The Battle for Tacoma's Saloons
Tacoma's police chief faces intense political pressure and accusations of drunkenness as he is caught between moral reformers and the liquor trade.
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.
Tacoma, Feb 3. The Evening News publishes details of an alleged drunken spree in which it claims Chief Zwickey, of the police department, indulged. Today, the chief was about town as usual. For several weeks, Chief Zwickey has been hounded by the anti-Sunday saloon-closing element on one side, and on the other, by the element which clamors for the shutting down of gambling houses. Those who insist on the ordinances being enforced say Zwickey will be prosecuted for failure to close saloons on Sunday. Zwickey denies he was intoxicated, claiming he was out for a Turkish bath with his wife, and the bathhouse keeper supports his account.
“Not for $1,000 a month would I be in Zwickey's shoes.”
The struggle over the enforcement of 'vice' laws and the use of the local press to attack police leadership is a classic trope in Pacific Northwest civic history, mirroring modern debates over police accountability and public safety policy.
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