Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 47 |
| 1889 | 94 |
| 1891 | 41 |
| 1892 | 183 |
| 1893 | 189 |
| 1894 | 331 |
| 1895 | 440 |
1,325 stories matching ask
- The School Board Rejects a World's Fair Scheme
Seattle school board members debate fundraising for a 'baby building' at the Chicago World's Fair.
- A Streetcar Line Asks Seattle for Fifty Years and No Streetlights
The Union Trunk line petitions the city council to extend its franchise from twenty-five to fifty years and drop its obligation to light the streets along its routes.
- The Laborer’s Question
A candidate for mayor is put on the spot regarding political litmus tests for city jobs.
- The Judge Forgot the Evidence, and the Gambling Case Walked
Charles Shaw’s Union Club prosecution ended when the judge couldn’t recall Chief Rogers’ key testimony. The gambling furniture went out the door anyway.
- The Price of a 'Better Life': A Sunnydale Convict’s Plea
A local man faces ten years in the penitentiary, raising questions about justice and the fairness of the county jail system in late-1880s Seattle.
- A Grand Jury's Reluctance
Tacoma officials allege that a grand jury investigation into the 'water works steal' is a sham designed to protect corrupt councilmen.
- A 20-Year Marriage Ends in 'Uncontrollable Aversion'
Jennie S. Holmes asks a Seattle court for divorce, saying she and her husband cannot endure each other's company—and lets their two children choose whom to live with.
- The Price of a Night in Jail
A 67-year-old gardener sues Seattle police for $7,000, alleging he was assaulted and permanently injured during an unlawful arrest.
- The Prizefighter’s Penance: John L. Sullivan in Seattle
After his high-profile prizefight in the Pacific Northwest, boxing legend John L. Sullivan faces a harsh judicial reality in a Seattle courtroom.
- A Prospector's Plea for Support
A former Yukon miner writes to the editor asking for help to fund a prospecting expedition.
- Private Money Wanted to Fill Smith's Cove—and Asked the City to Say Yes
A San Francisco syndicate lined up a state tide-land contract for May 7, with an injunction the only obvious obstacle.
- The Only Witness to a Saloon Killing
James Murphy’s second murder trial hinged on the sole eyewitness to a quarrel that began over cocktails and ended with Philip Dawe shot under the eye behind his bar.
- The Trial That Shook Tacoma: The Scandal of Sadie Brantner and Judge Wickersham
A dramatic courtroom battle in the late 1880s reveals a web of sexual politics, professional ethics, and character assassination involving a prominent probate judge and a young woman accused of immorality.
- A Voice in the Dark: The Burglar Who Knew the Girls' Room
Three young women in Port Townsend wake to a prowler fumbling at the bureau, hand over ten cents and two trinkets, and wait trembling for daylight.
- The Man Who Feared His Own Gun
An erratic man, fearful of imagined burglars, asks the police to hold his revolver to prevent himself from doing harm, only to demand it back when he gets nervous again.
- A Judge Confronts Jury Tampering
After a civil trial ends, a Superior Court judge takes the unusual step of swearing in the jury to testify about being approached by a litigant.
- Seattle’s Sympathetic Strike Ends—With a Petition, Not a Picket Line
Lake Shore & Eastern workers formally call off their Pullman boycott, ask the superintendent for their old jobs, and appeal to a federal judge for reinstatement.
- Three Orphans and a Grave for Two: The Bratton Tragedy in Tacoma
Isaac H. Bratton killed his wife and then himself; within days a court appointed an administrator and a family friend sought guardianship of the couple's three children.
- He Asked the Way Across the River and Was Never Seen Alive Again
A Whidbey Island man headed to the Yakima country to look at a farm, asked where to ford the river, misunderstood the directions, and drowned—his horse found wandering in the sagebrush two days later.
- The 1895 Student Petition Against Mandatory Military Drill
Two-thirds of the male students at the University of Washington signed a petition asking the legislature to abolish compulsory military drill in state schools.
- Two Wives, Two Brutal Husbands, and a Fight for the Property
Mary Fisher wins her freedom — and the family's Anacortes and Whatcom lots — after years of abuse, while Daisy Logan asks the court to protect her 4-year-old from a man who threw the furniture.
- The Tallest Man in the Charter Committee
A political power struggle at City Hall concludes with the appointment of a local pile driver to the Charter Revision Committee, largely because of his stature.
- A Spokane Forgery Case Stalls
A lawyer for a Spokane man accused of forging his mother's name asks for a delayed trial, citing the summer heat.
- A Receiver Wants to Cut Streetcar Wages; a Judge Says Not Below $2 a Day
The Seattle Consolidated Railway, in receivership, asks the federal court to trim motormen's and conductors' pay from 20 to 17½ cents an hour.
- When the Water Went Off: A Jobless Mechanic, Five Children, and a Plea to City Hall
At a Board of Public Works meeting, the water department reports that Joseph Schuester's family at 1425 Eleventh Street has had service cut off. He earns 75 cents a week; the charity bureau asks the city to restore it.