When the Water Went Off: A Jobless Mechanic, Five Children, and a Plea to City Hall
At a Board of Public Works meeting, the water department reports that Joseph Schuester's family at 1425 Eleventh Street has had service cut off. He earns 75 cents a week; the charity bureau asks the city to restore it.
Superintendent Youties, of the water department, notified the board that he had received a communication from the secretary of the bureau of associated charities asking that the family of Joseph Schuester, at 1425 Eleventh street, be allowed free water. The water was shut off because Schuester could not pay the rates. Mr. Younits stated that the family consists of the husband, a wife and five children, and that the man, although a mechanic, is out of work and earns but 75 cents or a dollar a week by doing odd jobs along the water front. The matter was referred to the city council.
“The water was shut off because Schuester could not pay the rates. The man, although a mechanic, is out of work and earns but 75 cents or a dollar a week by doing odd jobs along the water front.”
In 1895, a jobless mechanic earning 75 cents a week lost water service for his wife and five children — a story that could be told today about utility shutoffs and the gig economy. The city referred the case to council, but the human stakes are clear: even a small bill can mean a family goes without water. Seattle's affordability crisis has deep roots.
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