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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 16 |
| 1895 | 8 |
30 stories matching interst
- A Fair Held 'To Spite Bennett': Tacoma Refuses to Be Killed Over Union Labor
Nelson Bennett attacked the Interstate Fair for hiring union workmen and nearly broke the enterprise. The trustees answer with a whoop: the fair goes on, and Seattle says it will stand by it.
- Walla Walla Farmers Take On the Railroads
A $5,000 fund is being raised to bring a freight-rate case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, as farmers grow impatient with legislative inaction.
- The Fair Band Walked Out When the Pay Didn't Come
Fifteen Tacoma musicians said they quit the Interstate Fair band after management failed to arrange their wages — and they had brought players from Portland and Seattle at their own expense.
- The Fair, the Band, and the Union Telegram
When Tacoma's Interstate Fair hired an out-of-town military band, the local musicians' union balked—prompting an angry telegram and a last-minute scramble to catch the train.
- Spokane Was Ready to Rotten-Egg Jim Hill
The Great Northern's freight rates left Spokane merchants bitter enough to organize, sue, and threaten the railroad baron with produce.
- The Newspaper Tried to Boycott the Fair; the Fair Boycotted Back
When the Ledger moved to oust union man Jim Dow from the Interstate Fair, Tacoma's businessmen chose the fair over the paper.
- The Newspaper That Sent Thousands of Schoolchildren to the Fair
A Seattle paper turned a Tacoma exposition into a mass field trip—free steamers, free admission, and essay prizes for the children of Puget Sound.
- The Customs Collector and the Straw Men of Puget Sound
A Tacoma official accuses Collector J. C. Saunders of padding the customs payroll with political workers—including a no-show inspector—for work never done at the Interstate Fair.
- Seattle Newsboys Take Tacoma by Storm
A pack of Seattle newsboys descends on the Interstate Fair, jeers a non-union print shop, climbs the roofs, and eats Chilberg’s restaurant out of house and home.
- The Long Struggle for Train Safety
After a decade of agitation, new federal law mandates automatic couplers and air brakes to end the slaughter of railroad brakemen.
- Tacoma Bets Its Future on a Giant Interstate Fair
In August 1891, Governor McGraw urged every county to send exhibits as Tacoma raced to open a fair that promised to fill hotels, showcase the Northwest, and put the city on the map.
- Spokane Merchants Take the Railroad Monopoly Back to Court
Thirty-five Spokane merchants ask a federal judge to force the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific to obey an 1891 Interstate Commerce Commission order that found the roads were gouging the inland city.
- The Vice President's Cousin and the $1,000 Port Townsend Swindle
A smooth-tongued 'loan agent' traded on Adlai Stevenson's name to collect membership fees from Port Townsend's most respectable Democrats — then hid behind unreturned abstracts and 'free stock' worth $100 a share.
- The Day Tacoma Painted Itself Blue, White and Yellow
A mile-long parade, camels, a captive elk and a senator's electric button opened the Interstate Fair in a burst of Northwest boosterism.
- The Argument for a Railroad Commission
Advocating for constitutional oversight of rail monopolies to curb corporate influence in Washington politics.
- The Canadian Pacific 'Ticket Scalping' Conspiracy
Federal agents entrap a transcontinental railroad for selling cut-rate tickets, leading to high-stakes indictments in Tacoma.
- Adlai Stevenson’s Name Was the Bait in a Port Townsend Loan Swindle
A man claiming to be the Vice President’s cousin sold shares in a building-and-loan association, promising loans on Port Townsend real estate that never came.
- A Temperance Minister Refuses to Preach Prohibition—or Hate
At Tacoma’s interstate temperance congress, Rev. Dean Richmond Babbitt urges patient education and rejects the A.P.A., drawing fire from fellow reformers.
- The Great Cigarette Crackdown
A Vancouver tobacco dealer’s arrest triggers a high-stakes legal battle over whether small cigarette packages qualify for interstate commerce protections.
- Tacoma's Council Puts a Waterfront Deal on Hold — and Shuts Down a Fairgrounds Saloon
A proposed easement with the Northern Pacific and Tacoma Company waits for papers from Philadelphia, Pacific Avenue owners split over planking, and W.C.T.U. women watch the council reject a liquor license.
- The Canal That Would Turn Lake Washington Into a Harbor
A House committee backs a federal ship canal linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound, promising Seattle a fresh-water harbor and a naval asset.
- Seattle and Tacoma Call a Truce for the Interstate Fair
A Tacoma delegation arrives in Seattle to plan a joint Seattle-Tacoma day at the fair, with city officials pledging exhibits, parades and a united front.
- 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 Railroads' Man in the Senate Race
A Spokane editor charged that John L. Wilson's campaign for U.S. Senate was being bankrolled and worked by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads.
- The Proxy Convention: Democrats Meet in Tacoma and Call It Harmony
A state Democratic committee gathering is dominated by proxies and federal officeholders, while leaders maneuver over fusion and legislative apportionment.