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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 40 |
40 stories matching tri
- The Pickpocket of South Third Avenue
A notorious local grifter lands back in jail after a dance invitation turns into an attempted robbery in a downtown Seattle saloon.
- The Blackmail Artist of Seattle
A man attempts to extort cash from his former employer by sending letters from behind bars, only to find himself trapped by the very schemes he designed.
- The Day the Boardwalk Burned: Seattle’s Most Audacious Arson Attempt
On a quiet April afternoon in 1900, an arsonist tried to torch the home of Judge E. H. Scott on Yesler Way. A brave housekeeper fought back with a poker, saving her employer and thwarting the fire.
- The Mobbing of the Moralizers
When four prominent temperance leaders and a local businessman tried to close down a suspected illegal saloon, they were met on the street and pelted with rotten eggs.
- The Council Strikes Back: Seattle Turns on Its Own Power Company
Mayor Humes vetoes saloon restrictions, but the City Council is far more concerned with a corporate power grab. They launch an investigation into the Snoqualmie Falls Power Co., accusing it of using legal injunctions to block the city’s water supply contracts and protect its private interests.
- The Great Oil Puzzle: How Three Men Solved an Impossible Measure
A local grocer and two farmers spent a long afternoon cracking a mathematical riddle to split eight gallons of oil evenly using only three uneven containers.
- The Pugilist and the Player: A Seattle Clash of Champions
A local boxing favorite and a Philadelphia fencing master prepare for a high-stakes showdown at the Jefferson Street Theater.
- The Black Cat Hoodoo: How a Rodent and a Number Stopped Seattle’s Streetcars
When a black cat crossed the tracks and a streetcar number matched a fatal prophecy, Seattleites stopped riding—not because of safety, but because of superstition.
- 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 Widow’s Gamble: A Seattle Man’s Death in Alaska Triggers a Federal Insurance Battle
Mrs. By H. Rietson sues the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company for the payout on her husband Archie C. Rietson, who perished with 13 others when the steamer Jessie sank in the Kuskokwim River last June. The company refuses to pay until his death is positively proven.
- The Unchecked 'Firewater' Trail
A rash of bootlegging and theft at the Lakeside saloon forces a local reckoning with the lack of law enforcement near Chelan.
- The 'Top and Bottom' Sting
A traveler is swindled out of his savings by a gang of con artists on a Seattle sidewalk, sparking a city-wide police sweep.
- 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.
- The Great Butter Fraud: Seattle’s First Taste of Food Safety
A local grocer is fined for selling imitation butter, while city inspectors uncover a wave of adulterated vinegar and baking powder in retail stores.
- The Klondike Nightmare: A Millionaire’s Niece Returns Broken
After chasing gold in the frozen north, a woman with family connections to Chicago wealth returns to Seattle penniless and ruined in health, offering a grim warning to other hopeful prospectors.
- 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 Shingle Men’s Strike: How Local Manufacturers Tried to Crush a Union Before It Began
In May 1898, Seattle’s shingle mill owners gathered in the Chamber of Commerce to unanimously vote for a two-week shutdown and set fixed prices, effectively declaring war on labor organization.
- 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 Horseshoe King of Moscow
A Seattle blacksmith's apprentice wins a lucrative international contract to shoe royal horses in Russia.
- The Cedar River Siege: How a Power Mogul Tried to Steal Seattle’s Water
Seattle Star exposes the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company’s dirty game: using fake environmental panic to block municipal water rights and crush competition.
- The Iron Molder’s Attack on Main Street
A young Seattle woman narrowly survives a brutal assault by her stepfather, who attempted to force muriatic acid down her throat before fleeing the city.
- The Tragedy at Yesler Way: A Lawyer’s Death and a Woman’s Despair
In May 1904, prominent Seattle lawyer J. Wile was fatally shot by Miss Burke, who then took her own life in a rooming house near the waterfront.
- The Mediums' Trust: When Seattle's Spiritualists Tried to Fix Their Prices
A secret meeting of clairvoyants and mediums ended in failure as new arrivals undercut their rates, proving that even the spirit world is subject to market forces.
- 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 Franchise Fight: Seattle’s Battle for Control of the Streets
As the Corporation Committee prepares to report on the street railway franchise, a fierce debate erupts over whether the city should sell its public assets to private developers for 40 years or keep them in public hands.