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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 19 |
| 1891 | 11 |
| 1892 | 28 |
| 1893 | 36 |
| 1894 | 54 |
| 1895 | 43 |
198 stories matching test
- A Fire Commissioner on Trial Over Rotten Hose
George T. Masel faces the city council over charges he moved to force unfit Baker fabric fire hose into service — and witness after witness describes the couplings flying off under pressure.
- The Navy Secretary Goes Down Into the Big Hole
Secretary of the Navy Herbert rides the lighthouse tender Manzanita across the Sound to inspect the giant new dry dock at Port Orchard, settles a bitter dispute over how deep to drive the pilings, and dances the night away at the Rainier.
- The Navy Preferred British Coal. Seattle Wouldn’t Let It Go.
When the Bering Sea fleet was ordered to take Comox coal instead of Puget Sound fuel, Senator Squire and local coal men forced a test—and threatened to take the fight to the Senate.
- The Navy Puts Puget Sound Coal to the Test
Federal authorities order warships Yorktown and Monterey to Seattle to determine if local coal can power the U.S. Navy.
- The Forest Empire That Built Washington
A sweeping 1900 survey of the state's lumber industry counted billions of feet of standing timber, 250 sawmills, and $7 million a year in wages—proof that the trees, not the cities, came first.
- The Clay Under Seattle Built a Million-Dollar Industry
King County clay works turned local deposits into firebrick, paving brick, sewer pipe and architectural terra cotta—winning federal tests and employing hundreds of men.
- The Mayor Hired to Break His Own Ordinance: A Teamster's Wagon Tests a Street Law
When a Front Street hauler blocks a druggist's doorway, the teamsters make a test case of it—and retain the very mayor who signed the rule to argue it down.
- 1,950 Farmers Tested Whether Washington Could Grow Its Own Sugar
A statewide experiment from Pullman found Washington soil and climate unusually suited to sugar beets—raising hopes that the state could someday manufacture all the sugar it consumed.
- Seattle's Watered-Milk Case Collapsed on a Question of Intent
An inspector found 10 to 12 gallons of water in a 46-gallon shipment, but Judge Glasgow acquitted the retailer because the ordinance did not require him to test every can.
- The Navy's $600,000 Question: Was the Dry Dock Built on Bad Piles?
A special commission of Army engineers is rushed to Puget Sound to test whether the navy's new dry dock was built on bad piling and inferior concrete.
- City Hall Refuses to Rewrite Its Own Rulebook — and Dares the Supreme Court to Decide
Seattle's council rejects the freeholders' petition for a new city charter, declaring the enabling law unconstitutional, and offers to bankroll a test case all the way to Olympia.
- The Mint Saloon Loses Its License—and City Hall Braces for Court
The council confirmed a new police commissioner, reappointed officials, revoked the Mint Saloon's license over loud legal objections, and set Pike Street on the road to vitrified brick.
- The Navy's Test of Bellingham Bay Coal
Secretary Herbert clarifies that Bellingham Bay coal tests for the Pacific fleet are not conclusive, signaling a win for Senator Squire against British interests.
- The Unsung Strength of Washington Fir
Local engineers are pushing for a government-funded laboratory to scientifically prove what loggers already know: that Washington timber is superior to Eastern pine.
- The Railroad That Came for the Fir
A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy official tours Puget Sound mills and says his line may soon build freight cars from Washington fir.
- The Trial of Carrie Goldsmith
A police court judge hears a test case against a 'disorderly woman' that could determine the fate of dozens of others facing arrest.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.
- The Day the Territorial Supreme Court Killed Women's Suffrage in Washington
In a landmark test case from May 1902, Judge Sash ruled that the Organic Act of Washington Territory only granted voting rights to males, effectively striking down local efforts to enfranchise women.
- The Test Case of Chin Fook
A legal battle over the constitutional rights of Chinese residents in 1890s Seattle.
- The Great Broadway Pump Failure
An experimental city attempt to save money by shutting down the Broadway pump station ends in a burst main and a chaotic emergency repair.
- Seattle's Dance Hall Ordinance Faces Legal Challenge
Proprietors open their doors to test the legality of local ordinances targeting 'lewd and lascivious' variety dance halls.
- The Nine-Hour Day Battle in Seattle
A local mill contract sparks a tense standoff between the Carpenters' Union and Seattle contractors, testing the strength of the nascent labor movement.
- Canada’s Naturalization Papers Denied at the Border
Federal authorities reject the residency status of Chinese British subjects, sparking a test case for immigration restrictions.
- The Mine That Wasn’t? A Captain Denies a Half-Million-Dollar Gold Swindle
An English capitalist’s suit against Alaska millionaires turned a Port Townsend sailing into a Pacific Coast sensation, with charges of swapped ore, gold-soaked drill cores, and a forceful denial from Capt. James Carroll.
Also about this, in other words
- The Test of Conscience for Seattle’s Citizen Militia
Company E implements a rigorous questionnaire for recruits, aiming to filter out labor unionists and drinkers in an era of intense industrial unrest.
- The State Germ Lab in the Burke Block
Seattle's new bacteriological laboratory tested city water, hunted typhoid and tried to make diphtheria antitoxin—while its doctors covered the rent.