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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 7 |
30 stories matching foolish
- The Seattle Fireboat is Not a Tugboat
Insurance underwriters warn that if the city uses the fireboat 'Snoqualmie' to tow garbage scows, property insurance rates will rise, sparking a debate over city efficiency and political patronage.
- A Scandalous Midnight Marriage
A Tacoma telegrapher, intoxicated and infatuated, defied social norms to marry a woman from a local brothel in the middle of the night.
- The Great Western Rate War
A former railroad commissioner warns that a price-cutting war between transcontinental rail lines is hemorrhaging millions in revenue and paralyzing local shipping.
- The Wealth Gap and the Labor Question
A critical look at the ethics of extreme wealth versus the necessity of creating work over charity for the poor.
- The King of California: An Institutionalized Dreamer
A laborer from Enumclaw with grand delusions of immense wealth and heavenly status is committed to the asylum at Steilacoom.
- The Fight Against 'Lousy' Nursery Stock
A state inspector battles unscrupulous Eastern nurserymen shipping pest-ridden trees into Washington, warning local farmers against being swindled.
- The Seattle Baseball Management Moves to Evict Hecklers
After players were subjected to racist slurs and verbal abuse from the stands, the Seattle club announces a new 'no-tolerance' policy for fans.
- The Trial of Amelia Tuttle
A young woman in Houghton is dragged into court by a neighbor on charges of insanity, revealing a tangled web of rural gossip, romantic rivalry, and petty jealousy.
- The Underground Economy of Club Love Letters
A century before texting, Seattle's gentlemen of leisure found ways to bypass the stuffy, anti-romance rules of private social clubs.
- The Boom-Time Promises of Brooklyn, Seattle
A 19th-century real estate advertisement paints a picture of a rapidly inflating Seattle and the hopeful, speculative fervor surrounding the Lake Union district.
- The Republican Convention's High Stakes
As Seattle Republicans gather to nominate candidates for the new state, editors warn against party cronyism, urging a focus on judicial merit and the formal selection of King County's gubernatorial favorites.
- The Fight for Washington’s Capital City
A Seattle writer argues that moving the seat of government east of the Cascades would cripple maritime commerce.
- The City vs. The Depot: Seattle's 1889 Eminent Domain Fight
When the Oregon Improvement Company tried to blockade South Third Street to protect their rail interests, the city council responded that the public interest was not for sale.
- The Hidden Killer in Seattle’s Business District
The tragic, preventable death of a young businessman in 1889 exposes the lethal lack of sewage infrastructure in the heart of downtown Seattle.
- The Strike at Gilman: A Powder Keg in the Coal Fields
As a bitter labor struggle winds down in the town of Gilman, a local resident denies rumors of an armed siege, painting a chaotic picture of saloon brawls and Winchester rifles.
- The ‘Loving’ Letter That Ended a Marriage
Clara B. Heaton wins a default divorce after testifying that James Heaton threatened to blow her up with dynamite—then submits his own angry letter as proof.
- King County's Clerk and the Ghost of a Defaulting Treasurer
A petition asks King County taxpayers to guarantee Clerk John W. Maple's bond, reviving memories of Adolph Krug's default and the 'kid committee' that controlled public money.
- The Horse Thief Who Challenged the Whole Jail to a Fight
Frank Clinefelter escaped during a jailbreak, got recaptured, and now the sheriff wants him declared insane—while he shadowboxes and calls out convicts from Cell No. 6.
- Banker Bellinger's Revolt: The Railroad Bill and a Wheat Farmer's Wrath
A Palouse banker threatens to leave the Republican Party after the legislature fails to pass a railroad bill that would have saved him thousands in freight costs.
- A Confederate or a Dupe: The Fight Over Lake Washington
A Seattle property owner denies he is part of a Tacoma-backed plot to defeat Senator John B. Allen over the Lake Washington Canal. The editor calls him a confederate or a dupe.
- The Tillicums' Trick: How a Political Machine Fooled Tacoma's Democrats
A secretive faction called the Tillicums manipulates primaries, places decoy tickets, and doles out patronage jobs to tighten its grip on Pierce County politics.
- The Lawyer Who Bombed City Hall With a Piece of Paper
Attorney John Wiley served the Seattle city council a superior-court writ of prohibition mid-hearing on the Masel case, freezing the proceedings and leaving the aldermen sputtering in their chairs.
- The Flyer Who Flew: How a Railway Agent’s Wine-Fueled Embezzlement Left Him Hiding in Victoria
J.R. Policy, former agent for the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, vanished from Seattle after embezzling $1,300 to fund a life of luxury and a romance with a woman of ill repute.
- A Mayor Suspends His Fire Commissioner—and a Firehouse Scandal Erupts
Mayor Phelps removed Commissioner George T. Masel amid a fight over Chief Allen and a teenage girl's allegation against a fireman at department headquarters.
- The Race War in Roslyn: How Seattle’s Coal Mines Became a Battleground for Labor and Lynching
As strikers hold the line, the company imports Black miners from Illinois to break them. The result is not just a labor dispute, but a violent racial confrontation that exposes the dark underbelly of Washington's industrial boom.