City Hall's Cold Water Crisis
Seattle's Board of Public Works removes a water department superintendent after intense pressure from local labor groups.
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 action of the board of public works in kicking out Dubois Fitten, the board's recently appointed superintendent of the water department, was a surprise to all except the few Democrats who were on the inside of the ring. The fight for the position had narrowed down between Fitten and W. E. Wilson, when the board appointed Fitten a week or two ago. The change by which Fitten goes out and Wilson goes in is really the work of the labor element. They have been fighting Fitten all along, partly because he ran the engines of the Seattle Coal and Iron Company at Gilman during the strike last year. The laboring men forced Fitten's bondsmen to back down, and the board of public works, rather than prolong a fight, put Wilson in Fitten's place. For the present Fitten is retained as foreman. The laboring men are also said to be working against Alexander Wall, the chief engineer at the pumping station. Take it all in all, the board of public works finds the city's water—hot water.
“Take it all in all, the board of public works finds the city's water—hot water.”
City staffing decisions based on labor activism reflect the ongoing tension between public administration and workers' demands. The power of organized labor to shape municipal department leadership is a recurring theme in Seattle's civic history.
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