Teamsters vs. The Law on Mill Street
A group of teamsters clashes with local authorities over a new parking ordinance.
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.
The City Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting teams from standing on Mill Street while unoccupied, sparking a protest among local teamsters. When authorities attempted to make a test case of the law, the accused driver fled to Walla Walla. Unfazed, the city authorities arrested two or three other teamsters yesterday to enforce the regulation, insisting that citizens must obey the law regardless of their personal agreement with it.
“It is the duty of all good citizens to obey the law, whether it is agreeable to do so or not.”
This is a quintessential Seattle struggle: the constant negotiation of public curb space. The tension between the city's desire to clear arterial streets for traffic and the livelihoods of those whose work depends on street access remains as relevant today as it was in 1883.
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