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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 31 |
| 1891 | 14 |
| 1892 | 54 |
| 1893 | 71 |
| 1894 | 66 |
| 1895 | 78 |
333 stories matching scheme
- The 'Free Lot' Scam
A Tacoma resident exposes a real estate scheme offering 'free' land to lure investors into paying high notary fees for worthless property.
- Seattle Rejects the 'Evergreen State' Souvenir
Local business leaders take a stand against an exclusionary advertising scheme that demanded cash for recognition.
- The Price of Independent Journalism
The Post-Intelligencer faces a libel suit for investigating city contract corruption.
- The Machine That Wouldn't Start
Seattle Democrats outmaneuver an attempt by party insiders to hijack a fake non-partisan movement for their own political gain.
- The City Hall Newspaper War
Seattle's Board of Aldermen is embroiled in a heated dispute over city printing contracts, with critics alleging the fix is already in.
- A Marriage Built on Lies and Swindling
A husband files for divorce claiming his wife wasn't the 'virtuous girl' he was promised, leading his wife to reveal he was actually a confidence man trying to recruit her into his schemes.
- Port Townsend Refused to Help Seattle Dig Its Canal—Washington Still Paid for It
A Port Townsend meeting cheered resolutions against the 'Seattle ditch,' even as Congress was appropriating $100,000 to begin work on the canal.
- The Failed 'Colony' Scheme to Rig the Ninth Ward
Local political operatives attempted to pack the Ninth Ward with manufactured voters by dangling sewer-digging jobs and boarding house deals, but the plan collapsed under the weight of its own incompetence.
- The Price of the Iron Horse
Boosterism, county subsidies, and the hidden cost of corporate expansion in Walla Walla.
- Anti-Allen Dark Horse Scheme Fails in Olympia
While anti-Allen forces scramble for a candidate, the state legislature remains paralyzed by 'dark horse' rumors and fabricated desertions.
- The School Board Rejects a World's Fair Scheme
Seattle school board members debate fundraising for a 'baby building' at the Chicago World's Fair.
- A Kitsap County Political Grudge Match
Local residents decry the political renaming of the Sidney post office, arguing it’s a scheme to fire a veteran and confuse the mail.
- The Seattle Bazaar Bankruptcy Scandal
Bank sues Samuel Levy, alleging the Seattle Bazaar’s closure and stock seizures were a scheme to defraud creditors.
- The 1895 Plan to Photograph Suspected Voters at the Polls
A Washington legislator proposed stationing photographers at polling places to snap 'doubtful voters' and preserve evidence against repeaters.
- Shipping Voters Across the Sound: Tacoma's Imported Electorate
An organized scheme ships hundreds of men from Seattle to Tacoma by rail and steamer to register and vote in April's election — and it unravels when 150 would-be voters show up at a dock looking for the man who promised to pay their fare.
- The Insurance Fugitive's Last Laugh
After orchestrating a bizarre life insurance fraud involving a fake cremation, William Radloff writes a rambling, taunting letter to the Seattle police from his secret hiding place.
- A Blackmail Scheme at the Statehouse?
Legislators suspect a proposed liquor licensing bill is less about temperance and more about extorting the state's saloon owners.
- The Opium-Hand Coaching Scheme
A theatrical agent was arrested after authorities discovered a systemic scheme to coach Chinese witnesses in court through signals and physical props.
- The Senatorial Deadlock in Olympia
Partisan maneuvering and 'dark horse' schemes stall the election of Senator John B. Allen.
- The Boodle Scandal: A Fight for a Senate Seat in Olympia
Corruption allegations reach a boiling point in the Washington State Legislature as claims of bribery and 'boodle' schemes threaten to derail the selection of a U.S. Senator.
- The Seattle Real Estate 'Gigantic Scheme' to Chicago
A proposed state law to widen Seattle streets is condemned as a speculative ploy to unload property on unsuspecting Eastern buyers.
- The Fight Over Corporate Subsidies in the 1889 State Constitution
Delegates at the Washington Constitutional Convention engage in a heated debate over whether counties should be allowed to use public tax money to subsidize private railroad construction.
- The Broken Promise of the Port Angeles Railroad
A New York broker promised a transformative rail line to Port Angeles, but city boosters discovered the 'syndicate' was just a man with a scheme.
- City Hall's Shameless Newspaper Scheme
Seattle's Board of Aldermen accused of violating the city charter by awarding a lucrative official contract to the Telegraph.
- Seattle Bets on a Canal, Tide Flats and a New Iron Works
A state press report says Seattle is the one Washington city with major projects this year: a $900,000 canal and tide-land scheme, plus an iron furnace and car works backed by New York capital.