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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 3 |
31 stories matching sheet
- The Railway Scheme That Failed
A phantom freight tariff, designed to crush independent grocers, is exposed and vetoed by the railroad manager himself.
- The City's Notorious Blackmail Sheets
How unscrupulous publishers coerced local business owners with the threat of public exposure.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.
- Canada Bans Seattle's 'Depraved' Tabloids
Provincial authorities in Victoria and Vancouver slam the border shut on Seattle newspapers deemed too obscene for public consumption.
- The Great Seattle Fire: A Military Account of the Ruins
Colonel Haines recounts the chaos, the failed efforts to contain the 1889 fire with explosives, and the deployment of the National Guard to maintain order amidst the ashes.
- A Midnight Knock, a Hidden Fortune, and a Brutal Beating on Vashon Island
Two men demand an old rancher's money, bind and club him, then ransack his cabin for a cache of cash. Seattle police arrest a suspect—and then the victim's wife.
- Longshoremen Strike Against Wage Cuts
Striking dockworkers faced off against non-union labor hired by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company to unload cargo at drastically reduced pay.
- The Gall and Wormwood of Olympia: Tacoma’s Defeat in the Senate Race
As Washington's first U.S. Senator is chosen in a bitter legislative battle, defeated candidate Calkins' supporters cry foul, while Jefferson County delegates secure the victory for Watson Squire.
- Political Rebellion in the State Legislature
Senator Hutchinson breaks with the Democratic caucus in Olympia to challenge railroad-backed influence in Washington politics.
- 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 Sudden Squall Rocks the Seattle Waterfront
A fierce windstorm capsizes a sailboat, sinks a boathouse, and tests the nerves of local sailors.
- The 'Corpse' Who Sat Up and Ran for the Bay
A wharf loafer mistaken for a corpse startled undertakers when he sat up in the receiving box, bolted for the water and fled uptown.
- The Tragedy at the Stetson-Post Mill
A three-week-old boy was discovered floating in Seattle’s waters, a stark and somber reminder of the hidden precarity and desperation in the city’s frontier industrial era.
- The Mail-Order Marriage from Hell
A lonely rancher and a widow seeking companionship found only a farcical and bitter end to their long-distance romance.
- A Japanese Diplomat Comes to Seattle, and Likes What He Sees
Chancellor M. Odagiri toured Puget Sound to choose a consulate site, praised Seattle's buildings and Lake Washington, and predicted Japan would beat China in the war then under way.
- The Dry Dock Deal That Promised 300 Jobs in Ten Days
A revised Navy contract at Port Orchard promised hundreds of jobs and a permanent naval station—and contractors insisted their work had been vindicated.
- Seattle’s Water Gamble: A Public Utility Success Story
While critics argued over bond debt and construction costs in 1891, the city's new water system proved to be an instant and lucrative revenue stream for the young municipality.
- The Fake Evening Herald
A morning newspaper launches a sham evening edition to monopolize city printing contracts through a loophole in the city charter.
- Internal Strife Rips Apart Tacoma’s Democratic Party
A bitter feud between the party's 'kids' and established members over sheriff nominations and fusion schemes threatens to cost the Democrats the election.
- A House Lifted Off Its Foundations and Floated Out Into the Lake
After five days of rain, Lake Cushman rose to record heights — eight feet deep on the hotel floor — and carried one man's house bodily across the clearing into the water.
- The City Council’s Perpetual Muddle
A failed attempt to sort out the city's chaotic tax records leaves property owners carrying the burden for their delinquent neighbors.
- Political Infighting Rocks the People's Party
Seattle activists revolt against 'fusion' strategy and the perceived buying of political influence through newspaper subsidies.
- Great Northern Railroad Arrives in Spokane
President James J. Hill arrives to finalize depot plans as the transcontinental line pushes westward toward the coast.
- Jailer's Rounds Foil Burglars Digging Through Cell Wall
Two burglars nearly tunneled out of the King County Jail, thwarted only by a sharp-eared jailer and an unfortunate musical choice.
- The Hidden Daily Labor of 1891
A quiet, classified advertisement reveals the invisible service economy of late 19th-century Seattle.