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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 24 |
24 stories matching wit
- The Alarmist Officer
A Seattle patrolman's attempt to slack off duty by pulling a fake fire alarm led to a public scandal and the end of his career.
- The Mesmerist’s Web: How Two Wives Defied Police to Free a Seattle Scandal
Charles Woodruff, the city's most notorious mesmerist and alleged bigamist, remains behind bars not because of lack of evidence, but because his former wives refuse to testify against him.
- The Judge and the Tenderloin: A Seattle Courtroom Showdown
A Seattle judge loses his temper and issues contempt orders against local law enforcement and the prosecution during a chaotic hearing involving a robbery in the city’s notorious Tenderloin district.
- 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 Grave Robbers of St. Mary’s: A Scandal in Portland
Rumors swirl that the body of a local widow was disturbed by 'outsiders' seeking a rumored cancer tumor, prompting doctors to deny the tale and friends to demand investigation.
- 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 Great Dockside Stampede
A pair of range steers escaped their handlers at a Seattle wharf, terrorizing workers and prompting a desperate, armed chase through the northern city streets.
- The Nightmare Murder: Tacoma Wife Killed by Husband in Sleep
An inquest reveals that Charles Corey strangled his wife while suffering from a nightmare, sparking debate over whether he was guilty of murder or merely a victim of his own subconscious.
- The Circus Comes to Town: Seattle’s First Big Top Spectacle
As the Hingling Bros. circus unloads its menagerie and performers in the Northern Pacific yards, locals gather for a parade and show that promises 'everything advertised.'
- The Fire Fiend Stalks Seattle's Waterfront
A witness spots a mysterious arsonist fleeing the Western Mill in a rowboat, stoking fears of a serial firebug terrorizing the city's timber industry.
- The Sawmill Strike That Never Happened
When mill workers in Seattle banded together for a small wage increase, they didn't need to walk out to get it.
- The Man Who Vanished: A Father’s Grief and the Search for a Missing Son
Edward K. Alar has been gone from his home in Olympia for two years. Now, a legal battle over a $5,000 insurance policy reveals the tangled web of rumors surrounding his disappearance.
- The Color Line at the Oberon: Seattle’s First Civil Rights Test
When a prominent Black minister is ejected from a local music hall for his race, he threatens legal action under state law, sparking a public debate on discrimination in early 20th-century Seattle.
- The Price of Fortification: Seattle Landowners Win Big Jury Verdict Against Federal Government
A federal jury in Port Orchard has valued land for a new military fort at $185,000—nearly double the government's appraisal. Officials warn the deal may collapse if the price is too steep.
- The Great Tacoma Brake-Man Mystery: Was It a Brutal Assault or a Tragic Accident?
Railroad officials and witnesses in Tacoma are debunking the claim that brakeman Cook was beaten by a robber, pointing to a bridge strike as the likely cause of his skull fracture.
- 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.
- Domestic Feud in Fremont Turns Police Matter
A laborer from the Fremont neighborhood faces accusations of threatening his wife, but local authorities point to the interference of a lodger as the true source of the discord.
- 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 Great Nude Debate: When Seattle’s Church Ladies Tried to Save Their Living Pictures
A fundraising gala at Christ Episcopal Church descended into moral panic when vestrymen declared 'living pictures' (nude art) too scandalous for the pulpit, forcing a cancellation that left donors furious and ladies defiant.
- The Boy Who Vanished Into the Dirt
A contractor’s chilling account of a six-year-old who fell into an open trench and was buried alive—only to be dug out just in time.
- The City That Forgot How to Ride: Seattle’s Battle for Short-Term Streetcar Franchises
In May 1899, the Seattle Star warned that granting long-term monopolies to street railway companies would leave the city trapped with obsolete technology and inflated prices. The paper argued fiercely for short-term grants to keep corporations accountable—a debate that echoes in today’s transit infrastructure battles.
- The City Buried Its Own Mistake: Coroner’s Verdict Blames Seattle for Deadly Boiler Explosion
A coroner’s jury has issued a scathing indictment against the city of Seattle, its building inspectors, and a plumber for the negligence that led to a Tuesday night explosion. The verdict fixes blame on the municipality for allowing a dangerous steam heater beneath a public sidewalk without proper oversight.
- The Seattle Star's 'Inklings': A Glimpse into 1906 Courtroom Drama and Civic Life
From a bitter divorce trial involving accusations of insanity to the arrest of nineteen men selling whisky to Native Americans, this page captures the gritty, colorful daily life of Seattle in April 1906.
- 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.