The Fight to Keep Seattle’s Messenger Boys Out of the Saloons
A local judge cracks down on a liquor ordinance, forbidding businesses from sending underage employees into bars, even with parental consent.
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.
Judge Cann ordered a rigorous enforcement of the liquor law this morning, which prohibits the selling of liquor to minors. The order resulted from the violation of the liquor ordinance by Morris Koester, the proprietor of the Oak Street saloon on Third Avenue, who was arrested by Officer Iverson for selling liquor to Albert Ferguson, a youth. In court, Judge Cann ruled: 'No boy or girl under 18 years of age is allowed in a saloon, even with the consent of their parents. With that order, a heavy fine will be enforced against all violators. The written consent of the parents holds no weight.' The Judge warned that messenger boys and newsboys must be kept out of the saloons, and police officers have been notified to strictly enforce the order.
“No boy or girl under 18 years of age is allowed in a saloon, even with the consent of their parents. With that order, a heavy fine will be enforced against all violators.”
This 1900 enforcement reflects a perennial Seattle struggle: the tension between protecting vulnerable youth—often working in gig-economy-style courier roles—and the city's robust, often messy, nightlife industry. Today, those 'messenger boys' are gig delivery workers, and the debate over the city's duty to regulate their safety in the face of corporate exploitation continues to headline local policy.
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