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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 34 |
| 1889 | 65 |
| 1891 | 31 |
| 1892 | 246 |
| 1893 | 259 |
| 1894 | 239 |
| 1895 | 182 |
1,056 stories
- The Dry Party That Wanted Woman Suffrage, Equal Pay and Public Railroads
One hundred and fifty Prohibitionists from thirteen Washington counties met in Tacoma in 1894 and wrote a platform that went far beyond liquor — endorsing votes for women, equal wages regardless of sex, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and the forfeiture of unearned land grants.
- The Union Man in the White Suit Walked Into Jail
After the 1894 railroad strike, Northern Pacific committeeman Charles A. Barnes lost his bondsmen and surrendered in a canvas suit and straw hat, telling the marshal, 'Here is my body.'
- A Flash at the Switchboard: Tacoma's Veteran Electrician Killed by 2,000 Volts
Peter Peterson, six years with the city light station, grabbed two live plugs at once. He was dead before doctors could even attempt a revival.
- A Pretty Waitress's Secret Journey Ended in Poison at Tacoma
Nineteen-year-old Miss Johnson told no one when she left her Fourth Street job, slipped away to Tacoma, and took strychnine. Her family in Olalla learned only after the end.
- Diving for the Lost Safe of the Northern Pacific
A salvage operation is underway in Tacoma harbor to recover a sunken safe containing $14,000 in cash and documents.
- Two Tacoma Papers Go to War Over a Bank Blackmail Charge
The Ledger accuses the News of shaking down local banks, both dailies dare each other to sue for libel, and the insults turn spectacularly personal.
- The Serpent in the Saloon: A Seattle Sermon Demands Local Option
After two liquor-fueled shootings in the city, Rev. Dr. Alton told First Presbyterian Church that Seattle could no longer pretend a licensed saloon was anything but a public danger.
- Two Apologetic Highwaymen Held Up a Tacoma Liquor Dealer
A short cut through a vacant lot, a big revolver, and robbers who blamed hard times—but left the Odd Fellows charm because it was a present.
- A Saloonkeeper's Wife and Her Mother Caught with $1,500 of Stolen Finery
After months of disappearing goods, a Tacoma detective followed a suspiciously bulging cloak to a house piled high with purloined hats, silks, umbrellas and perfume — and a household of weeping women, howling children and one barking poodle.
- A Tacoma School Inquiry Ends in a Hallway Brawl
A closed-door investigation at Tacoma High School spills into a physical confrontation between a professor and a Chamber of Commerce committeeman.
- Four Years, Four Factions, and Still No Pavement on Pacific Avenue
Tacoma's property owners have bickered for four years over how to pave the street running through their town — bituminous rock, plank, wood, or plank-on-gravel — so the council has finally given them until June 1 to agree, or it will choose for them.
- No Money, No Jury: Tacoma's Judge Stops Court to Prove a Point
Judge Stallcup vacated a jury order because the county had no cash to pay jurors—and his suit over Tacoma's water bonds made the bench itself the story.
- Tacoma's Biggest Real Estate Deal in Months: Bennett Sells Prime Corner for New Commercial Block
Nelson Bennett sells the southeast corner of Eleventh and Pacific to the Peoples Store Company, paving the way for a three-story brick and glass building.
- Three Men Vanished Into Commencement Bay
A sailboat left a Tacoma boathouse with three unknown men aboard. Days later, searchers were still scanning the Sound.
- The Rose Queen of Tacoma
A grand lawn fete at the Cochran estate features a rose-themed pageant and a battle of the flowers.
- Tacoma Methodists Refuse Theater Money for a Children's Home
A charity production of 'Richelieu' was meant to benefit the Crown Jewel Home—until the Puget Sound Methodist conference called the stage off-limits and the donation tainted.
- A Breakfast Ambush: Tacoma Prisoners Nearly Break Free
Smuggled tools, a sprung lock and a rush on the jailer — the county prisoners at Tacoma came within a door of liberty before a deputy with a pail of slops stopped them.
- Close Call with a Cougar in Orting
Two children playing near the Carbon River were nearly snatched by a massive cougar before a quick-thinking visitor intervened.
- The Hop Lice Crisis in Puyallup
As hop lice decimate the region's vines, farmers scramble for a solution to salvage the failing harvest.
- A Puyallup Leader Sets the Record Straight
Puyallup leader Peter Stanup told an Olympia convention that Sen. Dawes, not Allen, blocked the reservation bill.
- Tragedy on the Puyallup Line
A logger named T. J. Sullivan was struck and killed by a motor car while sleeping on the tracks near his camp.
- The High Price of Patronage Printing
A sharp look at how the Tacoma Ledger allegedly extracted $9,000 from the Pierce County treasury through sweetheart printing contracts.
- The Puyallup Hop Market Standoff
Growers and buyers are deadlocked over hop prices, with many farmers facing the threat of foreclosure if they cannot secure better rates.
- Puget Sound Timber Kings Eye the Isthmus
Lumber interests lobby for a canal in Nicaragua, hoping to slash shipping costs and boost the value of Washington's vast timber reserves.
- Legal Briefs and Bare Knuckles in Tacoma
Two prominent attorneys resolve a heated professional disagreement with a fight on the office floor.