The City Council Clears the Slate
In an era of rapid expansion, Seattle's city officials scramble to fix the city's plumbing and define a new vision for local governance.
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 City Council met this evening pursuant to law. Present: His Honor the Mayor, John Leary, and Councilmen Clancy, McSorley, Scouler, and Rinehart. Among the municipal communications, a communication was received from the Board of Fire Delegates announcing that Daniel McKeon had been appointed chief of the fire department. Appointment approved. Councilmen Latimer, Vesler, Snyder, Harrington, and his honor the Mayor, John Leary, were appointed a committee to examine the troubles in the street department. The Council then proceeded to elect a City Justice; thereupon G. A. Hill was elected. O. C. Storey was also elected City Sexton. Regarding the protection of water pipes, an ordinance to prevent interference with them was adopted. An ordinance to create a cemetery was laid over until the next meeting. The matter of surrendering an ordinance to Messrs. Roeder and others to restrain the sale of intoxicating liquors was laid over until the next regular meeting. The Sewer Committee was granted further time in which to report on the matter of a sewer on Gallartina street.
“The matter of surrendering an ordinance... to restrain the sale of intoxicating liquors was laid over until the next regular meeting.”
The Council’s struggle with utility infrastructure (sewers, water pipes) and the regulation of alcohol sales at the end of 1884 mirrors the perennial municipal headache of managing growth in a city that seemingly can't stop expanding.
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