The Boycott of the Famous Shoe House
Nine clerks are arrested for libel after attempting to organize an 'early closing' movement by boycotting a merchant who refused to shut his doors at 6 p.m.
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 shoe clerks of Seattle, having launched a boycott against C. P. Devine’s 'Famous Shoe House' on Front Street, found themselves in trouble yesterday. Mr. Devine had nine clerks arrested on charges of libel after they distributed circulars and paraded a transparency through the streets claiming he had repudiated his signature on a petition to close stores at 6 p.m. Devine claims he was only bound by the agreement if all competitors signed, which they did not. The clerks, including Benjamin H. Pitts, insist that Devine is violating a moral agreement made with his peers. The case now heads to Justice Von Tobel.
“The clerks have overstepped the bounds of reason, and in justice to myself I have adopted the course now already known.”
The conflict between labor's 'early closing' movement and business owner resistance is a perfect echo of current tensions surrounding retail hours and worker rights.
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