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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 7 |
43 stories matching shell
- The Bunko Men, the Norwegian Sisters, and the Saloonkeeper's Revenge
A shell-game gang swindles two Norwegian sisters out of $300 on the Seattle waterfront; Frank Hart is convicted in three minutes, then a saloonkeeper assaults one of his accusers outside court.
- The Tiny Republic of Anacortes: Boys, Shells, and Self-Government
In 1893, a group of Anacortes boys turned beachcombing into a natural-history club with a constitution, dues, and an exhibition that drew the whole town.
- The Day Burrard Inlet Rowed Away With Lake Washington
At the first amateur regatta ever held on Lake Washington, British Columbia crews dominated the junior fours and senior singles while Seattle prepared for its turn on the water.
- The Captain Who Caught a Monster: Seattle’s Own Sea Serpent Hoax
Captain Pat J. Boyton of Seattle claims to have captured a 63-foot sea serpent in the Pacific, sending a letter from his ship that has locals buzzing with wonder and skepticism.
- The Professor Who Rowed Himself Into the Lake
A local athletic instructor's intense workout on Lake Union ends in a watery disaster when his boat literally falls apart.
- A Murder Plot on Puget Sound and a Sickbed Betrayal
A boat captain says two young 'timber buyers' planned to shoot him and rob an Admiralty Head rancher. The same circle of suspects is accused of robbing a sarsaparilla agent while he lay delirious in a Seattle hotel.
- A Deadly Surprise at North Bend
A box of dynamite detonators exploded at a local tent, leaving a woman critically injured by metal shrapnel.
- The Unchecked Power of a Federal Official
A federal official at the Seattle land office, known for his hot temper and suspicious treatment of settlers, escapes a serious perjury investigation with only a slap on the wrist.
- The Shell Game at Myers Cannery
Two women are swindled out of $300 by a gang of con artists near the Myers Cannery, leading to a police hunt for the perpetrators of this classic 'gold brick' scam.
- She Fell Into Puget Sound and Woke to Fishermen at Dawn
An 18-year-old hotel guest went shell hunting near Smith Cove, slipped between the logs, and spent a rainy night unconscious on the beach before two fishermen found her.
- The Battle of the Incubator
A Seattle storefront puts the new technology of mechanical egg hatching to the test against the old ways of the barnyard.
- The City Council’s Fireproofing Farce: How Seattle’s ‘Renovations’ Are Destroying Property Values
An editorial scolds the local government for allowing cheap, temporary repairs to old buildings within fire limits, arguing that these 'shells' are disfiguring the business district and raising insurance rates for everyone.
- A 1.5-Mile Course Staked Across Lake Washington
Seattle’s 1894 rowing regatta drew crews from Portland, Vancouver and Victoria—and a leaky new shell that needed white lead before race day.
- Seattle Loses by Half a Length—and Wins the Lake
In August 1894, Seattle's first amateur regatta drew crowds to the Madison Street shore of Lake Washington for a four-oared thriller against Portland and Burrard Inlet. The home crew lost by less than half a length, but set a course record and gave the young city a new civic stage.
- Homemade Cannon Blast on Yesler Avenue
Two young boys narrowly escape death while attempting to build an improvised firework cannon on the Fourth of July.
- The Night Seattle Held the Line at the Stockade
A 39th-anniversary account of the January 1856 siege: two blockhouses, a howitzer from the USS Decatur, and two settlers killed in the Puget Sound War.
- 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.
- The Waterfront Fire That Outpaced the Firefighters
A historic Seattle row of buildings is gutted by fire as a mismanaged department struggles to contain the flames.
- The Warden Stole His Son’s Fiancée—Then Got Fired Over Eggs
A federal prison appointment at McNeil’s Island unearths a family romance gone wrong and an expense account full of phantom eggs.
- The First Wedding in Seattle, Celebrated Forty-Two Years Later
David and Louisa Denny gather four generations of pioneers at their Temperance Street home, where relics of the 1850s—and the certificate from Seattle’s first marriage—turn an anniversary into a founding story.
- The 'Cast Iron' Registration of Chinese Residents
New, highly restrictive federal regulations under the Geary Act require Chinese laborers to register with the government, using photographs for 'complete identification.'
- The Siege of Seattle: A Memory of 1856
On the Fourth of July, 1892, Seattle reflected on the narrow brush with total destruction during the battle of 1856, guided by those who lived through the smoke of the Decatur's cannons.
- Death at the Neah Bay Cable Crossing
A cable car over the Neah Bay river snapped mid-crossing, killing a prominent attorney as horrified passengers looked on.
- Canoeing the Queets: Promise and Dispossession on the Olympic Peninsula
An 1892 travelogue celebrates homesteaders in the Queets River valley while arguing that Native hunters should be confined to the reservation.
- The Cigar-Box Bomb That Came in the Mail for Gertie Spicer
A Washington woman suspected a prank, set the package on the sidewalk and opened it with a stick—just before it exploded and shook the buildings.
Also about this, in other words
- The Oyster Trust Comes for Willapa Bay
Oystermen in South Bend fight a Senate amendment that would let a San Francisco corporation keep its grip on Willapa Bay's oyster beds.
- The Oyster Famine of 1889
A labor shortage in the hopfields leads to a seasonal scarcity of oysters in Seattle, leaving local markets bare.