992344

116 L

Remonstrance from School Directors against Granting of License to Richard Pritchard

Aug 22, 1885

To the Hon. Mayor and Common Council of the City of Seattle

We, the undersigned members of the School Board, of School District No. I, having learned that one Richard Pritchard, has made application for a license to establish a saloon on Jackson Street, do hereby protest against the issuance of a license to said Richard Pritchard, and base our protest upon the following grounds, amongst others;

I. That a School is soon to be established in the neighborhood, where said saloon is proposed to be opened; that not fewer than twenty-five children will attend said Public School during the coming year.

That the presence of a saloon so near to the Public School, would be detrimental to the best interests of the neighborhood.

II. That said Richard Pritchard was indicted in the Spring of 1884 and convicted of keeping and maintaining a house of prostitution in the City of Seattle. That undersigned are apprehensive, that if license for a saloon is granted to said Richard Pritchard, that this place is likely to become a rendez-vous for lewd and disreputable characters. To authorize or permit such a place to be established, within a stone's throw of the Public School, would be disgraceful in the last degree, and would be to surround the children, with influences the most vicious and baneful. We therefore, in the interest of the children to attend Public School, protest against granting of a license to Richard Pritchard, for the opening of a saloon on Jackson Street.

Thomas Burke D. B. Ward

School Directors of School Dist. No 1.