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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 14 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
50 stories matching powerless
- The Day the Circus Band Wagon Tore Through Downtown Tacoma
A runaway team of horses pulling a promotional circus wagon turned a mundane Monday into a scene of carnage at the corner of Washington and South Second Street.
- The Chehalis Inferno
A devastating blaze sweeps through four blocks of wooden buildings, leaving residents to wonder if firebugs are to blame for the city's second disaster in two months.
- The Miracle of the Push Car
An 11-year-old boy survives a harrowing run-in with a runaway push car on an electric rail line south of Seattle.
- A Deadly Current on the Skykomish
A young man, already mourning a family tragedy, meets a fatal end after a rescue attempt turns into a river disaster.
- The State’s Powerless Labor Inspector
A deputy labor commissioner finds poor conditions for women and children in Everett, but discovers the law offers her no teeth to force compliance.
- The Night Fremont's Industry Went Up in Smoke
When the Goddard Bros. foundry on Lake Union caught fire, the entire neighborhood rushed to help—but they couldn't beat the flames.
- Abandoned and Destitute: A Public Plea for Support
When an attorney abandons his wife and child in 1892 Seattle, the legal system proves powerless to help—until a local judge intervenes.
- The Battle for the Waterfront
Tacoma and Seattle clash with the state over who owns the land between the high tide line and the harbor.
- Border Towns Beg for Smallpox Quarantine — but the Health Board Can't Stop the Trains
Asiatic smallpox is spreading in Vancouver and New Westminster, and Whatcom's mayor warns that daily trains could carry infection into every Puget Sound city. The board of health says the law only lets it quarantine ships.
- The Shadow of the Mine Wars at Seattle City Hall
A citizen's public protest exposes the appointment of a former strike-breaking enforcer to the Seattle police force, sparking a clash over the legitimacy of law enforcement.
- A Judge Calls the County-Seat Law ‘Nefarious’
Judge Ballinger dismisses Snohomish’s appeal over moving the county seat to Everett, blasting officials for defiance and the legislature for a law that leaves the court powerless.
- The Amazon of Second Street
When an officer attempted to arrest a man during a street brawl, his wife stepped in with a display of pugilistic skill that stunned the police and the crowd.
- Union and Non-Union Seamen Clash at Port Townsend
A saloon becomes a battleground as a labor dispute over shipping jobs descends into a violent, armed confrontation.
- The Wreck of the Lily Grace
After surviving a harrowing gale and the total loss of his ship near Cape Flattery, a sea captain washes up in Seattle to recount a battle against the elements.
- A Grave in Tacoma, a Death Across Three States, and a Lawyer Asking to Open the Coffin
Suspicions of foul play follow a woman's remains home to Tacoma from a journey through California and Oregon. But with no coroner's authority, no money and a husband's Assyrian friends standing guard at the house, her counsel can only beg for a disinterment.
- The 'Vagrant' Scourge of 1878
A Victorian-era editorial attempts to pathologize poverty and social instability in frontier Seattle by blaming 'tramps' and theft for the city’s growing pains.
- The Fight for Life in the Depths
A harrowing, vivid account of a fisherman's life-or-death struggle against a giant cephalopod, reprinted from Victor Hugo's 'Toilers of the Sea' in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- The Hoodlums of Snohomish: A Night of Guerilla Warfare
In August 1877, a 'protective force' and the police clashed with gangs of young men in downtown Snohomish, destroying saloons and quelling what officials called 'riotous conduct.'
- The Great Partition: Why Walla Walla Wants to Leave Washington
A fiery editorial warns that the eastern half of the territory is plotting to join Oregon, leaving Seattle and the Puget Sound region stranded in a 'provincial' limbo.
- The Cross-Threaded Nozzle That Cost Ellensburg the Race
In an 1889 hose-cart contest, North Yakima’s fire team beat Ellensburg—but the day’s real drama was a stuck coupling and a heartbroken nozzleman.
- The Dry Crusade Meets in Seattle, and Admits the Room Is Half Empty
King County Prohibitionists adopt a sweeping platform against the liquor traffic, name delegates, and set a September convention—despite a light turnout.
- The Butter Was Shipped 'Tagless, Label-less, Mark-less'—and Washington Farmers Paid for It
A Redmond farmer's letter to the editor says Puget Sound producers are being squeezed by commission men and by adulterated Eastern butter sold in Seattle as creamery.
- Seattle Lost the Ship Canal Fight in One Olympia Night
The 1892 Democratic state convention rejected the Lake Washington ship canal, humiliated King County's delegates and nominated Henry J. Snively for governor — setting off a political feud over Seattle's waterfront future.
- The Pastor, the Missing Husband, and the Seattle Libel Trial
A church feud goes to court as Rev. M. H. Nichols is tried for circulating scandalous charges against Dr. T. B. Ford—whose testimony reveals a broken engagement, a vanished first husband, and a dramatic courtroom kiss.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.