The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-10-10
When Will St. Paul and Minneapolis
Be Combined into One Large
City Of Half Million
Population?
OLD TIME RIVALRY
Enmity Between the Two Towns is
Gradually Fading Away and
Win Soon be
Memory.
[Gate City Special Service

ST. PAUL, Mimi, Oct. 1O.--One OF
the first questions asked by every
newcomer to the Twin Cities is:
When will st. Paul and Minneapolis
be combined into one large city,"
Some persons there are in the two
cities who will answer the question
with the one word, never" Others
say 1t is bound to come some day
but not soon. Still there are those
who believe the time is not far off
when Minnesota will have one great
city with population of 100000 or
more.
Once upon a time there was riv.
airy between the two cities that bor-
dered upon the bitterest enmity
Such feeling has been gradually fad
ing away in the last few years. Now
adays you seldom hear a st. Paul
man saying anything against Minnea-
polls and vice versa. 1t used to be
that comedian could get the hear
test applause and make the hit of his
life if he sprung a joke at the ex-
pense of Minneapolis while playing in
St. Paul. He could cross the river the
next week and put st. Paul in Mime
apolis' place and get vigorous hand.
Now such efforts to win applause on a
stage in either city meet with little
or no encouragement
This animosity between the two
cities has just died natural Death.
1t grows less and less each year.
Some time ago the newspapers of fthe
two cities kept the feeling up. There
was bitter rivalry between them. Sci
dom day passed that the editorial
and news columns didn't contain slaps
at the rival city. This is all thing
Of the past. If there happens to be a
crime wave in Minneapolis such as all
large cities have from time to time
the st. Paul newspapers make no
more mention of it than they would OF
the same condition in their own baili-
wick. Minneapolis shows st. Paul the
same courtesy. The ST. Paul Pioneer
Press's Minneapolis office is in the
Minneapolis Tribune building The
Minneapolis Tribune's ST. Paul head.
quarters are in the building occupied
| by the Pioneer Press and Dispatch.
Fasteners remember how New
York and Brooklyn used to fight be
fore they became Greater New York
Neither wanted to give up its name
If ever st. Paul and Minneapolis
question it Is likely that there viii
be a split over the name. The manag
ing editor of a st. Paul newspaper
however, is authority for the State
ment that they'll just call 1t tnt
Twin Cities and let it go at that
But there are others who do no
share in his opinion, st. Paul people
naturally would want the greater cit!
to be known as st. Paul. Over il
Minneapolis they would want to clins
to their own name. The two cities
could not be consolidated without al
act of the legislature. 1t probabl.
would mean the consolidation of TIVE
counties as we'll as ST. Paul is tn,
seat at Ramsay county and Minneapo
lis the seat of Hennepin county. Tt
bring such a proposition before thu
solons of the state probably woult
make the hardest fight the Minnesot;
legislators ever took part in. Anothe
obstacle is that ST. Paul is the capi
tai of the state. This, the st. Pau
man will tell you, is why the name
should consolidation ever came, mus
be ST. Paul. This argument seem
pretty strong. 1t would require mucl
changing of laws, but still those VIII
favor consolidation say plal
could easily be prepared.
OF course, the business rivalry be
tween the cities Is keen but 1t is nj
more noticeable now than Is the figh
between Cincinnati and Cleveland, o
Chicago and st. Louis. Within th
last few days special trains were rul
out of the Twin Cities carrying job
bers and merchants from both cite
to Spokane, Wash One OF the train
went on the Great Northern and tn
ST. Paul business man and the Min
neapolis rival in the same line o
trade were aboard, fighting legitimate
: ly and friendly-like for business dun
ing business hours in the towns the