under his command. A salute of 32 guns will be fired by the artillery company of Capt. Taft, of Greenpoint, and a large and handsome banner will be presented to the Williamsburgh City Horse Guards, Capt. John H. Gaus.
Also, the new theatre which has just been erected in Meserole street, will be opened for the first time on Monday evening, when a Ball will be given there under the patronage of the City Rifle Company, Capt. Bethon. These events have been the topics of a great amount of preparation as well as anticipation; and if the weather holds good, as there is every probability that it will, we may rely on having a gala day in Williamsburgh on Monday.
Notes:
1. Pfingstfest is the German equivalent to English Pentecost and the celebration of the Holy Spirit. [back]
2. Whitsuntide, also known as Pentecost, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. [back]
3. The German Turners were members of the "Turnverein" (gymnastic club) movement, which consisted mainly of so-called German "Forty-Eighters" (political refugees fleeing the European revolutions of 1848) who endorsed a body politic of rigorous health and republican, liberal politics and have been suggested as a model for Whitmna’s own health theorizing in "Manly Health and Training" (Peter Riley, "'Arm, Fortify, Harden, Make Lithe, Himself': 'Manly Health,' German Turners, and Whitman's Poetics of Training," The Oxford Handbook of Walt Whitman, eds. Kenneth M. Price and Stefan Schöberlein [New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2024], 225–42). Whitman had a documented interest in the movement and its members, having written about them as early as the late 1840s while editor of the New Orleans Daily Crescent. [back]
4. Colonel Samuel Graham (1756– 1831) was a British Army officer. He was captured during the War of Independence and nearly executed in retaliation by Patriotic forces. [back]