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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 5 |
14 stories matching touch
- The Church That Was Built by Hand
A pioneer minister recalls the grit and community labor required to build Olympia's first Unitarian church during the city's early boom and bust cycles.
- The Colonel, the Adjutant-General, and the Olympia Hotel Lobby
A state militia court-martial adjourns without deciding whether Colonel Haines was a civilian or a soldier when he assaulted Adjutant-General O’Brien—prompting a newspaper suggestion that O’Brien wear a baseball mask.
- The Court-Martial That Dismissed Itself
Colonel Haines walks free after a military court decides it had no authority to try him—leaving Governor Ferry to answer for the expense.
- Half-Finished Streets and a Man-Trap on Main: The Tribune Takes the City to Task
On the morning of a council meeting, Olympia's paper catalogues the abandoned plank road, the blocked gutters, the depot sidewalk rotting for two weeks, and a hole in Main Street waiting to cost the city money.
- The Electric Gate: An Olympia Father Declares War on Front-Gate Courting
A gadget-minded Eastside householder wires his front gate to deliver a jolt to lally-gagging sweethearts — and proves it first on an unwitting dog and a cabbage-loving cow.
- A Hard Day at the Coal Depot Ends in Paralysis for One of Olympia's Oldest Citizens
A prominent Olympian collapses after a day of heavy work in the rain; doctors prescribe quiet as visitors crowd St. Peter's Hospital.
- They Burned Letters to the Dead on Ayer's Hill
Olympia's Chinese community gathered at a hillside cemetery in 1891 to honor eight departed countrymen with roast pork, red candles, wine and paper messages sent into the next world.
- The Treasurer Who Vanished, Then Wrote Home From Puget Sound
An Iowa county official disappeared in the 1870s. After his death, his family gathered at the Olympia Hotel to settle an estate—and letters revealed a hidden life, a bank failure, and a real-estate boom he hoped would make restitution possible.
- The Night Olympia Went to War — and Nobody Shed a Drop of Blood
A touring tragedian closes his engagement with six acts of Shakespearean murder, and the army court-martial in town turns out in force to watch.
- The Last Chapter at 1344 C Street
After her abusive husband hanged himself in the Tacoma city jail, a Swedish-born woman shot herself—and the policeman who had tried to save her stayed at her bedside until the end.
- The Judge Who Refused to Step Aside
In Thurston County court, Judge Robinson denies a change of venue in the Minkler case, rejecting claims that county prejudice or a newspaper feud had compromised him.
- Liquor Dealers Organize to Capture City Council
A slim meeting at Columbia Hall reveals a saloon-backed push to elect Murphy and Grainger, as the liquor interests try to regain control after last year's defeat.
- A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.
- He Kept a Dead Man's Skull as a Souvenir — and the Paper Printed the Story
Writing from North Yakima in 1892, Milburn G. Wills recalls the 1855 volunteer campaign that broke the Yakama resistance — the forced marches, the starving commands, the men shot beside him, and the trophy he carried home.