Ballard's Saloon War: A Dry Sunday and a Hornet's Nest
A petition to shutter Ballard's saloons on the Sabbath, an ordinance to strip them of blinds and screens, and defiant barkeeps threatening to resist — the young city's first big temperance fight comes to a head in the council rooms.
A petition to the Ballard city council asking that the saloons be closed on Sundays is in circulation and is receiving numerous signatures. The subject was discussed by the committee of the whole in the council rooms Friday night. Donoghue said a petition with 500 signatures would be presented to the council Tuesday night. It is also the intention of the council to pass an ordinance requiring the saloons to conduct their business in the same manner as all other kinds of business are transacted. The ordinance will compel each saloon to pull down its blinds, wash off all paint from the doors and windows, remove all screens so that the interior of every saloon will be visible to the public.
The saloon men are opposed to the ordinance, and are considerably excited over the proposed change and say they will resist the ordinance if it is passed. The council is divided, with a majority in favor of the proposed ordinance. Chandler thinks it is in restraint of personal liberty, and believes that every man should be allowed to take a drink on Sunday if he wants to. When asked why he did not put in a supply Saturday night, he said he did not have to. Morris thinks the saloons in Ballard are quiet and orderly, and it is best to let well enough alone. Mayor M. Dow, Councilmen Beach, Donoghue, McVay, Winsor and Startup are understood to favor the ordinance. G. B. Sanborn, a merchant on Ballard avenue, is opposed to the ordinance, and says he would pass one closing all the churches on Sunday and opening the saloons. The saloon men have lately attempted to control civic affairs, and have stirred up a hornet's nest in consequence.
“G. B. Sanborn, a merchant on Ballard avenue, is opposed to the ordinance, and says he would pass one closing all the churches on Sunday and opening the saloons.”
Ballard was its own city in 1895, and the fight over whether saloons could sell on Sunday — and whether their windows had to stay open to the street — was really a fight over who ran the town. That argument never really ended: two decades later Washington went dry statewide, and today the same Ballard Avenue blocks spar over liquor licenses, late-night permits and 'orderly' bar culture. The councilman's plea for 'personal liberty' against the reformers is a script still being read at city hall.
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