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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 37 |
| 1893 | 44 |
| 1894 | 42 |
| 1895 | 66 |
217 stories matching combin
- The Lumber Price-Fixing Scandal
A Tacoma lumber mill combine has been caught artificially inflating the price of city contracts.
- A Mayor's Nomination and the Aldermen Laying Plans to Block It
Mayor Phelps names John J. Scurry to the board of public works, and the same aldermanic combination that fought his predecessor quietly organizes to sink the confirmation.
- The Great Seattle Flour Price War
A California miller defies the combine, forcing a drop in prices to the delight of local consumers.
- The Lumber Trust Comes to Seattle
Seattle lumber firms move to form the Central Lumber Company of California, pooling sales to squeeze out British Columbia competition.
- A Smear Campaign in the Seattle Streets: Newspaper Turf Wars and Local Politics
A reader writes in to defend Senator Allen against a rival political 'combine' flooding Seattle with Tacoma newspapers to influence local opinion.
- The Secret Syndicate Attempting to Control the Pacific Timber Trade
A covert effort by lumber barons to establish a monopoly by paying smaller mills to shut down.
- The Railway Strike and the Law
An editorial arguing that the American Railway Union's sympathetic strike is an unlawful conspiracy against public welfare.
- The Safe Combination Swindle
A merchant is arrested for grand larceny after allegedly tricking a sick man's wife into opening their safe to steal a promissory note.
- Pacific Northwest Lumber Barons Push for Price Fixing
A secret meeting in San Francisco may spell the end of independent competition in the region's most vital industry.
- Tacoma’s Sailor-Shipping ‘Blood Money’ Combine
Rival boarding-house keepers demanded fees from captains before they could ship a crew—until a new federal law threatened the whole arrangement.
- The Collapse of the Hop Corner
Ezra Meeker breaks a massive market manipulation scheme that threatened to hold Pacific Coast hop farmers hostage.
- A $23.25 Haul and a Very Patient Safe-Cracker
Burglars peeled a window, drilled the door and chiseled the combination at A. C. Fry's produce store on the Seattle waterfront.
- The City's High-Tech Gamble on the New Holly Pump
Seattle's municipal water works achieves a massive efficiency win with new equipment, proving the city's investment pays off.
- Voters Shoot Down High School Bond
A combination of Populists, skeptical taxpayers, and general voter apathy results in the defeat of a $125,000 high school bond for Capitol Hill.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Cockfighting Syndicate
A high-stakes cocking main in North Yakima ends in a victory for a combine of birds from Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Hop Growers' Gamble
An outspoken Auburn farmer rallies regional hop growers to challenge a buyers' monopoly, citing the success of a New York growers' association in forcing price hikes.
- The 'Reform' Administration’s Open Secret
While the police publicly touted a permanent closure of gambling, four major houses reopened under a new protective arrangement.
- The Insurance Cartel's War on Competition
Seattle underwriters clash over a 'non-intercourse' rule designed to force agents to abandon independent companies.
- Olympia's Backroom Bargain Over a Senate Seat
Lawmakers arrive in Olympia pledging to organize fast, but the fight over a U.S. Senate seat and the speakership is already reshaping the session.
- Judge Lewis Blasts Portland and Olympia Over Seattle's Canal
A Tacoma judge's letter urges Washington state to fund the Lake Washington canal, accusing Portland's Oregonian and a political 'combination at Olympia' of trying to strangle Seattle's growth.
- Seattle's Gamblers Tried to Oust the Police Chief—and Failed Spectacularly
A behind-the-scenes scheme to replace Chief Jackson unraveled when the mayor and commissioners turned on the acting mayor, leaving gamblers from Tacoma with nothing but regrets.
- The Great Northern Is Coming as Fast as Men and Money Can Push It
A contractor's progress report puts track at the Columbia by October—if enough workers can be found.
- The Telephone Monopoly Seattle Refused to Break
A national syndicate promised cheap telephones and a rival to Bell. Seattle's aldermen said no, and the city stayed in the Sunset Telephone Company's grip.
- The Great Squeeze: How Timber Barons Cut Wages in Mason County
By consolidating operations and forcing loggers into company-controlled boarding houses, the industry’s giants effectively reduced worker pay while crushing independent competition.
- A Federal Judge Orders the Northern Pacific's Workers Not to Strike
With wages about to be cut, railroad receivers win an injunction forbidding engineers, firemen, trainmen and switchmen from combining or quitting—setting up a collision between the courts and organized labor.