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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
19 stories matching affect
- The Great Cat Heist: How 'Old Tom' Became Seattle's Most Wanted Feline
A market cat’s affection for stolen kittens turns a quiet afternoon into a scandal of the highest order.
- The 'Pretty Man' at the Seattle Theatre
An 1878 local columnist offers a biting, satirical takedown of a local dandy, mocking his grooming habits and public vanity at the theatre.
- The Cigar Drunkards of Seattle
In 1877, police were baffled by a new phenomenon: Native Americans getting intoxicated not from liquor, but from smoking cigars. As the city grappled with enforcement of temperance laws, this bizarre loophole left officers scratching their heads and citizens demanding new legislation.
- The Monopoly of Water: A Seattleite’s Outrage Over Yesler’s Wharf
In 1877, a local citizen confronted the city's most powerful industrialist over his claim to the waterfront, sparking a debate about public access and private power that echoes in Seattle today.
- The Salmon Bite
A minor fishing injury on the Columbia River turns into a race against gangrene for a young man.
- The Minister’s Holy Kick
A traveling preacher pulls a fast one on a highwayman in this classic piece of frontier satire.
- The Tragic Busking of Mr. Schengler
Inspired by a legend of a famous opera star, a local man attempts to sing his way to fame on the streets of Seattle—with a painful result.
- The Unreliable Peer: A Seattle Critique of Jury Bias
An 1878 editorial laments that the 'glory of English law' is being tarnished by jurors who prioritize class bias over evidence.
- The War That Shook Seattle’s Wallet: How European Conflict Spiked Wheat Prices
While the rest of the world braced for war in the Balkans, Seattle merchants watched their profits soar as panic buying drove wheat prices to historic highs.
- The Unsettled Presidency of 1876
As the nation grappled with a deadlocked electoral count in the Hayes-Tilden election, Seattle residents read a deep-dive analysis of the constitutional chaos and the risk of a political breakdown.
- The Seattle Bond That Broke the Rules
A legal dispute over a $15,000 appeal bond reveals the messy, high-stakes nature of early Seattle commerce and the scrutiny of contract law.
- The Radical Doctor of Seattle
An 1876 lecture at the local Opera House challenges the city's elites, railing against the morality of wealth, the indignity of labor, and the hypocrisy of the church.
- The Struggle for Home Ownership in Early Seattle
An 1877 editorial argues that the city's growth is being stifled by speculative land hoarding, keeping affordable homes out of reach for the working class.
- The Day the Earth Shook: Seattle Ship Launches Amidst Pacific Tremors
While the bark Forest Queen was battered by an earthquake at sea, local shipwrights celebrated the launch of a new vessel in Port Ludlow, marking a moment of resilience and growth for Washington Territory.
- The $1,000 Payroll: How Seattle’s Hop Boom Put Cash in Local Hands
A local farmer’s record-breaking harvest didn’t just fill warehouses—it injected a thousand dollars into the city’s economy by hiring Indigenous laborers who spent their wages right here.
- The Great World's Wonder: Dr. McBride’s Miracle Cures in Pioneer Seattle
A charismatic physician from China has opened an office at the Occidental Hotel, promising instantaneous relief for blindness, deafness, and pain with his 'Concentrated Tea.' While locals flock to witness his 'miraculous' operations, the line between medical innovation and snake oil remains dangerously thin.
- The City’s Dirty Secret: A Plea for Seattle’s Health
In 1870, a local editorial warns that Seattle’s lack of sewage infrastructure is poisoning the community with disease, urging citizens to prioritize public health over fiscal caution.
- The Canal That Could Freeze England: A Climate Warning from the Isthmus of Panama
In 1877, Seattle’s press warned that digging a canal through Central America might divert the Gulf Stream, plunging Europe into an ice age—a bizarre but prescient look at early environmental anxiety.
- The Father Who Stopped a Play to Steal His Daughter
A wealthy Indianapolis patriarch tracks his romantic daughter to Seattle in 1876, only to find she has eloped with a lawyer and vanished into the West.