Gasoline service stations in Charlotte may operate unmolested Sunday and on following Sundays, if they care to do so. Police regulations against Sunday service stations have been lifted by the new administration to the extent that they will not be prosecuted.
However, it was made known at the city hall Saturday that gasoline stations will be expected to observe the spirit of the Sabbath to the greatest possible extent. Regular garage repair service will not be permitted, and managers of gasoline stations will be expected to conduct their business only with a view to giving needed service and not from the standpoint of commercial advantage.
Police Chief Walter B. Orr had issued no instructions at noon Saturday to cover the policy of the new administration, but it was expected that he would make known to members of the police department before the end of the day that the “blue law” on gasoline stations is a thing of the past. Some weeks ago the members of the former city administration threw the gasoline service stations into dismay by ordering prosecutions for selling gasoline on Sunday. The old commissioners took the view that gasoline is not to be classed as a “necessity” and that it should not be put on the market on Sundays as a commercial product. The order aroused the spirit of the gasoline dealers, but all stations in the city limits closed as a resort of the move.
Since the order was issued the stations outside the limits on the highways have been doing a big Sunday business. While a large number of the motorists obtained gasoline supplies into Saturday, a greater number, it is declared, depend on the highway stations for supplies when automobiles were used on Sundays.
Members of the present city administration say only that they are inclined to a more liberal view of the Sunday laws. There was no official statement in connection with the adoption of the new policy.
From The Charlotte News, May 7, 1921
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