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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 51 |
| 1891 | 28 |
| 1892 | 206 |
| 1893 | 224 |
| 1894 | 201 |
| 1895 | 161 |
898 stories
- Ambitious Expansion Plans for Tacoma Harbor
Engineer D. R. Ogden presents massive union rail and harbor terminal plans to the state land board in Olympia.
- The Thanksgiving Miracle at the Post Office
After eight months of silence, a Tacoma woman finds her missing husband in the most routine of places: the general delivery window.
- The Salvation Army's Odorous Opponents
A group of young men tried to drive the Salvation Army out of town by dousing their hall in polecat oil.
- A Wife’s Revenge Against a Craps-Playing Husband
An angry spouse leads a constable to raid a gambling den to recover stolen household money.
- The 'Orting Bank Thief' Libel Case
A political war of words between Populists and the establishment leads to a dramatic arrest for criminal libel in Tacoma.
- Cheers, Hisses and a Canal: The Night Tacoma Cheered the Ditch It Was Told Would Ruin It
At a packed Republican mass-meeting in Germania Hall, speaker after speaker dared the crowd to believe the Lake Washington canal would destroy Tacoma — and the crowd roared back that it would not.
- The Prohibition Party Names a Full Ticket — and a Woman-Suffrage Lawyer for Governor
Meeting in Tacoma, Washington’s Prohibitionists nominated Judge Roger S. Greene and adopted a platform demanding national prohibition, votes for women, labor arbitration and a Saturday half-holiday.
- Blackface for Charity: Tacoma's Church Children Stage the 'Pickaninny Minstrels'
At St. Luke's parish house the children of Tacoma's Episcopal set performed a minstrel show to fund the Sheltering Arms, and the correspondent pronounced it wonderful — a measure of how respectable racial caricature once was.
- Tacoma’s Whitewash That Wasn’t
A public-works president accuses a newly appointed superintendent of dishonesty—then refuses to put the charges in writing.
- The Fire Chief’s Citizenship Papers
Chief Hunt says he will fight a Pierce County indictment charging that his 1892 naturalization certificate was fraudulently obtained.
- Seattle’s Fire Chief Fights a Naturalization-Fraud Indictment
Chief Hunt’s lawyers argued that false statements on his citizenship papers did not matter—because Washington’s constitution had already made him a citizen.
- The $17,500 Stare-Down at the Agricultural College
A former treasurer refused to release college funds, a Tacoma contractor claimed the low bid was skipped, and the attorney general said the appeal clock had run out.
- The Opium Smuggler's Family Courtroom Appeal
W. H. Horr was convicted on four counts of opium smuggling in Tacoma, but the most dramatic moment came when his lawyer brought his wife and son forward to beg the jury for mercy.
- The Dead Horses That Taught Tacoma How to Raise Sunken Ships
A Tacoma patent company says its collapsible air bags can lift wrecks from the sea floor—a trick supposedly inspired by a bloated boatload of horses in the Ohio River. Investors are already fighting over the fortune.
- A Dynamite Cartridge Hidden in a Locomotive's Coal
Sympathizers with the recent strike are suspected after a fused explosive is found in coal loaded at Seattle and fed to a Northern Pacific engine in Tacoma.
- Falsely Jailed Over Missing Gold, Two Express Clerks Win $7,000
When $2,500 in gold went missing between Tacoma and Seattle, the express company's detectives seized two young employees. A Portland jury now says it was false imprisonment.
- He Missed the Masquerade Ball. She Filed for Divorce. He Took Morphine.
Paul J. Ravage died at St. Joseph's Hospital after his wife divorced him over a forgotten night out in Spokane.
- A Wealthy Englishman's Opium Run Ends in a Tacoma Jail
Jack Forbes, a young man with a family allowance and a taste for risk, is jailed after two trunks of opium are traced to a Tacoma hotel.
- Tacoma Officials Accuse Land Commission of Favoring the Land Company
City leaders head to Olympia to challenge harbor lines they say were drawn to benefit the Tacoma Land Company rather than the city.
- The Firebug's Last Exit: A Tacoma Lodging-House Owner Hangs Himself
After firemen foiled his attempt to burn his own lodging house for insurance, Carl Haesbseche walked out before breakfast, rigged a twine noose, and stepped off a platform.
- A Railroad Beats a Homesteader Over a Tacoma Land Claim
Judge Gilbert rules James De Lacey abandoned his claim before the Northern Pacific land grant, but De Lacey will appeal.
- Tacoma Assessor Fires Deputy With a Yard-Long Wooden Knife
After Joe Egermeyer opposed his boss's nomination, County Assessor Doherty staged a mock execution with a butcher knife.
- The Fair, the Band, and the Union Telegram
When Tacoma's Interstate Fair hired an out-of-town military band, the local musicians' union balked—prompting an angry telegram and a last-minute scramble to catch the train.
- The Fair Band Walked Out When the Pay Didn't Come
Fifteen Tacoma musicians said they quit the Interstate Fair band after management failed to arrange their wages — and they had brought players from Portland and Seattle at their own expense.
- Deported Despite the Evidence
Two Chinese merchants who proved they were lawful Portland residents are ordered out of the country, a federal judge siding with the immigration commissioner.