100 years ago in Spokane: Opera diva who sang for soldiers to Camp Lewis scheduled for Spokane show

Opera diva Alma Gluck made a stop at Camp Lewis on the way to Spokane — and sang for a crowd of 10,000 soldiers.

In fact, the soldiers at the giant training base sang a song for Madame Gluck as well: “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Under open air under fair skies, Madame Gluck “sang out her soul to the men, who as the last notes of each song died away, broke into cheers which reverberated over the prairies.”

“After the last number, Madam Gluck picked up a big bouquet of chrysanthemums which had been given her and, breaking the blossoms one by one, threw them to the soldiers, kissing the last one.”

Then she suggested that they all sing “The Star Spangled Banner” together.

Afterwards, she sang to a packed crowd in Seattle, and then she headed to Spokane, where she was scheduled to sing at the Auditorium Theater.

“Madame Gluck is one the very few eminent singers whose charm appeals alike to the most cultivated taste and to the musically uneducated. Her universal popularity is attested by the very large and constantly increasing demand for her phonographic records. These have found their way into millions of homes.”