Mayor Accused of Silencing Health Official Over Water Safety
Physicians in Pierce County call a meeting at the Tacoma Hotel, suspecting the Mayor fired the bacteriologist to hide pollution data.
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 sensation may be sprung at the Tacoma Hotel tonight in the matter of the removal of Dr. Wilson from the office of city bacteriologist by Mayor Linck. A meeting has been called of the physicians of Pierce county to consider the ousting of Wilson, and it is said that some startling charges will be made at this meeting to the effect that Wilson's removal was accomplished by the mayor for the purpose of suppressing a report by Dr. Wilson on the water supply of the city. It is broadly hinted that Dr. Wilson had made some tests of water taken from the city pipes that showed a very unsatisfactory condition reflecting discredit on the administration and that to prevent this being made public and because the official would not make the kind of a report desired by the administration, he was bounced.
“It is broadly hinted that Dr. Wilson had made some tests of water taken from the city pipes that showed a very unsatisfactory condition.”
The conflict between scientific independence and political optics remains a staple of civic life. The fear of 'dead ends' in the city water pipes highlights the evolving infrastructure challenges of a growing Tacoma in 1909.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.