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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 23 |
23 stories matching certain
- The Bridge That Saved a Life: A Near-Miss on the Seattle-Maplewood Line
Engineer Harry Bingham’s split-second brake application stopped a speeding passenger train just feet from a fallen horse and rider on a trestle bridge, averting a catastrophe that would have shaken the city.
- Seattle’s Wire War: Why the City Can’t Wait for Electric Companies to Dig
As corporations drag their feet on burying overhead lines, a local editorial warns that procrastination is a corporate scheme to defeat the public will.
- The Gambling Den Dilemma: Why Seattle’s Top Detective Fought the Ban on Vice
When City Council shut down gambling houses to clean up the streets, Detective Corbett warned that vice wouldn't disappear—it would just scatter and hide.
- The Backroom Shuffle: Seattle’s Underground Gambling Revival
As the century turns, whispers circulate through the city that the illicit gaming houses are preparing to reopen, fueled by rumors of local political complacency.
- The Judge and the Colony: A Disputed Gift of Land
When a federal judge handed over corporate land to a group of thrifty farmers in the Yakima Valley, he set a precedent for civic cooperation.
- The Chemist Who Couldn't Name the Killer's Weapon
In a Seattle courtroom drama, defense attorney John Y. Torum argues that the poison used in a murder was too obscure for any professional chemist to have selected—unless the killer had access to something far more common.
- The Horseless City
Seattle businessmen begin the race to bring the 'new motor machines' to the city's steep streets.
- The Great Walkout: Soldiers Protest 'Pauperizing' Rules at Seattle Home
Sixty men leave the city's soldiers' home in a mass exodus, citing degrading permit requirements and harsh governance by Col. Leslie.
- The Editor Who Killed a Man: James Connell’s Return to Everett
After being acquitted of murder in Seattle for killing his rival Nelson Lee in a street fight, former Star editor James Connell has returned to his hometown of Everett—despite death threats and a formal warning from the community to stay away.
- The 'Opium Bribe' Scandal That Wasn't
A sensationalized investigation into Seattle police corruption collapses as the city council realizes the accusations were entirely fabricated.
- The Doctor Who Vanished: A Seattle Physician’s Fearful Disappearance Sparks Murder Theories
Dr. H.P. Harrington of Oakdale left his patients and his town in mid-April, leaving behind a trail of illness, a warning from a lynching victim, and friends who fear he was silenced.
- The Streetcar Stranglehold: Eastern Capitalists vs. Seattle’s Future
As a coalition of wealthy investors from the East seeks to monopolize Seattle’s street railway system with a 18-year franchise, local legal advisors warn that without it, the deal collapses—igniting a fierce debate over municipal ownership and corporate power.
- The False Gold of 'Swiftwater' Bill
A legendary Klondike miner, once a symbol of immense wealth, is revealed to be a 'broken man' after a public charade of riches in the American West.
- The Mayor’s Raid: Seattle’s Gambling Houses Shut Down in One Night
Mayor Hume and Police Chief Sullivan execute a council resolution, closing every known gaming parlor in the city. Was it moral reform or a power play against saloon owners?
- The Mill That Never Was: How Chicago Capitalists Tried to Buy Seattle’s Soul
In June 1899, Theo. Ludgate arrived in town promising 800 jobs and a massive milling enterprise. Instead, he sparked a legal battle over land leases and vanished back east, leaving behind only the ghost of an industrial boom.
- The Divine Healer Who Buried Himself Alive: A Seattle Cult Leader’s Resurrection Claim
Rev. O. M. Schlatte, known as 'Schlatte the Divine Healer,' claims to have risen from a 40-day burial in the desert after fasting and praying for God's guidance. Now back in town, he asserts his authority over the famous 'Healer' of Kansas and prepares to resume his ministry.
- The Forty-Year Stranglehold: Seattle’s Streetcar Franchise Fight
As promoters push for a massive consolidation of the city's transit lines under a 40-year franchise, local editors warn that handing over public infrastructure to private syndicates is a dangerous gamble for a rapidly growing metropolis.
- Jim Hill’s Kanopolis Bluff: A Railway Empire in the Making
Great Northern President James J. Hill is quietly surveying a route through the Kanopolis Valley, sparking rumors that he intends to build up the area into a major hub rather than just passing through.
- The Great Puma Panic: How a Loose Cat and a Lucky Dog Sparked Chaos at Leschi Park
In the early days of Seattle's municipal parks, a puma escaped its cage, chased a terrier into a bear pit, and nearly cost the zookeeper his bones in a brawl that read like a cartoon.
- The Invisible Killer in Your Milk: Seattle’s Health Officer Warns of Tuberculosis Cows
With consumption rates soaring and no dedicated veterinary inspector on staff, local officials admit the city is dangerously unprepared to stop diseased cattle from entering the food supply.
- The University’s War Debt: Professors Demand a Hero’s Welcome for Seattle’s Own
As the First Washington Volunteers prepare to return from the Philippines, faculty and civic leaders unite to plan a massive reception, highlighting the deep ties between the university and the regiment.
- The Great Welcome: Seattle Plans a 'Rousing' Ovation for Returning War Heroes
Mayor Humes and city officials rally behind a public subscription to fund fireworks, banquets, and even a mock battle at Lake Washington to greet the Washington Volunteers returning from Manila.
- Telescoped at the Crossing: A Grant Street Horror
When a Northern Pacific freight train plowed into an electric streetcar on May 20, 1909, one man died and dozens were mangled in the icy water below. The crash exposed dangerous speeds and negligent watchmen at a city intersection that remains vital today.