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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 37 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 59 |
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 60 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 46 |
| 1892 | 223 |
| 1893 | 227 |
| 1894 | 203 |
| 1895 | 161 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 26 |
| 1903 | 56 |
| 1904 | 789 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 7 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 726 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
2,771 stories
- The Assistant City Clerk's Gambling Debt
Tacoma’s Assistant City Clerk F.D. McCain has fled after allegedly forging thousands in city warrants to pay off gambling debts.
- City Hall's Stolen Warrants
Nine hundred and ninety-nine blank city warrants vanish, raising fears of a massive forgery scheme involving city officials.
- Five Chinese Immigrants Deported After Violent Arrest
Local marshals transport five men from Whatcom County to Tacoma for forced return to the Orient following an arrest that left one man wounded.
- The Collapse of the Merchants' National
Tacoma bank officials indicted on charges of false entry and 'straw paper' schemes amid a brutal city-wide financial rivalry.
- Political Chaos and the 'Colonization' of Tacoma
As municipal elections loom, accusations of bribery, fraud, and the importation of 'heelers' from Seattle turn Tacoma politics into a desperate power struggle.
- The Machine Behind the Ballot
Tacoma politics in the 1890s faced a crisis of influence, with allegations of a $30,000-a-year 'boodle' ring controlling city contracts and elections.
- The Treasurer’s Deep Hole
Tacoma’s city treasurer is under fire after public financial statements suggest his claimed cash deposits don't add up.
- Brutal Robbery at the Chicago Restaurant
A local restaurant owner was found unconscious and severely beaten after a targeted assault in his own home.
- Coxey’s Army of the Unemployed Rolls Through the West
Across the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, an army of unemployed men seize trains and lobby local mayors for bread as they march toward the nation's capital.
- The March of the Unemployed on Washington
Across the nation, the Industrial Army—a protest of the jobless—clashes with railroad companies and authorities as they move toward the capital to demand work.
- The Political Brawl for Tacoma’s Soul
After 214 ballots, a fractured city council finally elects a president, exposing a bitter web of accusations, bribery allegations, and 'anti-boodler' fervor.
- Tacoma’s Million-Dollar Water Scandal
Citizens are fighting to repudiate a massive bond issue for a municipal water plant they claim is worth only a fraction of the cost.
- Tacoma's $1.75 Million Water Deal Went Bad—and Taxpayers Were Just Catching On
A special dispatch from Tacoma reports that the city's purchase of the old water plant was sold on a false promise of mountain water, while a new bidder offers a cheaper gravity system.
- The Soldiers Who Refused to Ride With Scabs
During the Pullman strike, a Washington National Guard company mutinied rather than travel on a train crewed by non-union men—and the colonel who disarmed them said the whole unit should be disbanded.
- The National Guard Hunts Its Own After the Railroad Strike
Washington's adjutant general orders investigations into guardsmen accused of union sympathies, disobedience, and damage to railroad property during the 1894 strike.
- The General, the Strikers, and the Company That Wouldn't Ride With a Scab Crew
Brig. Gen. A. V. Curry explains why he handed the rifles back to Spokane's Company G after its men refused to travel with a substitute crew — and why he thought the colonel who disarmed them had acted too hastily.
- Tacoma Sues Water Company for $1 Million Over a Dry Promise
City officials say Patterson Springs delivered a fraction of the promised flow, making the costly gravity system practically worthless.
- Tacoma’s Open Letter to the Railroad Monopoly
A scathing council memorial accuses the Northern Pacific Railroad of breaking its promises, stalling city growth, and holding the harbor hostage.
- The Sham Inspection of the Northern Pacific
A whistleblower account of how railroad executives entertained government officials with champagne to secure unearned land grants.
- The Senator vs. The Railroad Barons
A fierce Senate debate erupts over the Northern Pacific’s attempt to claim land through a 'coal branch' built years earlier.
- The Tide Lands Plat: A Waterfront Laid Out for Sale
State appraisers file the plat for the Tacoma tide lands, opening 600 acres of shore and mud flats to sale—unless upland owners claim them first.
- Gunfire Before Midnight: The Bratton Tragedy in Tacoma
Isaac Henry Bratton, 41, shot his wife and then himself at their Tacoma home. The couple had come from Missouri two years earlier and left three children.
- Railroad Men Pack a Tacoma Hall to Kill the Grain-Rate Bill
Seventy railroad employees — or, the P-I suspects, the roads themselves wearing workingmen's clothes — ask the Legislature to reject a bill cutting wheat freight rates. Their argument: lower rates mean lost jobs.
- The Mysterious Death of Abe Gross
A 28-year-old Tacoma dry-goods partner was found shot through the mouth in his bed. His brother's grief, a coroner's open verdict, and a city's disbelief turned a private tragedy into a public mystery.
- A Magnate's Despair: The Suicide of Paul Schulze
A Tacoma streetcar president and irrigation promoter, ruined by debt and the loss of Northern Pacific confidence, takes his own life with a chilling note about ambition.
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