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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 12 |
28 stories matching misunderstand
- The Carousel Tragedy: A Seattle Heartbreak
When two inseparable shop girls fell for the same carousel operator, a romantic misunderstanding led to a devastating, silent exit.
- The Plumbing Inspector Controversy
Mayor Phelps's appointment of a new inspector faces a public challenge from the local plumbers' union.
- A False Alarm on Second Street
Police rushed to a residence expecting a gruesome tragedy, only to find a quiet house and a domestic misunderstanding.
- The Case of the Martin Creek Bartender
A friendship soured by a missing $20 and a suspicious bar tab reveals the perils of saloon-based bookkeeping.
- The Senate Standoff at Olympia
A legislative deadlock in Olympia pits railroad-backed lobbyists against the people's choice, fueling calls for electoral reform.
- The Phantom Lynching of Monte Cristo
Sensational reports of mass violence against Italian laborers in the mountains were debunked after local officials and witnesses found the camp quiet.
- A Family Reunited After Five Years of Silence
A man's long search for his wife and children ends in Ballard after a misunderstanding led to a mistaken belief that he had died.
- The Shingle Trust’s Long Arm
A Snohomish mill owner is hauled to Tacoma under arrest, accused of defrauding a powerful shingle trust over a single carload of lumber.
- The Pig War: How a Single Shot Almost Started a War
A minor dispute over a pig on San Juan Island spiraled into an international standoff between the United States and Great Britain in 1859.
- Spokane Rises Against a Senate Machine
Thousands of Spokane voters and organized labor protest John L. Wilson's election to the U.S. Senate, warning Olympia that the people will not pay for a machine's contracts.
- No Safety Net, No Ordinance: A Trapeze Act Falls in Seattle
Two acrobats plunged from a Madison Street trapeze in 1895, exposing a gap in city safety rules and a very lucky escape.
- The Ghost in the Water Mains
Seattle residents plagued by terrifying subterranean thumping discover the culprit is local utility infrastructure, not a haunting.
- The Fall of Alaska's Deputy Marshal
Ralph A. Meyer, once a trusted federal officer in Alaska, passes through Port Townsend bound for six years in San Quentin — a cautionary tale of a brilliant career undone by embezzlement.
- A Seattle Woman Defends the Italian Immigrant
Interviewed at the Rainier, a language teacher recently returned from Europe rejects the caricature of Italians as a degraded race and describes them as industrious, sober, and devoted to home and family.
- The Battle for the Hall
When two rival labor factions attempted to book the same venue for their organizational meeting, the dispute devolved into a chaotic scramble for possession of the room.
- The War-Ready Chief of Ballast Island
Grandson of Chief Seattle, 'Tyee Peter' rallies his followers to defend the U.S. against Chile—and reflects on a history of misunderstanding with the military.
- The Streetcar Franchise Fight That Put Seattle’s Council on the Spot
Property owners demand the double track promised with their $900,000 subsidy; delegates reject an extension, and aldermen agree to hear the crowd.
- A Diamond Ring and a Broken Romance: The Saloon Trial of 'Sodie' Davis
When a French hotel keeper and her much younger lover quarrelled, a diamond ring became the star exhibit in a Seattle larceny trial — with a will, a fortune in gems, and a $5-a-day allowance all laid before the jury.
- From a Blacksmith Shop to a Million Members: Seattle's AME Centenary
Rev. Allen W. Whaley traced 100 years of African Methodism from a Philadelphia blacksmith shop to a global church—and named the race prejudice that forced its founders out.
- The Black Diamond Strike: When a Single Wage Dispute Paralyzed 350 Miners
A local labor assembly ordered a halt to production at the Black Diamond coal mine after a miner was paid as a laborer despite working underground. Company agents claim ignorance of the cause, but the men stand firm.
- The Tacoma Republicans Who Refused to Knife John McGraw
A Pierce County party committee tried to block the state ticket. A rival Harrison Club fired back with a mule-team metaphor and demanded candidates pledge loyalty.
- Ballard's City Attorney Skipped Court—and the City Paid a Debt Twice
A $1,046 judgment forced Ballard to pay the same debt twice, prompting the mayor to demand an investigation into City Attorney Edmund Peters' neglect.
- A Senate Seat, a Caucus, and a Yakima Ditch Deal
In Olympia, Republicans moved to settle the U.S. Senate contest between Ankeny and Wilson—while opponents circulated a story that Wilson had traded a Congressional favor for stock in a Yakima irrigation scheme.
- The City Health Board Closed Two Schools. The School Board Asked Who Gave It the Power.
When scarlet fever fears shut Rainier and South schools, Seattle's school board dug in—not against quarantine, but against what its lawyers called an 'arbitrary' order that skipped the City Council.
- Debs Comes to Seattle, Fresh From Jail, and Tells the Crowd How He Got Six Months
A thousand workingmen meet the Pullman strike leader at the boat landing, march him through town, and pack the Seattle theater to hear him name the real conspirators.