The 10-Cent Alternative to the Saloon
A local leader proposes a 'reading room and coffee house' to offer Seattle's young men a moral, affordable sanctuary away from the city's liquor dens.
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.
In connection with his annual report before the Young Men’s Christian Association, Dexter Horton, the retiring president, submitted a plan for the opening of a reading room in the business center of the city, and in connection therewith a coffee room, where coffee and lunch could be obtained for 10 cents. The plan as presented is as follows: 'I believe that there ought to be a reading room opened on Commercial or Mill street, as near the center of business as possible. Let the association rent a suitable room and fit it up comfortably and attractively, with pictures on the walls, good chairs and necessary stands and tables. Let it be well heated, ventilated and supplied with all of the leading papers with a good sprinkling of Christian literature. Let this room be thrown open to the public free of charge; allowing the committee on benevolence, labor, etc., to have their headquarters there. And then in the back part let there be established a coffee room, where coffee and a doughnut or piece of bread could be had for one dime, the same price paid for a glass of liquor. Then look for the right man to keep the room and give him the rent free, he furnishing his own provisions and making what profits he can; and for the rent and all advantages extended him by the association he should take care of the reading room and keep it warm and in order in all of its departments. This course has proved successful in the east and England, and in many cases has been a source of profit, from keeping young men from frequenting saloons.'
“Let there be established a coffee room, where coffee and a doughnut or piece of bread could be had for one dime, the same price paid for a glass of liquor.”
Horton’s 1878 proposal reflects the enduring tension in Seattle between private vice and public social infrastructure. Just as he sought to replace the saloon with a 'third place' in the 19th century, today's city planners continue to struggle with creating affordable, non-commercial spaces that provide respite for the city's vulnerable populations.
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