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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 7 |
| 1883 | 36 |
| 1884 | 24 |
| 1885 | 38 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 23 |
144 stories matching practic
- The Forgotten Sailors: A Call for Reform in the U.S. Navy
A seasoned veteran of the U.S. Navy writes from Port Townsend in 1886 to lament the decline of practical seamanship and the lack of decent pensions for sailors who have served their country for decades.
- The Proposal to Import 'Young Scotch Girls' to Seattle
A territorial official proposes a controversial plan to remedy the labor shortage by bringing hundreds of young women from Scotland to work in local households.
- An Embarrassing Day for the Seattle Nine
The local Seattle baseball team, suffering from a complete lack of practice, was soundly defeated by the Snohomish club, leading to a new challenge match.
- An Editor's Brutal Critique of Bad Poetry
A local poet brings his manuscript to the P-I office, only to have his work butchered by an editor with a cynical, practical sense of humor.
- The Perilous Practice of 'Hitching' Rides
A Seattle youth is severely injured after climbing onto a moving load of hay, a dangerous trend that continues to plague city streets.
- The Law Firm That Was: Struve, Haines & Leary Dissolves After Twelve Years
A prominent Seattle legal partnership splits by mutual consent, with Mr. Leary retiring to manage his growing real estate portfolio while the remaining partners continue their lucrative practice in the Post Building.
- Proving the Snoqualmie Pass
After successful winter cattle drives, boosters argue that the Snoqualmie route is the best mountain pass for a future transcontinental railroad.
- The Strange Religious 'Shaking' Phenomenon on the Sound
A new and puzzling religious movement among Indigenous communities on the Skokomish Reservation draws warnings from the government.
- Protecting the Immigrants on the Northern Pacific
Railroad officials implement new dining standards for emigrant passengers to prevent exploitation and food price gouging.
- The Labor Competition of 1885
Local woodcutters engage in a deliberate attempt to price out Chinese laborers in a demonstration of the era's xenophobic labor practices.
- The Struggle for a Coal Railroad
Business is stagnant, and a local editor argues that the only path to prosperity is building a city-backed rail line to the Green River coal fields—despite opposition from the Northern Pacific.
- The Log Jam in Lake Union
How an innovative timber operation cut a channel through the lake to reach salt water, forever changing the Seattle landscape.
- The Great Seattle Property Map Scandal
A scathing editorial reveals that King County’s property assessments are so riddled with errors that the tax rolls are essentially worthless, leaving the local government in a state of administrative paralysis.
- The Forgotten Safety Practice of 1885
A century and a half before GPS trackers, a Snohomish County editor offered a simple, low-tech solution for the perennial heartbreak of a lost child: use indelible ink.
- The Iron Stranglehold on Seattle’s Waterfront
A powerful railroad uses its monopoly on transportation to freeze out competitors and strangle the city's independent growth.
- The Midnight Ambush on the Northern Pacific Line
When an informal poker game at a remote sawmill camp turned into a violent robbery, the patrons initially thought it was all just a practical joke.
- The Great Land Grab Ends: A Victory for Columbia Valley Settlers
A landmark decision by the Land Commissioner threatens to reclaim 4 million acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad, potentially opening up vast swaths of the Columbia River Valley to homesteaders.
- The Birth of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway
Before the boom, Seattle's civic leaders incorporated a grand, million-dollar vision to pierce the Cascades and connect the city to the interior.
- The Scandal at St. Mary’s
A Seattle Episcopal rector faces a congregation-led revolt after rumors of 'immoral practices' turn an ordinary service into a chaotic public showdown.
- The Temperance Debate That Rocked Seattle
A fiery, hours-long confrontation at the Woman's Christian Temperance Union convention reveals a deep divide between pragmatists and extremists.
- The Struggle to Build the Territorial Penitentiary
A desperate plea from the prison board for funding to build essential living quarters, highlighting the dire state of the Washington Territorial Penitentiary in 1887.
- The Homestead Scam That Turned Public Land Into a Speculator’s Prize
An 1883 exposé from Walla Walla describes how doctors, lawyers and merchants faked frontier residency to grab government land—and why the law made perjury easy.
- The End of the Steamship Monopoly
Competition heats up on the Sound as new steamer lines challenge the dominance of the Villard railroad and boat combinations.
- The Inner Life of a Dining Room Waiter
A frank, cynical look at the power dynamics between restaurant staff and customers in early Seattle.
- Seattle Baseball Team Issues Call for Support
Local players aim to uphold their record against the Victoria club, but they need the community’s help to make the trip across the border.