The Man Who Paid for Nothing
A witty anecdote from Seattle's early days captures the city's growing confidence and irreverence toward authority.
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.
A chipper fellow who is 'never a cent' up in Seattle made the rounds yesterday, gravely asking for glass of sherry. A decanter and wine-glass were brought out, pouring with dignity that he was not wanting, and then slowly proceeded to fill the glass up, peered at the contents seriously for a moment, and quickly set it down. Lifting up gravely again, he said, 'Guess I don't want it; I'll take some Port.' The sherry was poured back, and a glass of port set before him. He quaffed the latter down, and turning quietly away started to leave. 'Oh,' says Val, 'goes you didn't pay for it.' He turned and looked back with amazement for a moment, and then said, 'Didn't I give you the sherry for it?' 'Yes, but you didn't pay for the sherry.' 'Well,' he retorted, 'we've got the sherry, haven't we?' This argument clincher, of course, as he departed.
This 1877 anecdote about a Seattleite outwitting a bartender over a free drink mirrors modern debates around consumer rights and the absurdity of bureaucratic logic. It highlights how even in the frontier era, locals were already developing a reputation for sharp wit and a refusal to be taken advantage of by establishment figures.
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