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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 13 |
| 1895 | 9 |
47 stories matching patch
- The Crumbling Capitol Gets a Patch-Up
As legislators prepare for the 1893 session, the barn-like structure in Olympia receives a new roof and a desperately needed expansion.
- A Deadly Error on Lopez Island
A 70-year-old man, a repeat offender in accidental shootings, is critically wounded after being mistaken for a deer in a fern patch.
- Seattle's Potato-Patch Plan for the Unemployed
Seattle's charity board proposes turning vacant city land into potato patches for jobless men, borrowing a Detroit relief experiment that fed nearly a thousand families.
- The Cougars of Spangle
Predators roam the countryside, prompting fears for the safety of children and local livestock.
- Who Killed Zens Mayeda? The Footprints in the Potato Patch
A Japanese man is found murdered in Seattle. A sullen suspect gives little away, and a deputy sheriff finds three sets of hurried footprints — one pair barefoot — leading away from the house.
- Drought in the 'Crystal Springs'
Citizens of Walla Walla were sold a dream of mountain water, but a local investigation reveals little more than mud and dried-up holes.
- The Shortest Divorce Case on Record
Following a tragic loss in the family, a quarreling couple returns to court to finalize their separation with surprising speed.
- The Pants Politics of the Leban Schoolhouse
Farmers gather at a rural schoolhouse to discuss a new cooperative creamery, with one speaker humorously suggesting the project might cure the town's 'Democratic' rags.
- The Ghost Island of Arcadia
A squatter fights for the right to claim a six-acre island that the federal government officially claims doesn't exist.
- The Potato Patch Fraud
A federal investigation reveals that a 'homestead' in Everett was nothing more than a few spuds and a locked door.
- The Man Who Defended His Roof
An indignant Seattle resident threatens to prosecute a mysterious stranger who attempted to arrest him for working on his roof on a Sunday.
- The Unlucky Fate of the Steamer City of Ellensburg
Creditors protest a forced sale of a river steamer, claiming the vessel was sold for a pittance in a 'farce' of an auction.
- A Bloody Collision at the Ballpark
A brutal outfield collision between two Seattle players leaves them both senseless and costs the team the game against Tacoma.
- A Deadly Hole on Pioneer Place
A routine street crossing turns fatal when rotten wooden planks give way under a carriage horse.
- The Great Garden Plague of 1889
A voracious 'brown worm' army descends on Seattle, wiping out local vegetable patches and leaving residents desperate for a solution.
- A Love Triangle Ends in Gunfire in North Yakima
A jealous husband confronts his wife's suitor over a patch of vegetables; a single shot and a dying man's statement point to murder.
- The Silver Rush in the Cascades
A new mineral strike in the Cascade district promises rich deposits of silver, lead, and copper, with local mining experts calling it a 'second Comstock.'
- Humpy the Fisherman Is Shot Dead Over the Right to Cut Hay
A disabled fisherman and a rancher quarreled over who owned a patch of grass near Palmer Lake. It was the third killing caused by a ranch-boundary dispute in a single year.
- The Year the Potatoes Took Over
Gardeners in Whatcom County find themselves waging a green war against 'volunteer' potato plants that have turned lawns and flowerbeds into unplanned farms.
- The UW Eleven Triumphs in the Mud
A scrappy University of Washington team secures a 14-0 shutout victory against the Seattle Athletic Club on the sodden grounds of Madiera Park.
- The Electric Quack of the Arlington Hotel
An elderly traveler narrowly escapes a predatory ‘doctor’ who attempted to encase her in ‘electric’ metal shields under the guise of a miracle cure.
- A Close Encounter with a Cougar
Two young boys on a hunting trip in the Deschutes River valley survive an unnerving standoff with a massive mountain lion.
- Tragedy on the Ridge: A Lightning Strike in the Mesan District
A brutal mountain storm leaves one prospector dead and another miraculously stumbling into camp to report the horror.
- 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.
- They Struck Gold in the Middle of Tacoma — Or Said They Did
Placer miners claim a patch of state school land inside the city is a rich mining camp. The state is drilling to bed rock to find out who is right.