The Night Clerk Is Axed
Police commissioners fire the night registering clerk to save money, prompting a protest from the Police Chief.
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 police commissioners met at headquarters last night and, as if suddenly seized with a desire to economize, dispensed with the services of the registering clerk, Tommy Totten. The commissioners ordered that the night captain and jailer should conduct the affairs of the office, assisted by the lieutenant on duty. The move was a complete surprise to Chief Jackson, who protested in vain, pointing out the crippling effect such a move would have on the station's efficiency. The chief noted that when a phone call comes in, the captain leaves, and when a wagon call arrives, the jailer must go, leaving the station without enough men. Commissioner Wallingford, who recommended the cut, claimed the duties were not sufficient to employ one man and remarked that he thought those getting the most pay did the least work. Tommy Totten, the clerk who was cut off, had been in service for three years without a single reprimand.
“I suppose you must refer to the commissioners.”
The tension between 'economic efficiency' at City Hall and the actual operational realities on the street is a conflict that has defined Seattle municipal government for over a century.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.