The Price of a Drunkard’s Grave
A teenage boy is fined for public intoxication, sparking an editorial demand to hold the 'Blue Front' saloon owner accountable for serving minors.
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.
A 17-year-old boy was taken by Officer Gardner before Justice Hill last Thursday for being drunk on the street, and was fined one dollar and ordered to pay the costs of his own prosecution. It is said the 'business man' who keeps the Blue Front saloon gave the boy the liquor, and after getting him drunk, put him out on the street. It is a criminal offense to sell or give a boy liquor, and if the Blue Front 'business man' did as charged, he cannot be got into the Territorial Penitentiary a day too soon. The attention of Prosecuting Attorney Ronald is called to this case.
“It is a criminal offense to sell or give a boy liquor, and if the Blue Front 'business man' did as charged, he cannot be got into the Territorial Penitentiary a day too soon.”
This 1885 report highlights the recurring tension in Seattle’s history between public order and the regulation of liquor establishments. Today, while the conversation around 'nuisance' properties has shifted from physical drunks to the impacts of the opioid crisis, the instinct to target individual businesses as the root of community instability remains a staple of Seattle civic debate.
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