The Barber, the Boarder, and the Bad Meat
A Rosalia boarding house proprietor sues for $6,000 after a poet lampoons his culinary standards in the local paper.
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 Rosalia Rustler recently published a piece of doggerel signed by Mary Ann Jane Saby, mocking a local barber, Arthur, for living in a house where boarders were leaving due to bad food, and claiming two were driven 'crazy' by the fare. The poem asked why the barber didn't 'quit chewing rubber and calling it meat' and 'move to a place where they don't serve swill.' Now, a sensitive boarding house keeper, George P. Tolton, has sued the Rustler for $6,000 damages for libel. Mr. Tolton states that the entire ode refers to his house and that the publication has caused numerous boarders to leave and potential transient customers to go elsewhere.
“Why don't this barber, so dudish and neat, quit chewing rubber and calling it meat?”
Public reviews and online reputation management are the modern versions of this 1893 libel suit. While we don't often see $6,000 lawsuits (a massive sum then) over 'vulcanized cakes' today, the tension between a business owner's reputation and a patron's right to critique service remains a staple of civic life.
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