Only a Washerwoman

Gravely, the Lake Forest city council deliberated.

Wisconsin Ave., Lake Forest, is definitely within the residential district. And within such districts the operation of commercial enterprises is definitely against the law. And one Thomas Carroll had protested the activities of a Mrs. Carrie Strom, his neighbor. Said Mr. Carroll: "Mrs. Strom hangs lingerie in her back yard. She runs a laundry. A laundry is a commercial enterprise."

Rejoined Mrs. Strom, irate: "I run no laundry. I hire no help. I am only a washerwoman. No fault-finding Carrolls can stop me from taking in wash and hanging it out in the yard to dry."

City fathers pondered the distinction between a washerwoman and a laundry owner, gave it up, referred the problem to City Magistrate Edwin Burgess.