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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 35 |
| 1892 | 30 |
65 stories matching thing
- The Bond Election That Wasn't Legal
Olympia's council pushed the city into debt and ordered a vote before checking whether it had the authority to do so — then spent public money to learn it hadn't. The Tribune, having warned them, savours the mess.
- The Capital's Election Was Run by the Old Rules
A Walla Walla editor notes the irony: Olympia used the old ballot form after the legislature changed the law, and now the election's legality is in doubt.
- Rainier’s Shingle Boom and the Road Olympia Forgot
A Rainier correspondent reports new shingle mills and warns that Olympia merchants are losing rural trade to Tacoma by ignoring the roads that feed the city.
- A Call for Jewish Unity and Resilience
A historical appeal to the Jewish community, urging solidarity and the preservation of heritage amidst the challenges of the late 19th century.
- The Death Rate Was Up. The Health Officer Blamed the Syringe.
In 1891 Olympia's health officer reported an unprecedented mortality spike—and pointed to morphine and cocaine injections, with young women said to be using them 'just for fun.'
- The Legislature’s Unfinished Business—and the Case for a Special Session
An anonymous Olympia lawmaker told The Tribune that defective appropriation laws, unpaid citizens and stalled state business demanded a special session by December.
- Olympia's Electric Road Begins With a Land Drive
The Olympia Electric Light Power Company wants land donations for a streetcar line, while engineers prepare to grade Main Street from 26th to 29th.
- The Feather-Pillow Pregnancy That Fooled Centralia
A couple's plea for train fare ends with the town out the money and both travelers gone.
- The County Courthouse Construction Scandal
A superintendent is forced out after refusing to accept substandard materials for the new county building.
- Tacoma Tries to Sell Itself to a Visiting New Yorker
A New York Tribune interview with Charles S. Smith set off a Tacoma-Seattle inferiority complex: real railroads versus prospective ones, wheat and coal versus new blocks and fine homes.
- The Governor, the Corporations, and the Session He Wouldn't Call
A leaked cabinet meeting shows Governor Ferry weighing an extra legislative session against the wrath of corporations—and his own officials split over whether the state can wait.
- The Groom’s Armed Ultimatum
A wedding ceremony in Olympia was interrupted when the groom drew a six-shooter to prevent the minister from claiming the traditional first kiss.
- The Senator, the Booster and the 39 Gambling Halls
A Spokane millionaire refused to clean up a vice-ridden building because, he said, Tacoma would happily take the business.
- A Farmer Denies a Backroom Deal — and Pitches His County's Wheat
W. C. Bush of Bush's Prairie says he may run for the senate to help Thurston County's World's Fair exhibit, but flatly denies the rumor that Judge Robinson ever promised him the seat.
- The Fight to Keep Olympia's Public Works Money in Olympia
A local editor takes credit for shaming the city council into hiring home labor — and warns that out-of-town contractors are bleeding the capital dry.
- The City Was Broke. The Paper Wanted the Mayor and Council to Quit.
With Olympia's finances in a muddle and a bond election already doomed by irregularities, the Tribune pressed Mayor Kerr and three councilmen to resign early so the newly elected government could take charge.
- The Boss and the Franklin Street Fix
Olympia’s public-works fight spills into council: a contractor says the job is done, Boss Sickles says otherwise, and the city engineer is caught in the middle.
- Gate City’s Bridge to Nowhere—and the Heavyweight Who Saw a Future
A missing approach leaves a new Black River bridge unusable, diverting trade to Centralia—but John L. Sullivan thinks the town could host his next fight.
- Hot Ashes Nearly Burn Down Olympia’s Pride
A carelessly discarded batch of hot ashes smoldered for hours in the Capitol Steam Laundry before bursting into flame beneath the Olympia Hotel.
- Olympia's Boosters Had a Plan for the Tide Flats: Give Land to Factories
In March 1892, five local men formed an improvement company to buy waterfront tide lands, donate parcels to manufacturers, and press governments to dredge a deep-water harbor.
- The Engineer Who Says Olympia Stiffed Him for Sewer Plans
A civil engineer hired to draft Olympia’s sewers says the city accepted his $700 bid, starved him of data, then canceled his contract and paid another man $1,500 for plans he calls a public nuisance.
- The Sunday Search of Olympia's Chinese Gardens
A newly sworn customs inspector found opium hidden among vegetables and buried in boxes, arrested one man, and left the city's Chinese market gardens under guard.
- The Paper War That Split Thurston County
A rival weekly, a political machine, and a defiant editor: Olympia’s Tribune accuses the Owings-Murphy ring of spending thousands to “down” it.
- Olympia's Whole City Government Quit Rather Than Face the Voters Again
After a botched bond election sank the city in debt, the mayor and councilmen resigned en masse — and the Tribune says the incoming administration must come clean about the finances before asking for another dollar.
- Two Red Boxes on Wheels: Olympia's Sorry Excuse for a Streetcar Line
The street railway's president has told the council he can keep the city tied up in court for two years. The Tribune suggests the new council simply take his franchise away.