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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 1 |
20 stories matching messing
- The Mud-Bound Stash
After stealing hundreds of dollars from a mess house in Cosmopolis, a thief uses a clever ruse involving a fake fall to bury his loot.
- The Railway Gold Rush: When Every Line Wanted a Piece of Seattle
In 1890, Seattle was the ultimate prize for three competing transcontinental railroads, leading to a tangled mess of franchise wars, tide flat terminal deals, and high-stakes corporate maneuvering.
- The Flight of a Crooked City Treasurer
When the city press exposed deep corruption in the treasurer’s office, Adolph Krug didn't wait for the trial—he fled.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- The 'Industrial Army' Mobilizes at Mapel’s Hall
Unemployed men marching across Washington are shadowed by federal marshals and local militia as tensions rise over the threat of train seizures.
- The Great Telephone Switchboard Fire
A tangled mess of high-voltage arc light wires sends fireworks cascading through the central telephone exchange, nearly incinerating the entire plant.
- Suspicion of Murder in the O’Brien Hop Fields
An Indigenous man is found dead in his cabin, sparking a desperate plea for justice from his grieving family.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The Day the Sloop Fired on a Federal Cutter
In 1860, twenty-four Port Townsend citizens chartered a sloop to save $5 on fares to Olympia. When intercepted by a revenue cutter, their captain opened fire with a brass howitzer—only to discover he’d just threatened the U.S. government.
- City Engineer Fired Amidst Political Pressure
A storm of public indignation follows the board of public works' decision to remove the city engineer at the behest of shadowy political 'wreckers.'
- The Banker Caught in the City's Money Mess
As the corruption trial of Henry Fuhrman unfolds, his defense argues that his private financial dealings with the city treasurer were not criminal, but essential maneuvers to keep city payroll running.
- The Water Superintendent’s Public Feud
Seattle’s Water Superintendent fires back at claims of mismanagement, launching a sprawling, finger-pointing defense of his department’s books.
- The Pastor, the Circular, and the Hung Jury
For three days a Seattle courtroom heard accusations of adultery, an illegitimate son, and a pastor’s libelous circular. At 12:35 a.m., the jury was still deadlocked.
- The City Council’s High-Stakes Plumbing Fiasco
When Seattle hired a famed Eastern expert to redesign its city sewers, they ended up with a costly mess of mismatched theories and local engineering rebellion.
- The Con Man Who Wore a Partner's Identity
A clever grifter posed as a prominent Seattle businessman to swindle New York merchants, leaving local partners to clean up the mess.
- A Night of Revelry at the Cannery
While anti-Chinese sentiment was rampant in Seattle, workers at the Myers cannery held a joyous, boisterous celebration for their cultural labor holiday.
- The Sorehead Movement Meets Its Funeral
Seattle independents gather at the G.A.R. hall to plan a fusion ticket, then quietly prepare to let their revolt die.
- A Deadly Dinner of Mussels
Captain McAlpine's near-fatal meal at a local restaurant highlights the hidden dangers of the city's seafood consumption in 1893.
- The Struggle to Keep Seattle Clean in 1888
As Seattle prepared for a massive influx of tourists for a summer celebration, one citizen publicly shamed the city's leadership for allowing its streets to remain a cluttered, hazardous mess of construction debris.
- The Unlucky Speckled Hen and the Tarring Party
In an era of domestic tension, a Washington housewife's patience for her husband's sloth and a neighbor’s story of a local scoundrel collide in a kitchen mishap.
Also about this, in other words
- The North Bend Ducking Stool
When a man terrorized his family during a drunken rampage, his neighbors took justice into their own hands with an icy river dip.
- The North Bend Punch-Up
A grudge match between two former partners leads to a brawl and a trip to court.
- Predatory Behavior and the Messenger Boys
The arrest of a waiter reveals a pattern of abuse targeting A.D.T. messenger boys in the rooms above downtown saloons.
- A Furniture Store Fisticuff
A social slight between families led to a curse-filled brawl inside a Second Street furniture shop.