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1. From the Pulpit, a Pastor Takes Aim at Tacoma's Mayor

   Rev. Dr. Dean Richmond Babbitt compares Mayor Orr to a Roman official who looked the other way, jeers at 'brass-buttoned police' and warns the mayor he could be prosecuted for letting the law be broken.

   Feb 4, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTrinity Church, Tacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall · Nightlife

2. Night Fire on C Street: Tacoma's Laundry Goes Up in Flames

   A predawn blaze destroys the Tacoma Steam Laundry and nearby shops, sending two women into the street in their nightclothes.

   Mar 4, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerC Street, Tacoma, Pierce CountyDisasters

3. Tacoma Officials Ordered to Shut Off the Water—or Else

   A judge cites the mayor and public works board for contempt after they ignore an injunction to cut Clover Creek; the city's upper neighborhoods may soon pay the price.

   Mar 7, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerClover Creek, Tacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

4. Tacoma's Water Works Deal Was for Eastern Capitalists All Along

   C.B. Wright says he never wanted the city light and water plant for himself—the proposed buyers were New York and Boston investors, leaving the mayor waiting for an answer.

   Mar 23, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

5. The Adjutant General, the Tent Dealer, and the Missing $175

   Tacoma's adjutant general denies trading guard business for a vote, but Jack Holleran has disappeared, leaving a disputed bill and a whiff of patronage politics.

   Mar 25, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPacific Avenue, Tacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall · Scandal

6. Fisticuffs in the Judge's Chambers: Two Attorneys Settle a Newspaper Quarrel

   A hot-tempered Tacoma lawyer, angered by a story in the Post-Intelligencer, storms Judge Fogg's office to confront a Seattle attorney — and gets his head tucked under his rival's arm for the trouble.

   Mar 30, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyScandal

7. The Girl Who Would Not Say Who Took Her

   Reported kidnapped from her Seattle home, Katie Hackworth reappeared at a Tacoma children's home, telling reporters a mysterious woman had taken her from school.

   Apr 17, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

8. The Missing Ledger: Tacoma Grocery's Books Vanish Before Receivership

   A court examiner presses Charles E. Hale about account books that disappeared just before a receiver took over the Tacoma Grocery Company.

   Apr 17, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · True Crime

9. The Land Agent's Ledger: A Tacoma Suicide, $15,000 in Policies, and a Northern Pacific Audit

   After Paul Schulze's death, New York Life agents move to pay his policies while railroad officials quietly examine the books of their late land agent.

   Apr 18, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

10. Caught in the Shaft: A Tacoma Oiler's Death Nobody Saw

    Fred Smith went to work at three in the morning at the St. Paul Tacoma Lumber mill. Two and a half hours later his workmates noticed he was missing — and found him beside the shaft he had been oiling.

    Apr 21, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

11. Two Fires Before Dawn, and One Engine to Cover Both

    Turner Hall burned to the ground at 2:50 a.m., and while the department was still out, a row of four cottages went up at Twenty-fourth and M.

    Apr 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyHousing & Rent · Disasters

12. Tacoma’s Mayor Fires Public Works President After a Heated Exchange

    David L. Demorest tells Mayor Orr he wants nothing more to do with his administration; by evening the mayor has a letter ready declaring him out of a job.

    May 8, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

13. Tacoma's Public Works Commissioner Refuses to Vacate His Seat

    David D. Dement says his term has not ended and will hold office until a successor is appointed, setting up a municipal power struggle with Mayor Orr.

    May 11, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

14. A Sealed Letter and a Fired Public Works Commissioner

    Tacoma's mayor wants H. B. Mullen on the board of public works. The Populists want a week. And a hidden letter accuses the city attorney of mixing politics with a water-plant contract.

    May 12, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

15. The Day Tacoma Ran on Two Wheels

    Hundreds of cyclists filled the roads, women riders multiplied, and local wheelmen organized for municipal rules—while every bicycle in town sold out.

    May 13, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

16. The Vanishing of Seth Catlin

    Seth Catlin, 18, of Tacoma, disappeared while camping in the foothills of Mount Rainier. His horse was found tied to a tree, his canoe missing, and the river is being dragged for his body.

    May 24, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

17. Tacoma Sealed Its Waterfront Deal With a Telegram

    The city council approved a tide-land plat after railroad and land-company officials promised rights-of-way and waterways—over dissenters who wanted more than long-distance assurances.

    May 30, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

18. A Bribe Offer on the Witness Stand

    A Tacoma gambling inquiry turned stranger when the police chief mentioned an attempted payoff—then declined to name names before Friday.

    Jun 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall · Scandal

19. The Seattle Customs Sting

    A doctor from the local Chinese community finds himself at the center of a tense arrest after undercover officers sniffed out smuggled opium on his person during a rail transit to Tacoma.

    Aug 30, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyNightlife

20. The 'Tramp' and the Steamer Ticket

    A traveler, left penniless on the docks of Tacoma, finds an unexpected reprieve through a local act of charity.

    Sep 1, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay

21. The Divorce That Shook Tacoma: A Wife’s Flight to San Francisco

    In a rare public airing of domestic betrayal, Judge Allman grants Frank Lunkley a divorce from Mary after evidence revealed she had eloped with a Seattle man.

    Feb 16, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyScandal

22. The Discovery in the Post-Hole

    While digging for a fence on the Puyallup Reservation, an unexpected find pulls a prehistoric giant from the earth.

    Mar 31, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup Reservation, Tacoma, Pierce CountyStrange But True

23. The Porpoise and the Cow: A Nautical Disaster in Tacoma

    A schooner, a one-eyed cow, and a cargo-hoisting gone horribly wrong—a day on the Tacoma waterfront that ended in broken bunks and a damp bovine.

    Feb 21, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyStrange But True

24. Tragedy on the Puyallup Reservation

    A married member of the Puyallup tribe found dead following Fourth of July celebrations.

    Jul 7, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup Reservation, Tacoma, Pierce County

25. Tacoma Baseball Club Sued for Back Pay

    Players from the disbanded Tacoma team attach the club’s property to recover unpaid salaries.

    Sep 23, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay

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