The Great Inter-City Musical Bridge
Seattle and Tacoma celebrate social ties with a grand concert and gala featuring the University Glee Club.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Tacoma and Seattle mingled in social intercourse on Thursday evening last with the happiest results. The University Glee Club concert turned out happily, and the dance and supper that followed proved to be one of the most charming social affairs ever given in the city. An entire absence of formality made the evening one of great delight. The design appears to be to draw the communities of Tacoma and Seattle together in a social way. The Glee Club not only sang, but also acted its comical numbers; the funniest was the song of 'the grasshopper who sat upon a sweet-potato vine.' Following the music, dancing was indulged in until supper was announced at midnight. At 3 o'clock, the Tacoma guests left for their home on the steamer Fleetwing.
“The design appears to be to draw the communities of Tacoma and Seattle together in a social way.”
In 1892, Seattle and Tacoma were fierce economic rivals, often using social events to smooth over corporate competition. Today, while the rivalry is more tongue-in-cheek, the need to build regional cohesion across the Puget Sound remains a perennial civic project.
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