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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 17 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 6 |
| 1880 | 6 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 10 |
| 1884 | 8 |
| 1885 | 26 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 32 |
| 1892 | 43 |
| 1893 | 33 |
| 1894 | 37 |
| 1895 | 37 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 7 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 16 |
| 1904 | 13 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 4 |
| 1909 | 17 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
402 stories matching empti
- The Schools Run Dry: Seattle’s 1877 Budget Crisis
With the city’s coffers emptied, Seattle's public schools were shuttered mid-semester, forcing teachers to pivot to private tuition just to keep the lights on.
- The 1888 Rental Crisis in Puyallup
As the timber industry boomed and population surged, local workers found themselves in a housing crunch that sounds all too familiar today.
- The Midnight Scavenger of Old Seattle
A modest advertisement for a 'night worker' reveals the grim, necessary sanitation infrastructure of 1880s Seattle.
- A River Mystery at Melbourne
A sunken boat and discarded bottles leave locals fearing for the lives of a party of revelers.
- Train Derailment in Stampede Tunnel
A sudden movement by a helper engine caused a derailment, halting Northern Pacific traffic through the mountains.
- A Narrow Escape at the Coal Mine
A coal miner in Gilman is lucky to be alive after a car accident leaves him with a broken leg.
- The City That Couldn't Host Its Guests
As steamers bring hundreds of travelers to Seattle, local hotels are full and a new building sits empty in legal limbo, leaving strangers sleeping on docks.
- The Sheriff Who Stopped a 'Socialist' Wedding
When the radical labor agitator August Spies and his bride attempted to marry while Spies was in custody, a Seattle-area official intervened to prevent the 'empty formality' from taking place.
- A Dry Swim at the New YMCA
Tacoma’s new YMCA building hosts a unique inaugural event—a dinner held at the bottom of an empty, tiled swimming pool.
- Native man’s accidental drowning in the Snohomish River
A local man is found drowned after his canoe was discovered drifting empty on the river.
- Joyride to South Tacoma Ends in Empty Tank
A stolen North End automobile was found abandoned in South Tacoma after the joyriders ran out of gas.
- The Nameless Grave by the Tulalip
A grim discovery near Marysville reveals the quiet tragedy of a life ending in the river woods.
- A Bungled Burglary in Waterville
A thief breaks into a grocery store expecting a windfall, only to find the till completely empty.
- The Ghost Town That Only Existed on Paper
How two swindlers and a 'Nebraska Cyclone' preacher conned a community with a townsite located entirely in a duck-filled salt marsh.
- The Perils of the Lumber Truck
A young boy narrowly escapes a gruesome fate after a tumble on Seattle's busy waterfront.
- The Dredger Pacific Resurfaces
A industrial mishap in the Sound leads to a dramatic recovery of a sunken dredger.
- A Revolver in the Baker Hotel Lobby
Bert Taylor shoots at the man he calls his sister’s betrayer in a crowded Bellingham hotel; a jury convicts him of simple assault, not attempted murder.
- Burbank Loses Its Only Trading Post
A general merchandise store is completely destroyed by fire, leaving a small community without a local shop.
- The Midnight Laborer of Seattle’s Waterfront
A rare, intimate portrait of a 19th-century 'night worker' advertising his specialized sanitation services in the growing settlement of Seattle.
- The Hollow Stump Swindle
A Spokane farmer learns the hard way that promises of quick riches found in a forest stump usually lead to empty pockets.
- The New Life of the Black Diamond
A Snohomish captain purchases a small steamer to ply the rivers of the Sound, reviving a vessel from his past.
- The Constable, the Warrant, and the Empty Jail Cell
A Newport constable accused of beating a man badly enough to send him to a Spokane hospital is himself wanted by the sheriff — and nowhere to be found.
- The Tragedy of the False Gold Rush
An editorial on the human cost of feverish speculation and the empty promises of distant mining 'Eldorados.'
- The Hop Pickers' Smallpox Scare
As the hop harvest approaches, local labor agent Joseph Tebeau worries that fear of a smallpox outbreak will leave fields empty.
- Suspicious Arson at the Central Hotel
A long-vacant hotel in Sprague is found soaked in coal oil and set ablaze, leading to the arrest of its owner.