The Man Who Defended His Roof
An indignant Seattle resident threatens to prosecute a mysterious stranger who attempted to arrest him for working on his roof on a Sunday.
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.
E. O. Robinson, of 1405 Yesler Avenue, was an indignant man when he walked into police headquarters Sunday afternoon and asked Capt. Hogle if he had sent an officer to his house to prevent him from patching the roof. Capt. Hogle had no idea of what Mr. Robinson was referring to. Robinson explained that he had found it necessary to do some work on his roof, and while so employed, a man in citizen's clothes yelled to him to stop desecrating the Sabbath or he would arrest him. Robinson wanted to know on what authority, and the stranger is represented as claiming to have been an officer, acting under direction from headquarters. Capt. Hogle informed Mr. Robinson that the police knew nothing of the matter and never interfered in such matters. Mr. Robinson went home with a determination to prosecute the impersonator.
“a man in citizen's clothes yelled to him to stop desecrating the Sabbath or he would arrest him.”
This 1891 incident reflects the strict Sabbath laws of the time and the early, prickly relationship between Seattleites and their civic authorities. Even today, the boundary between public oversight and private property rights on a residential street in the Central District remains a source of tension.
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