Police Vaccinate the 'Free-and-Easy' Saloon Crowd
Public health efforts to contain a smallpox outbreak lead to forced vaccinations in saloons south of Yesler Avenue, with arrests for those who resist.
The health officer and his assistants vaccinated all the habitues of the free-and-easy saloons south of Yesler avenue last night. Theodore Blumfield refused to submit to the operation, and was arrested by Officer Stevens under instructions from the health officer. During yesterday three new cases were developed—one at Fremont, another on Yesler avenue, near Lake Washington, and the third a Great Northern laborer who has been in the city a month. The first two gave themselves up at police headquarters, and the other was reported by Capt. Barr.
“Theodore Blumfield refused to submit to the operation, and was arrested by Officer Stevens under instructions from the health officer.”
This incident highlights how infectious disease outbreaks historically amplified the policing of marginalized populations and nightlife districts. The targeted 'free-and-easy' saloons of 1893 were viewed with suspicion by authorities, and the health measures taken there were as much about social control as they were about medical safety.
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