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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 34 |
| 1889 | 65 |
| 1891 | 31 |
| 1892 | 246 |
| 1893 | 259 |
| 1894 | 239 |
| 1895 | 182 |
1,056 stories
- The Newspaper Tried to Boycott the Fair; the Fair Boycotted Back
When the Ledger moved to oust union man Jim Dow from the Interstate Fair, Tacoma's businessmen chose the fair over the paper.
- They Struck Gold in the Middle of Tacoma — Or Said They Did
Placer miners claim a patch of state school land inside the city is a rich mining camp. The state is drilling to bed rock to find out who is right.
- A Populist Orator, a Sidewalk, and a Penknife
Tacoma police arrested 68-year-old party leader Dolph Hannah for blocking Pacific Avenue with a campaign speech, then released him on his own recognizance after a scuffle.
- A Smallpox Quarantine in a Snowbound Hotel
A burst pipe left six quarantined smallpox patients without water as Tacoma's snowstorm shut down plumbers, coal deliveries and the Northern Pacific.
- Railroads Eye the Puyallup Reservation as Opening Rumors Swirl
Members of the Puyallup tribe meet to consider granting railroad right-of-way through their reservation, amid speculation that the land will be thrown open to settlers within sixty days.
- The Hop Pickers' Bargain: Growers Cut Wages as Harvest Opens
In the Puyallup Valley, growers try to hold the line at two cents a pound. Crews register, balk and bargain — while Native pickers from British Columbia are turned away in favor of white workers.
- The Banker, the Preacher and the Indictments in the Pews
When a Tacoma grand jury indicted officers of the failed Merchants National Bank, the Rev. Alfred Martin used a Friday sermon to remind his congregation that ancient curses were mild compared with modern indictments.
- Tacoma's 1894: Falling Lumber, Rising Flour, and a New Rolling Mill
The Ledger's year-end review found reasons for optimism in shipping, smelting, meat packing, and new rail connections—even as low prices cut into the lumber trade.
- The Pigeons That Flew Down From Rainier With News the Mountain Was Smoking
Seven homing pigeons carried dispatches from Mount Rainier's slopes, disproving the era's altitude limits and delivering word that the volcano was steaming.
- The Magnet in the Pocket: How a Civil War Veteran Lost a Beltful of Gold to a Grass Widow
Aged soldier, starving widow in a tent, a helpful 'mutual friend' named Hansen, a silk dress, a diamond ring — and a tale about thieves carrying magnets that drew gold straight out of a man's clothes.
- A Convict Hangs Himself at McNeil's Island — and No One Comes for Him
Charles Carlson, forty, serving eight months for selling whisky to Indians at North Yakima, is found hanging in a water-closet at the federal penitentiary. The warden cuts him down minutes too late.
- A Weather Station on the Roof of the Cascades
A scientist's proposal imagined a summit hut on Mount Rainier, heated by volcanic steam and measuring what might be the windiest place on earth.
- Divers Hunting a Sunken Safe Find a Watchman in the Harbor
While searching Tacoma harbor for a Northern Pacific safe and $14,000, Seattle divers uncovered the body of William Hansen, drowned months earlier when the pump house went down in a Thanksgiving landslide.
- Shipped Out by Force: The Sailor Who Wouldn't Sign
A Tacoma saloonkeeper lured three men to a vessel and kept them aboard against their will — now the seamen's union demands justice.
- A Mill Worker Vanishes, Leaving a Stamped Letter and a Shanghaiing Theory
J. R. Flack left his Tacoma room without his clothes or wages. His boss at Wheeler, Osgood & Co. suspects the former sailor was “shanghaied” aboard a vessel.
- Zoe Gayton Bets the World She Can Walk It — Then Cheats at the First Tunnel
A week out of Seattle on her round-the-world wager, the pedestrian record-breaker was told she could not walk the two miles of the Northern Pacific's Stampede Tunnel. A locomotive pulled up. Everybody swore secrecy. A newspaper man heard anyway.
- The Grocer of Puyallup Walked Into the Woods and Never Came Back
William Bloomfield ran a fruit and confectionery stand for six years, was thought eccentric, owed $35, and told a friend at midnight he meant to take a walk toward the trees.
- The Runaway Gravel Car That Nearly Killed a Switchman
A gravel car cut loose on Tacoma's steep Pacific Avenue grade, tearing down the street at sixty miles an hour until a switchman leapt onto the engine's pilot to stop it — and was gravely hurt.
- The Confession That Stunned the Bench: A Stevedore’s Shameful Theft
In a Tacoma courtroom, Fred Wells didn't just admit to stealing from his sleeping bunkmate—he detailed how he lived like a king on stolen cash before being caught red-handed.
- A Woman's Fist Fights Off a Tacoma Street Robber
After being accosted at 11th and A, a woman turned the tables on her attacker, delivering a stinging blow that sent him fleeing into the night.
- Independence Day Fireworks Tragedy
While Tacoma celebrated with a quiet holiday, a local boy faced a life-altering injury when a cannon exploded.
- A Desperate End on the Waterfront
After allegedly being robbed of fifty dollars in Tacoma, a laborer was found nearly dead from a morphine overdose.
- The Social Siege of Miss Alioa Burns
A young Seattle resident is expelled from a Tacoma club dance, sparking a standoff and a threat of legal retribution.
- A Gambler's Estate Turns Ugly
A bitter legal battle over the estate of a Tacoma gambling house proprietor spills over into public accusations of fraud and pauperism.
- The Pressure Cooker of Tacoma Policing
Chief Zwickey steps down after juggling competing demands from saloon owners and moral reformers