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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 51 |
| 1891 | 28 |
| 1892 | 206 |
| 1893 | 224 |
| 1894 | 201 |
| 1895 | 161 |
898 stories
- The Treasurer’s Secret
Tacoma city officials clash over financial transparency as a local treasurer refuses to disclose where public funds are being deposited.
- The Great Tacoma Hack Scandal
A political feud between rival Democratic factions in Tacoma takes an absurd turn when unpaid livery bills surface after a failed mayoral campaign.
- An Upset on the Gridiron
A surprise victory for the 'Viviendas' leaves the Tacoma squad and fans reeling.
- The Populists Assemble in Tacoma
Dr. Fred L. Goddard secures the nomination for Mayor on a platform of municipal reform and worker protections.
- The Detective’s Final Cough
An encounter between a sheriff and a detective ends in a quiet death, sparking a controversy over heart disease and allegations of abuse.
- The Boycott of the Tacoma Ledger
A committee of women organizers visits merchants to enforce a labor boycott against a non-union newspaper.
- The Forged Warrants, and the Ticket to Liverpool
A Tacoma city clerk's alleged forgery ring comes apart in court as a detective reveals escape passages booked to Halifax and a forged signature on the city's own money.
- The Arrest of Link Davis
A playful, staged arrest of a former police chief turned into a heartwarming tribute by his former force.
- The Baseball Game the Gamblers Paid Stanford to Lose
A Tacoma betting ring recruited Stanford’s manager, pitcher, catcher and fielder to throw a game for $500. Captain Sheehan refused $100 — and then played like a demon to win it anyway.
- Tacoma’s Fire Chief Lost His Job After a Drunken Ride in the Fire Wagon
A periodic bender, a joyride down Pacific Avenue in a fire wagon, and a mayor’s ultimatum ended Chief Lillis’s career—though supporters blamed the A.P.A.
- Tacoma Says It's Broke—But Its Ex-Treasurer Reported $100,000 on Hand
A creditor moves to collect a $1,700 judgment, threatening to expose where Tacoma's money went.
- The Proxy Convention: Democrats Meet in Tacoma and Call It Harmony
A state Democratic committee gathering is dominated by proxies and federal officeholders, while leaders maneuver over fusion and legislative apportionment.
- A Supreme Court Justice Denies He Bargained Away His Seat
Judge T. L. Stiles goes public to deny that he ever promised to step down so his friend Judge Pritchard could take the bench — and accuses a party operative of forcing him out of a race he had every right to enter.
- A Forest Fire Nearly Erases a Mountain Resort
Flames at Hot Springs destroy cottages and outbuildings near Tacoma, sparing only the hotel, a store and the station.
- The Dry Party That Wanted Woman Suffrage, Equal Pay and Public Railroads
One hundred and fifty Prohibitionists from thirteen Washington counties met in Tacoma in 1894 and wrote a platform that went far beyond liquor — endorsing votes for women, equal wages regardless of sex, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and the forfeiture of unearned land grants.
- The Union Man in the White Suit Walked Into Jail
After the 1894 railroad strike, Northern Pacific committeeman Charles A. Barnes lost his bondsmen and surrendered in a canvas suit and straw hat, telling the marshal, 'Here is my body.'
- A Flash at the Switchboard: Tacoma's Veteran Electrician Killed by 2,000 Volts
Peter Peterson, six years with the city light station, grabbed two live plugs at once. He was dead before doctors could even attempt a revival.
- A Pretty Waitress's Secret Journey Ended in Poison at Tacoma
Nineteen-year-old Miss Johnson told no one when she left her Fourth Street job, slipped away to Tacoma, and took strychnine. Her family in Olalla learned only after the end.
- Diving for the Lost Safe of the Northern Pacific
A salvage operation is underway in Tacoma harbor to recover a sunken safe containing $14,000 in cash and documents.
- Two Tacoma Papers Go to War Over a Bank Blackmail Charge
The Ledger accuses the News of shaking down local banks, both dailies dare each other to sue for libel, and the insults turn spectacularly personal.
- The Waterfront Pirates Who Stashed a Household in Tacoma
A Seattle liveryman and a police officer followed a trail of stolen oars and tools to West Passage, where two men had turned a small cottage into a robber's roost.
- Two Apologetic Highwaymen Held Up a Tacoma Liquor Dealer
A short cut through a vacant lot, a big revolver, and robbers who blamed hard times—but left the Odd Fellows charm because it was a present.
- A Saloonkeeper's Wife and Her Mother Caught with $1,500 of Stolen Finery
After months of disappearing goods, a Tacoma detective followed a suspiciously bulging cloak to a house piled high with purloined hats, silks, umbrellas and perfume — and a household of weeping women, howling children and one barking poodle.
- A Tacoma School Inquiry Ends in a Hallway Brawl
A closed-door investigation at Tacoma High School spills into a physical confrontation between a professor and a Chamber of Commerce committeeman.
- Four Years, Four Factions, and Still No Pavement on Pacific Avenue
Tacoma's property owners have bickered for four years over how to pave the street running through their town — bituminous rock, plank, wood, or plank-on-gravel — so the council has finally given them until June 1 to agree, or it will choose for them.