Smallpox and Scandal in City Hall
Seattle's Board of Aldermen clash over fire department mismanagement, unauthorized expenditures, and the discovery of a smallpox patient.
The board of aldermen did some lively talking last night and some of the departments came in for a good deal of what is called 'roasting.' Alderman Daulton burst out into one of those torrents of invective of which he is master, and the board generally condemned the unauthorized employment of experts, while Mayor Miller cauterized the condition of the books in the municipal court. A major point of contention was the fire department; Alderman Daulton maintained that there wasn't a man in the department who understood a fire engine, citing a fire on Sunday night where the whole department failed to extinguish the blaze. Later, the house discussed the discovery of a smallpox patient in the city. The board of health requested an appropriation to provide for the care of the patient, leading to a contentious debate on whether a resident physician was necessary at the pest house, and how many guards and nurses were required to manage the situation.
“He declared that the city was going from bad to worse and it was time something was done. He repeated that there wasn't a fireman in the department who knew a fire engine.”
The civic friction between a penny-pinching council and public health necessity during a contagion scare feels remarkably familiar to modern observers of city governance. The debate over whether to hire expensive outside 'experts' or rely on existing staff is a debate that still dominates Seattle budget cycles.
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