The Pox Patrol: When Smallpox Patients Went Out for Whiskey
In 1880, Seattle's quarantine measures were so lax that victims were reportedly slipping out of the pesthouse at night to hit the saloons.
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.
SMALLPOX.—We are reliably informed that patients from the pesthouse are in the habit of coming into town after nightfall. Two of them came in last evening, while still broken out with the disease, and bought a bottle of whiskey. A guard should be put over that institution at once, and kept there day and night, in order that this fearful disease may not spread further in this community. We trust this matter will be attended to by the city authorities without delay.
“Two of them came in last evening, while still broken out with the disease, and bought a bottle of whiskey.”
Public health infrastructure has always been a point of contention in Seattle. From the 1880 pesthouse to the 2020 pandemic, the tension between individual liberty and collective safety—and the recurring calls for better city management—remain a constant feature of local civic discourse.
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