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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 33 |
33 stories matching might
- The Hall That Never Was: Seattle’s $1 Million Dream for a Convention Center
In 1908, prominent businessmen and editors rallied to build a massive exposition hall to rival San Francisco, but the project stalled in debate over public funding versus private capital.
- The Chambermaid’s Lock: A Seattle Hotel Guest’s Brutal Mistake
When a wealthy Chicago businessman accidentally locked himself in his hotel room and then roughed up the maid who tried to help him, he found himself facing a $10,000 lawsuit for assault.
- The Disappearance of Harry Lombard
A sober and industrious logger vanishes into the dense woods near Enumclaw with a fortune in his pocket, sparking a community-wide hunt for a murderer.
- The Outlaw Who Robbed a Colonel: A Seattle Man’s Wild Tale of Army Gold
A former quartermaster recounts how he and fellow officers were held up at gunpoint in Kansas by masked bandits who demanded government funds.
- The Dry Dock Dispute: How One Man Blocked Seattle's Homecoming Heroes
Seattle citizens are furious that Acting Secretary of War Meiklejohn refused to send the First Washington Volunteers directly from Manila to Port Orchard, citing Naval Constructor Endicott’s claim that the local dry dock was useless.
- The Town That Owes Nothing: Oakesdale’s Fiscal Miracle
While other municipalities drown in debt from the boom years, this small Washington town boasts a cash-rich treasury and zero bonds.
- The Bear That Wasn't: Seattle’s War Department Scandal
A federal court of inquiry clears the city of corruption but exposes a bizarre military blunder involving refrigerated beef and embalmed meat during the Spanish-American War.
- The Salmon Kings: How Chicago Money Bought the Pacific Northwest
A new syndicate of financiers and cannery owners has seized control of Puget Sound’s salmon industry, paying 'fabulous' prices that are driving up costs for local processors and concentrating wealth in distant boardrooms.
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- Seattle’s City Council Rejects Public Power in Favor of Private Monopoly
In a decisive vote that prioritized corporate interests over municipal control, Seattle leaders refused to condemn the city's water supply, effectively handing power to private developers.
- The Council’s Hammer: Snoqualmie Falls Power Company Faces Ouster
Seattle city councilors move to annul the electrical franchise of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company, citing failure to appear before an investigation committee regarding the Tracy Rapids injunction suit.
- The Last Pioneer: Seattle’s Oldest Woman Faces the Poorhouse
Mrs. P.D. Maynard, a widow of the city's founding era, has been evicted from her rooming house and is now wandering the streets at age 73. With no family and dwindling resources, the community must decide whether to let one of Seattle’s earliest residents die in poverty or build her a home.
- Saloon Owner Attacks Longshoreman as Crowd Watches
After a longshoreman shattered a saloon mirror, proprietor Dan McNamara beat him in the street while about thirty bystanders failed to intervene.
- 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 Battle for Ravenna Park: When Seattle’s Elite Tried to Buy Out the Public
In May 1899, a private park association posted trespassing warnings and threatened legal action against streetcar passengers, sparking a fierce public debate over whether Seattle’s green spaces belonged to the people or their wealthy owners.
- A Precarious Bicycle Ride Ends in Tragedy for a Tacoma Musician
A member of the Tacoma military band is recovering from a gunshot wound after a tumble from his bicycle caused his concealed revolver to discharge.
- The Haunted Cabin That Killed Twice
A Texas rancher’s murder mystery travels north to Washington, where a cowboy finds himself accused of killing his partner in the exact spot—and with the same knife—that vanished from a prosecutor's safe.
- The Girls Who Walked Out: Seattle’s Hidden Labor War
While the city boasts of its booming manufacturing sector and 'local industry,' a quiet but significant portion of its workforce—women in garment factories—are fighting for survival wages, revealing the stark gender divide in Seattle's economic boom.
- The Deaf-Mute’s Heartbreak: A Love Letter Written in Silence
When his fiancée left him for another man, a silent young man from Memphis found his voice through ink, delivering a scathing indictment of his rival to a Seattle city editor.
- Seattle’s Ladies Plan a Royal Welcome for the Boys of Manila
As the First Washington Volunteers prepare to return from the Philippines, prominent women and Mayor Humes unite to organize a massive civic celebration, turning grief into gratitude.
- The Battle for the Homecoming: Tacoma vs. Seattle Over the First Washington
As Secretary of War Alger hints that troops may bypass Seattle to land in Tacoma, a civic war erupts over who gets to welcome the returning volunteers from Manila.
- The Granite War: Why Seattle’s Federal Building Might Not Use Washington Stone
A federal contract for San Francisco's new courthouse has sparked outrage in Seattle. The lowest bidder proposed using granite from the Puget Sound region, but California lobbyists are pushing to force the use of local stone, raising questions about patriotism versus free enterprise.
- The Sidewalk Tax: Who Pays for Seattle’s New Pavement?
City Engineer Thompson reveals the staggering costs of replacing wooden walkways with brick and cement, sparking debate over who will foot the bill for urban improvement.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard Feud
How Seattle’s industrial might secured a major contract for the transport ship 'Victoria,' leaving Tacoma business leaders fuming.