The Jealousy That Shut Down a Shop: A Seattle Woman’s Fight for Livelihood
In 1888, a Seattle lumber shop owner saw her business destroyed not by market forces, but by the petty sabotage of her customers' wives. Her story reveals the fragile economic existence of women in the frontier city.
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.
"Good for Ireland." (From the Dublin Nation.)
I. Hark! the voice on the air Hinging out the anthem of a ver- Of the good and true united in our cause. Tyrants sit the land with woe, Spreading sorrow where they go. But we scorn them and defy their cruel laws; "God save Ireland" from the tyrants. "God Save Ireland," now we pray, And the tid of truth and right Will sustain us with His might, And will help us to confound them in the fray!
II. Though we hear the bitter wail For our heroes sent to jail, And such cruel work throughout the land is done We but love the cause the more And the heroes we adore, And will show it by the wearing of the green. "God save Ireland" from the tyrants. "God Save Ireland," now we pray, And the tid of truth and right Will sustain us in His might, And will help us to confound them in the fray!
III. Hark! execution's over the sea, From the voices of the free From nations joining in our cry. And our martyrs gone May yet see the they bore. For we proudly keep it waving in the sky Have Ireland from the tyrants. "God save Ireland," now we pray. And the tid of truth and right Will sustain us in His might, And will help us to confound them in the fray!
IV. Hark! their triumphant mighty host Ireland's cause they proudly boast, Mangling onward all oppressors to defy; Ireland, fight on, Man-biag with us for our right, And before us all the tyrant crew must fly! "God Save Ireland" from the tyrants, "God Save Ireland," now we pray. And the tid of truth and right Will sustain us in His might, And will help us to confound them in the fray! —D. WARD.
First came to New York about a year ago from San Francisco and started a lumber shop, where he sold counters for the moderate sum of five cents per head. The wives of her customers became jealous of her success and tried a plan of boy rolling that has finally proved successful. Her business is entirely broken up, and she has been obliged to appeal to authority for support.
That it is necessary for a man to drink beer every day is a theory that won't hold water. — New York Press.
This snippet captures the precarious nature of female entrepreneurship in late-19th century Seattle, where social dynamics could be as destructive as economic ones. The phrase "appeal to authority for support" likely refers to seeking charity or legal protection from harassment, a stark reminder that women’s labor was often undervalued and unprotected by formal institutions.
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