Spokane Police Chief Takes on City Hall
A showdown erupts in Spokane as the police chief moves to abolish 'box rustling' in variety theaters against the explicit wishes of the Mayor.
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 hall as well as lower Howard street is at present the scene of a lively battle. On one side stands Chief of Police Woydt as the central figure, while on the other side Mayor Boyd and the variety theater managements plot and plan how they can punish the chief, who has dared to act in open violation of their wishes. At present the chief holds the winning hand. Mayor Boyd would be glad to remove the chief from office, but he cannot. He has, however, gone so far as to declare that in the event of certain things happening he will declare an emergency and take charge of the police department himself. The trouble has come about because the chief has issued the order that box rustling must stop and that he will enforce to the letter the state law on this subject. The order was made by the chief wholly on his own authority, not having consulted the mayor or any other city official.
“The chief holds the winning hand. Mayor Boyd would be glad to remove the chief from office, but he cannot.”
This reflects the ongoing tension between municipal political power and police independence. 'Box rustling'—the practice of hiring women to entice patrons into buying expensive drinks in theater boxes—was a classic target for moral crusades that frequently put police into conflict with business-aligned city halls.
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