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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 13 |
| 1859 | 27 |
| 1860 | 6 |
| 1861 | 6 |
| 1863 | 5 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1879 | 5 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 56 |
| 1884 | 25 |
| 1885 | 43 |
| 1886 | 26 |
| 1887 | 70 |
| 1888 | 34 |
| 1889 | 76 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 48 |
| 1892 | 267 |
| 1893 | 263 |
| 1894 | 243 |
| 1895 | 182 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 7 |
| 1899 | 30 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 64 |
| 1904 | 848 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 7 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 758 |
| 1910 | 5 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 9 |
| 1917 | 5 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 1 |
3,195 stories
- 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 railroad 'patron saint' gets a cannon salute
New Tacoma serenaded Northern Pacific director C.B. Wright—and the Post-Intelligencer noted that Seattle had not always been his favorite town.
- 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.
- Unemployment and Drink: A Death at Tacoma’s Palace Lodging House
P. N. Taylor, out of work and struggling with liquor, cut his throat beside his wife at Eleventh Street and Tacoma Avenue; he died three hours later.
- 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.
- Tacoma's Fire Chief and Driver Crash on Their Way to a Blaze
A small house fire on Hood Street led to a collision at Pacific Avenue that cost driver H. M. Packenham his arm and left Chief Lillis with a possible brain injury.
- A Gold Cure Too Late for Robert J. Walker
A nephew of James G. Blaine dies in a Tacoma hospital, and the Olympia Tribune wonders whether a dubious 'bichloride of gold' treatment could have saved him.
- A Judge Draws the Line: Unions May Bargain, Not Bully
In a Tacoma courtroom, Judge Pritchard rules that workingmen may set their own terms — but cannot force an employer's hand through threats.
- Defiance Park Club Pledges Every Vote for a City-Owned Power Plant
At a meeting of the Defiance Park Improvement Club, Assistant City Attorney Baker makes the case for municipal power — and every man in the room stands up to promise his vote and his legwork.
- The Barber Who Inhaled Gas and Ran Screaming Down Pacific Avenue
A faulty gas arc left a new barber violently irrational and touched off a street struggle in Tacoma.
- The Grand Hotel Suicide and the Two Men Who Weren't There
Carl Eggert's letters, translated after his death, describe imaginary pursuers, a son lost to suicide and a small estate divided with jarring practicality.
- 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.
- The Apple Trees That Sailed From England in a Sea Captain's Cabin
Seeds saved from a farewell dinner in 1833 were planted at Fort Nisqually and grew into the finest apple trees north of the Columbia. Now an editor wants Tacoma to move them to a park before the squirrels of Rosston are their only company.
- 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.
- Seattle Church Opens a ‘Checkroom’ for Children
First Presbyterian will care for working mothers' children from morning to night for seven cents a day—no questions asked.
- A Mother Walked Tacoma Handcuffed to Her Daughter
After two alleged kidnap attempts, Edna Reed fastened herself to her 9-year-old with silver-chained handcuffs—and dared the city to separate them.
- 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.