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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 10 |
21 stories matching ray
- The Suicide of H. A. Ray: A Seattle Man’s Tragic End Amidst Scandal and Debt
Prominent waterworks official takes his own life in Chicago after financial ruin and a complex romantic entanglement with a woman he claimed was his sister.
- Tragedy in Ballard: Child Dies After Eating Canned Plums
A five-year-old girl has died and several others are ill in Ballard following a meal of canned fruit, prompting a medical investigation.
- Elma’s Mill Burned at Dinner Hour—and Nothing Was Insured
A noon-hour fire destroyed the John L. Hill saw and shingle mill in Elma, consuming 800,000 shingles and 50,000 feet of finished lumber while the crew ate dinner.
- The Land That Wouldn't Sell: A Seattle Speculator's Frustration
In January 1899, a local real estate agent tried to sell two acres of prime city land for $200. The buyer refused, citing recent sales of similar lots for as little as $5 per acre—a stark reminder of the chaotic and deflating property market in early Seattle.
- The Beer Trust Comes to Seattle
Three major local breweries have consolidated into the 'Seattle Brewing and Malting Company' to eliminate cutthroat competition.
- Ballard Stages a Fairytale
Local children perform a charming pantomime at the Ballard Opera House to the delight of the community.
- A Backyard Tragedy in Ballard
A young girl is severely burned while playing near a rubbish fire during spring cleaning.
- The Brutal Forced Exploitation of a Young Woman in Everett
A teenager is pressured into prostitution by her partner, exposing the dark underside of life in the booming town of Everett.
- The Governor’s Violin Fell Silent at the Bohemian Club
Charles B. Laughton—former acting governor, lawyer, and celebrated fiddler—died mid-sentence in Tacoma after a legislative session, leaving behind a career tangled in vetoes and a school-book scandal.
- Church Faction Fight at the African M.E. Church
A local pastor faces a push for his resignation, but claims the effort is led by unauthorized parties.
- The Myth of the 'Overcrowded' Frontier
In 1889, local papers pushed back against sensationalist claims that Seattle was a destitute wasteland, framing the 'idle' men on street corners not as victims of an economic crisis, but as voluntary loafers.
- The Populist Editor Who Saw Anarchy and Came Home to the Democrats
After a political murder and a season of lawlessness, F. F. Lischke renames his Sprague paper and renounces the People’s Party.
- Banker Bellinger's Revolt: The Railroad Bill and a Wheat Farmer's Wrath
A Palouse banker threatens to leave the Republican Party after the legislature fails to pass a railroad bill that would have saved him thousands in freight costs.
- A Dead Explorer's Lantern Slides: Alaska Comes to the Seattle Theater
J. O. Hestwood recounts the Yukon route, the Grand Canyon rapids and the cost of the northern gold fields, illustrating the journey of the late explorer Wilson with views projected on the screen.
- The Last Stake: A Gambler's Ruin at a Seattle Card Table
A cautionary tale of a high-rolling stranger, a priceless gem, and the silent, unblinking eye of the house lookout.
- The Pastor, the Pawnshop, and the Forged Minutes
Seattle's Jones Street A.M.E. church removed Rev. Allen Whaley after trustees found missing collection money, a suspicious bank receipt, and minutes he wrote himself.
- Seattle's Schools Were Running on Borrowed Money—and the Bill Was Due
In 1895, the school board urged voters to ratify a stack of bonds and warrants incurred to build schools, warning that the alternative was a six-month school year—or repudiation.
- The Desperado Who Vanished Into the Brush
A King County manhunt closes in on escaped murderer Thomas Blanck—until a dark ambush near Black River Junction lets him slip away behind his partner’s raised hands.
- The Senator’s Homecoming: A City Roars for Watson Squire
Thousands line the Seattle waterfront as the Bailey Gatzert steamer arrives, carrying newly re-elected U.S. Senator Watson C. Squire home from Olympia in a spontaneous ovation of cheers, champagne christenings, and civic pride.
- A House of Prayer for All the Nations
In 1892, Seattle's Congregation Ohaveth Sholom dedicated the first Jewish synagogue in Washington, filling the new sanctuary at Seventh and Seneca with Jews and Gentiles and with sermons that insisted the building must be more than stone and gold.
- Camp Kelpie: A Seattle Hunting Party in the Last Great Bear Country
In 1895, Seattle sportsmen pitched camp on Hood Canal between the Duckabush and Hamma Hamma rivers and found a wilderness thick with black bear, salmon, and one very unlucky tenderfoot.