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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 17 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 12 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1910 | 4 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 4 |
| 1928 | 1 |
133 stories matching fool
- The House Would Rather Not Buy the Railroads
Olympia lawmakers mock a memorial urging Congress to foreclose on the Pacific railroads, then vote 67-55 to let the matter drop.
- The Brutal Truth of the 'Workaday' Struggle
An 1879 editorial reflects on the universal, grinding necessity of securing a livelihood, observing that even in a 'republic' built on individualistic grit, most people are only one misstep away from ruin.
- The Ghost-Maker of Buffalo Gets Busted in Tacoma
A traveling spiritualist promising to summon the dead is exposed as a charlatan after an electric battery—and a hysterical scene at a hotel—reveals her 'spirit' tricks.
- The Price of Discontent: A Warning from the 1877 Panic
While Seattle thrives on the steady hum of mills and logging camps, a Seattle editor warns citizens against petty grievances by recounting the harrowing hunger and unemployment plaguing the rest of the country.
- The Tale of the Mule and the Chain Gang
A tragicomic local account of a man's final, ill-fated encounter with a stubborn mule while attempting to evade the law.
- The Political Stump in Old Seattle
A skeptical local editor critiques a 1880 Democratic congressional candidate’s visit to Seattle, dissecting his oratory, his 'Solid South' rhetoric, and the harsh realities of campaigning in a territory without a vote.
- The Politics of Personal Attack in 1872
A century and a half ago, a Seattle newspaper reflected on the toxic state of political discourse and the dangerous habit of substituting insults for policy debate.
- The Devil's Ledger: A Local Poet Exposes the Hypocrisy of Pullman’s Elite
In a rare moment of social commentary for Whitman County, an anonymous writer publishes a scathing series of rhetorical questions challenging the moral double standards of wealth, gender, and justice in 1889.
- The Bribe, the Clerk, and the Police Chief
A Tacoma councilman and city clerk faced bribery charges as the police chief refused to name the gamblers behind the Haymarket.
- Tacoma Park Board Erupts in 'Fossil' Feud
Facing mounting debt and public scrutiny, the city's Park Board lashes out at 'meddlers' and critics.
- The Day Newcastle Went Mad: A Woman’s War on Clerks and Clubs
In April 1877, a frustrated businesswoman in Newcastle, Washington Territory, escalated a shipping dispute into a violent rampage involving a club and a six-shooter, forcing local men to intervene.
- The Ten-Cent Bet That Backfired
An Everett light company employee tried to bluff a union man over strike-related power outages, but ended up losing his confidence and his pride.
- The Sage of Aberdeen Returns from the Islands
After an excursion to Hawaii, the local political commentator reflects on the confusion of switching party allegiances.
- Yakima's Water Was Not for Sale
A farm paper accuses the Washington Irrigation Co. of trying to monopolize Yakima Valley reservoirs — and of bullying the legislature to get them.
- The Drunken Sailor's Plunge
Two reporters witness the same chaotic scene at Yesler's Wharf.
- The Judgment Day Landlord
A Seattle resident finds his patience tested when his neighbors' millennial religious fervor leads to the systematic expropriation of his household goods.
- The Parson, the Woodpile, and the Five-Dollar Hat
A skeptical rancher bets the new minister he can't buck two giant butts of firewood before dark. He shouldn't have doubted a frontier preacher.
- A Centralia Tragedy: A Logger's Jealous Rage
After a week away at a logging camp, a man returns home to commit a double murder-suicide, leaving behind a chilling note.
- Seattle Dealers Deny the Great Yakima Potato Swindle
A Yakima farmer accused commission merchants of palming off inferior spuds as Yakima stock and skimming the profits. The city’s leading produce houses say the real culprits are fly-by-night operators.
- A Heartbreak in a Seattle Boarding House
An elderly man’s public quest to 'rescue' his beloved from her life at the Pacific House leads to a courtroom confrontation.
- The Great Tacoma Water Grift
How a corrupt water monopoly swindled the city out of nearly $1.5 million for a tainted water supply, leaving residents with a decade of filth.
- The Great Seattle Hoax: How a 'Captain' Fooled the Press with a Phantom Ship
A con artist named Captain John Brown sold a wild tale of a treasure-laden voyage to a local newspaper for $10, only for customs officers to discover the vessel didn't exist.
- The Desert Bloom of Ainsworth
A skeptical traveler discovers a German immigrant coaxing bountiful gardens from the dusty sagebrush plains of the Snake River.
- The Strikebreakers Who Became Policemen
During a four-month strike at Sumner Iron Works, Everett's police commission armed strikebreakers with police authority—and the Labor Journal demanded to know who was protecting whom.
- The $40 Forgery That Fooled Seattle’s Hardware Elite
A dashing stranger with a dark mustache and bare chest walks into W.P. Boyd & Co., flashes a forged check from the Seattle Hardware Company, and vanishes with $40 in cash—leaving behind only a single typo that saves the victim from total ruin.