Seattle’s New Athletic Club Opens in Style
A night of wrestling and fencing draws a capacity crowd to the city's new hub for physical culture.
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.
The opening of the Seattle Athletic Club rooms last evening was a grand success, both socially and athletically. The rooms were crowded with ladies and gentlemen, and those who came late could not get near enough to the gymnasium to see any part of the exhibition. One thousand chairs were placed around the roped space, but these were all occupied and the space to the walls on all sides was packed. At least 1,500 persons were present. The athletic features were excellent and brought forth round after round of applause. The enthusiasm that was brought to a climax in the duel between Count de Beauviere and Dr. T. V. Goodspeed redoubled itself during the wrestling match, in which Marbet wrestled Leather. It has never been the fortune of Seattle to witness such an exhibition of flash of steel, thrust, parry and thrust as was given by Count de Beauviere and Dr. Goodspeed. It was a click, click, click of the long slender blades, and one warded the other like a master.
“It was a click, click, click of the long slender blades, and one warded the other like a master.”
This event captures the late 19th-century 'physical culture' craze that swept American cities, positioning sports as both a social equalizer and a display of modern refinement. Today, Seattle's athletic club scene has evolved into a massive, multi-billion dollar wellness and fitness industry, but the community appetite for spectator sports and social fitness remains largely unchanged.
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