Tacoma’s Fire Chief Lost His Job After a Drunken Ride in the Fire Wagon
A periodic bender, a joyride down Pacific Avenue in a fire wagon, and a mayor’s ultimatum ended Chief Lillis’s career—though supporters blamed the A.P.A.
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.
TACOMA, July 12.—[Special.]—By request, Lillis of the fire department has tendered his resignation. During the past year he has indulged freely in drink—not habitually, but periodically—and several times he has been rendered absolutely incapable of performing his duties. As a rule he has been very efficient, making a capable chief. A few days ago, while under the influence of liquor, he was charged with dashing up and down Pacific Avenue in the wagon used to attend fires. These facts being communicated to Mayor Orr, Lillis’s resignation was accepted. Mr. Lillis has been prominent in Tacoma politics for five or six years, and he was a candidate for reappointment as chief. He was opposed, it is claimed, by the A. P. A., and it is said to be due to that influence that he was removed. There is no tangible showing to prove this. Lillis used to be a school principal in old Tacoma, later a councilman from a ward of the city, and then chief of the fire department. Ex-Chief Harney is a candidate for the office, as is also First Assistant Chief Bruemmer, who has a strong backing. Bruemmer and Harney are both members of the old volunteer fire department.
“During the past year he has indulged freely in drink—not habitually, but periodically—and several times he has been rendered absolutely incapable of performing his duties.”
Public officials still resign over conduct that undermines public trust, and the question of whether a capable leader’s private failings are disqualifying remains familiar. The 1894 fight also shows how ethnic and religious factions like the A.P.A. could turn a personnel decision into a political purge.
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