The Wife Who Took Control of Her Husband’s Sobriety
A hardworking Seattle woman uses the law to force her dissipated husband into recovery, declaring she will build a better home while he is locked away.
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.
Frank and Alice L. have been married several years, but have no children. Frank is shiftless and dissipated, while Alice is tidy and industrious. She is obliged to work out, and has several times been discharged from good situations owing to the conduct of her husband on visiting her. She now has a good place in a family, and Frank, showing a disposition to annoy her, she caused his arrest, and the case came before Justice Clute for examination. Frank cried and whimpered when Alice insisted on his being sent up, and promised all sorts of things if she would let him off. She was inexorable, however, saying, 'Now, Frank, you know you have not treated me right. I'll put you up there for the winter, and you will come out like a spring chicken. You will come out a man. In the mean time I'll work and get a pleasant home ready for you to come to when your time is up, and then if you don't behave yourself, I will send you back.' 'How long do you want him sent for?' queried Justice Clute. 'Four months,' said Alice. 'And four months it is,' said the judge, and Frank was led away.
“I'll put you up there for the winter, and you will come out like a spring chicken. You will come out a man.”
This 19th-century report of a wife taking control of her household's stability via the judicial system mirrors modern conversations about agency in the face of housing instability and substance abuse, where 'support systems' are often left to the individuals with the least power.
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