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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 8 |
31 stories matching inst
- A Plea for the Drowned Soldiers
A survivor of a tragic drowning incident at Fort Townsend writes to defend the character of his fallen comrades against charges of intoxication.
- The Senatorial Duel: A Tale of Two Cities and One Beltway Seat
As the Washington legislature prepares to convene in 1891, the race for the U.S. Senate descends into a fierce local rivalry between established incumbent Watson C. Squire of Seattle and the ambitious newcomer Judge William H. Calkins of Tacoma.
- Four Dead at the Two-Mile Trestle, and a Verdict That Names No One
A coroner's jury concludes that an overland train was wrecked by unknown hands, leaving an engineer and three privates dead and the community without an arrest.
- City Clerk Faces Embezzlement Charges
A Tacoma official is arrested at his suburban home and charged with embezzling city funds, blaming the trouble on a licensing irregularity.
- Drowned in the San Juan Islands
A sailing excursion from Victoria to Anacortes ends in tragedy when an experienced sailor vanishes during a sudden storm.
- The Chief of Police Fires Back
Seattle's top cop trades accusations of corruption and 'lewd' policing with City Councilman C. B. Bagley in a public feud.
- The Puyallup Indian Agency Was Abolished
Federal officials declared the agency obsolete, shifted its schools to a new superintendent, and retired Agent Eells after more than 23 years.
- The Mob is Not a Court of Law
An editorial reflection on the recent lynching of Bill at Colfax, arguing that a community’s failure to maintain a just legal system does not justify vigilante violence.
- A Young Girl Vanishes from a Spokane Variety Theater
A teenage girl is missing after being allegedly coerced into a variety theater, sparking a public outcry and exposing local police corruption.
- The Yellow Church the Neighbors Want Gone
A Renton Addition resident airs a neighborhood feud over a 'mission church' on Hyde and Filbert streets that blocks the view, lowers property values — and that its owner refuses to move, even at the neighbors' expense.
- The Fight Over Seattle's 'Wild and Visionary' Boulevard Plan
A citizen raises alarms over the city's costly early attempts to expand public parks and infrastructure, accusing local real estate speculators of driving the vision.
- A Custom Official's Reputation Cleared
A malicious smear campaign against a Seattle official, fueled by Tacoma gossip, falls apart after the accuser retracts his claims.
- The Editor Who Made the Post-Intelligencer a Power—and Died Too Soon
When George H. Heilbron died suddenly at his Seattle home, newspapers across Washington mourned a young editor whose pen had become a force in state affairs.
- The Quarantine Lie: How Providence Hospital’s Smallpox Cover-Up Sparked a Public Health Crisis
A desperate letter from hospital staff reveals that patients were turned away or allowed to leave while infected with smallpox, leading to a chaotic quarantine and widespread community fear in early 1903 Seattle.
- A Populist Makes the Case for Paying Kittitas County's Debts
A letter from Ellensburg argues that the county's voters rejected repudiation and urges Eastern lenders not to confuse populism with default.
- A Town on Trial: Sprague Fights Back Against Strike Rumors
As the 1894 railroad strike roils the nation, Sprague residents and its National Guard troop deny reports of lawlessness and mutiny, insisting their town is peaceful and loyal.
- Samuel Gompers Tells Seattle: Organize, and Dare Not Do Otherwise
The president of the American Federation of Labor writes to Seattle organizer Abe Spring, lamenting the bloodshed of the era's labor wars, urging union solidarity, and declining a Western trip.
- Boosters Pass the Hat for the Ship Canal
Tacoma coal money, St. Louis money and Vancouver money swell Seattle's canal subsidy fund — even as promoters insist the waterway is 'a Seattle affair.'
- Governor McGraw Refuses to March for Free Silver
Invited to send three delegates to a Salt Lake City convention, Washington’s governor writes a blunt refusal—and says 16-to-1 coinage is not a popular doctrine in this state.
- The City That Couldn't Build: A Letter from a Frustrated Investor
In February 1889, an anonymous writer lambasts Seattle’s Common Council for failing to establish street grades, arguing that this bureaucratic paralysis is the primary reason developers are withholding capital and leaving the city in a building slump.
- The Navy Yard That Built a County
Twenty-nine dry-dock workers were laid off, but Port Orchard's naval station was planning barracks, a railroad and a boom for Kitsap County.
- The Delegate Bunko: Party Math and a Patronage Promise
Seattle's Letter Writer Carson is accused of letting King County lose convention delegates, while Collector Saunders denies breaking a promise to a Seattle longshoremen's leader.
- 'God Almighty Himself': Two Seattle Cops Suspended for Losing Their Tempers
The police board spends an evening on profanity, hurt feelings and a sergeant called 'crazy' — and warns the whole force that bad manners now carry a thirty-day price.
- Bismarck’s Bluff: Germany Claims Samoa While Washington Watches
As the German Chancellor declares no treaty prevents his nation from seizing control of the Pacific islands, U.S. officials in Washington struggle to respond to a diplomatic crisis that threatens American interests across the ocean.
- A $100 Warrant and a City's Credit: Port Angeles Officials Push Back
The mayor and clerk deny a Taxpayers' Union charge, defend a hurried trip to Seattle to pay bond interest, and produce an affidavit against a fellow councilman.