Seattle Braces for the T.P.S.C.V. Convention: A City of 150,000 Guests
As delegates from across the West begin to arrive, local committees scramble to house and feed a massive influx of visitors for the upcoming Temperance convention.
The story, cleaned up
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Final Preparations Being Made FOR HOUSES OF 150,000 GUESTS!
All Committees Meet Tonight at the First Baptist Church on Fourth St.
Committees of the local T.P.S.C.V. [Temperance Pioneers' Sons and Daughters of Temperance Convention] have been busy during the past few days, arranging for the big convention. Preparations have already been made for the housing of at least 150,000 guests. The committee in charge of trains and lines has so arranged matters that a large number of incomers can be handled in a few moments, and the delays of four years ago will not be repeated.
Delegates from east of the mountains and from Gray's Harbor will begin to arrive tomorrow. The Assembly will be used for night sessions, and the Plymouth Church for day sessions. Committees on decorations have been busy with both places during the week.
The various committees numbering 150 members will meet this evening at the First Baptist Church and talk over matters and make the final arrangements.
Rev. Ira H. Lindley of Nashville, Tennessee, and Dr. H. H. Tyler of New York, the two chief speakers, are expected to arrive here Thursday. Miss Eve Shonta of Chicago, and Rev. Chas. Thornton, president of the United States [Temperance Union], will also address the convention. A large number of state and local speakers will also occupy the platform.
This 1897 account of Seattle preparing to house 150,000 visitors for a temperance convention highlights the city's rapid growth and logistical challenges during its boom years. While the specific cause (temperance) has faded, the struggle to manage sudden influxes of people and coordinate civic infrastructure remains a recurring theme in Seattle's history, from the Klondike Gold Rush to modern tech conferences.
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