The Plumbing Inspector's Trial
Journeymen and master plumbers united to challenge the competency and conduct of Seattle's plumbing inspector.
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 board of health was engaged yesterday afternoon in hearing testimony on the charges preferred against Plumbing Inspector J. R. Malan by committees from the Plumbers' Union and from the Master Plumbers' Association. Witnesses testified as to cases where plumbing work had not been done according to the requirements of the ordinance and Malan had given certificates of inspection therefor; that the inspector had been intoxicated during working hours and had been absent from the city for several days without leave. Mr. McMillan, who is the chief prosecutor, said he had no particular personal animus against Malan, but that his firm was compelled to do their work according to the requirements of the ordinance, and they could not compete with rival firms who were not obliged by the inspector to do likewise.
“They could not compete with rival firms who were not obliged by the inspector to do likewise.”
This 1892 dispute illustrates a classic Seattle civic struggle: the tension between municipal regulatory enforcement and professional trades. It captures an early moment of the Plumbers' Union exerting collective political pressure to ensure standardized safety and fair competition.
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