The Sheriff’s New Sunday Prohibition
Okanogan County’s sheriff announces a strict enforcement of Sunday saloon closures, breaking from long-standing local precedent.
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.
Sheriff Thorp has announced that Sunday closing of saloons will be the order in Okanogan County in the future. This is a new departure in this county, the law having never been enforced to this extent in the county before. The action of the sheriff may not meet with the approval of all the people in that business throughout the county, but the sheriff has the right to enforce the law.
“The action of the sheriff may not meet with the approval of all the people in that business throughout the county, but the sheriff has the right to enforce the law.”
This enforcement marks a pivot point in the region's transition toward the state-wide prohibition that would arrive just seven years later. Today, debates over local liquor licensing and enforcement remain a staple of small-town civic tension, mirroring this early struggle for control over public 'vice'.
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