The City Clock-Watchers
Tacoma’s electric linemen accused of turning city work hours into a full-time pinochle parlor.
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.
When Commissioner Welsh went into office several months ago, orders were issued that there should be no dieting on the part of city employees. Every man was supposed to do eight hours' work every day or give up his job. Reports that have come in lately make it appear that the commissioner's order was taken by some of the city employees to have been a joke. It is said that linemen employed in putting up electric light wires on street have forgotten all about the eight-hour rule and appear to have reached the conclusion that most any old time constitutes a day's work. A large wire reel turned up on its side under a shade tree has been converted into a card table and it is said that several members of the crew put in a good deal of the time for which they draw pay from the city playing pinochle or penny ante. A conductor on a cable car alleges that the men were playing one day while he made seven round trips with his slow-moving car, and his statement is corroborated by some of the passengers.
“A large wire reel turned up on its side under a shade tree has been converted into a card table.”
Public worker accountability remains a evergreen debate in municipal politics, reflecting the tension between labor protections and taxpayer skepticism. The image of the 'wire reel card table' serves as a historical metaphor for the classic civic suspicion that the public sector isn't always putting in a full day.
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