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77 stories matching illicit
- The Price of Vice: Tacoma’s License Inspector Admits Licensing Dives for Revenue
License Inspector John Glen defends the city's practice of taxing illicit saloons to fill the salary fund, drawing a sharp rebuke from the council's own internal contradictions.
- The Price of a Divorce
After abandoning her marriage to live with another man, Phoebe Bovee loses her claim to their shared property in court.
- The Slot Machine King's Secret Life
A brutal divorce trial exposes the illicit gambling empire and domestic violence hidden behind a Tacoma marriage.
- The Dogfish Oil Smuggling Ring
Federal authorities launch a crackdown on an illicit trade network that attempted to pass foreign-sourced dogfish oil as local Washington production.
- The Adultery Scandal at the Denny Block
A public courtroom spectacle reveals an illicit domestic arrangement in downtown Seattle.
- The Shadow Trade at Nooksack River
A government agent describes the precarious intersection of logging, displacement, and the illicit opium trade on the Lummi Reservation.
- A Murder Case Cleared in Hours: Peter Brickley Sentenced to Life
In a swift Prosser court session, Brickley was tried and sentenced for the June killing of Charles Rasmussen, while other defendants pleaded or were acquitted.
- The Dry Law Comes to the Courthouse: Auditor Accused of Pouring Drinks for Commissioners
Prosecuting Attorney C. W. Fristoe filed four complaints against Auditor J. C. Syfford, alleging he served liquor to county commissioners and others in the commissioners' room. Syfford says he is ready for court.
- The Opium Smugglers of University Street
A customs inspector corners two French laborers on a Seattle gangplank with a heavy cache of illicit opium.
- The Crackdown on Seattle’s ‘M & N’ Gambling Den
After a series of police raids on the city's notorious 'M & N' saloon, the operators are brought before the justice to face the consequences of their illicit card tables.
- The Deadly Cost of Lax Oversight on Puget Sound Steamers
A concerned correspondent challenges local authorities to address the criminal negligence allowing faulty boilers to threaten lives on our waters.
- The Shadowy Resort on the Reservation
Neighbors allege a dance hall and illicit bar near Bay Street are a hub for vice, liquor sales to minors, and persistent noise, while city officials look the other way.
- Olympia Official Warns Traders Violating Tribal Trade Laws
Superintendent Calvin H. Hale issues a stern warning that the illicit liquor trade on Indian reservations will be met with force and prosecution.
- Vice and the Waterfront: A Business Scandal on A Street
Promoters of the new city dock claim that illicit resorts and gambling dens are scaring away legitimate shippers and passengers.
- The Desperate Final Days of an 'Opium Den' Raided in Seattle
A police raid on a Grant Street boarding house exposes a web of illicit activity, homelessness, and the grim reality of life in the city's fringes in 1890.
- The Opium Smuggler of Second Street
A diligent customs officer tracks a young man and his illicit cargo to a local rooming house.
- The Crackdown on Seattle’s Red Light District
Chief Butterfield continues his campaign against 'houses of ill-fame,' arresting operators and patrons as the city forces illicit businesses to vanish from the streets.
- The Passionate Letters of a Skagit Rancher
A middle-aged man is arrested after his illicit love letters to a married woman in Illinois are discovered following her death.
- Federal Warning on Liquor and Unlicensed Trade
The Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Washington Territory issues a stern directive against the illicit sale of alcohol and unauthorized trading on reservations.
- The City’s Illicit Sidewalk Assessment
After the Supreme Court declared a sidewalk assessment 'void and contrary to law,' James Stanaford fights City Hall to reclaim his money.
- The Shadowy Arrival at Port Townsend
Federal authorities intercept two young Chinese men smuggled into Washington Territory as 'contraband,' exposing the illicit human trafficking trade operating under the noses of border officials.
- The City Hall Gambling Den
When police raided the local underworld, the city’s courtroom was transformed into an impromptu warehouse for illicit gaming gear.
- The Opium Conspiracy: How Seattle’s Customs Chief Played Both Sides
A dramatic trial reveals a scheme where federal inspectors smuggled contraband across the border while pretending to seize it, exposing deep corruption in early 20th-century Pacific Northwest law enforcement.
- The Opium Smuggling Ring of Pike Street
A failed nurseryman and a former grocer are arrested in a desperate scheme to smuggle opium in Seattle, orchestrated by a local 'fast young man.'
- The Great Western Land Grab
A federal investigation exposes how massive railroad corporations illicitly claimed hundreds of thousands of acres of public land by exploiting loopholes and keeping government clerks in the dark.