The Aberdeen Rifles' First Grand Gala

The long looked for, the long talked of has come and gone. The first great achievement of the Aberdeen Rifles is now a matter of history. In the contest between brass buttons and bright eyes, the future will tell which sex carried off most of the trophies of war. Just after the battle, honors seem evenly divided. Tuesday night, the beauty and chivalry of Aberdeen and Chehalis County gathered at the new armory on Heron street to dedicate to Mars, at the hands—and feet—of his full sister Terpsichore, the splendid edifice raised in his honor. The ball was held in the drill room, and though this room is 40x75 feet, it was none too commodious for the many merry-makers and pleased on-lookers. When the music struck up the grand march at 9:30, Mr. Laidlaw and Mrs. G. W. Stetson, of Cosmopolis, led off, and were joined by a throng of one hundred or more couples. W. B. McGerry spoke well and forcibly of the patriotism of the sons of Washington, who, in time of peace, took upon themselves the study and practice of arms. Light hearts and light feet kept time to bright sparkling music until the time came for more material enjoyment. The supper was a poem that everyone fell into the meter and read aright. All went home in the early morning, and Company K’s first ball will be a pleasant memory treasured up for many years to come.