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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1904 | 12 |
| 1909 | 12 |
24 stories matching wire
- Power Company Wires Block Ships on Thea Foss Waterway
When high-voltage wires blocked a sailing ship from the city dock, a newspaper reporter dropped the story the moment they learned who owned the infrastructure.
- Fatal Surge on Pacific Avenue
High-voltage electricity crosses wires at a construction site, claiming the lives of two local workers and endangering several others.
- Fatal Currents: City Under Fire for Electrocution
Electricians question the city's management after two men died from a high-tension wire grounding failure.
- The Copper Wire Heist
Four laborers are taken into custody after allegedly stealing 50 pounds of copper wire from local transit facilities.
- High-Voltage Hazards on Tacoma’s Lines
Two linemen survive massive electrical shocks during a winter storm and a routine repair job.
- The Battle for Tacoma’s Trees
Citizens revolt against a plan to destroy shade trees to make way for unsightly power poles.
- House Fire at North Fife Street
A residence at 610 North Fife Street is heavily damaged by a blaze likely caused by faulty wiring while the owners were sitting in the floor below.
- Verdict for Youth Tortured in Saloon Dispute
A one-armed youth wins a $500 judgment after being bound in wire and strapped for thirteen hours by a saloon owner.
- The City Clock-Watchers
Tacoma’s electric linemen accused of turning city work hours into a full-time pinochle parlor.
- City Dock Bottleneck Hits Local Merchants
The Northern Pacific Railway's failure to install a short spur track has left Tacoma's new city dock paralyzed for months, forcing local producers to pay extra wharfage fees.
- The 1909 City Hall Power Grab That Tacoma Voters Were Told to Stop
A fiery Times editorial urged citizens to pack the council chamber against charter amendments it said would gut civil service, raise council pay, and hand city jobs to political loyalists.
- Trolley Conductor Survives High-Voltage Shock
A conductor working the Spanaway line narrowly escaped death after receiving a severe electric shock during a routine repair.
- The Daytime Light Mystery
Citizens flood city hall with calls wondering why electric lights are burning in broad daylight.
- The Moonlit Streets of Tacoma
Electrician Laaton pushes to replace wooden utility poles with ornamental iron lighting throughout the downtown core.
- Tapping the Source
Tacoma prepares to test new municipal wells to bypass private water monopoly pricing.
- South Tacoma’s Industrial Revolution
Northern Pacific Railway prepares to abandon steam for electricity in a shift that threatens the jobs of local coal-shoveling crews.
- The Great Telephone Monopoly Debate
Tacoma’s business elite weigh in on whether a second telephone franchise will bring healthy competition or just more tangled wires.
- City Faces Lawsuit After Fatal Electrocution
Lawyers prepare to sue the city over the deaths of two men who were killed while turning on electric lights.
- A High-Wire Heist at Ninth and Commerce
Budding criminals scaled a twelve-foot transom to loot a hardware store, only to ignore a massive, unlocked safe in favor of a handful of change.
- Mob Tension Stirs in Wilkeson
A brutal assault on two local women near the railroad tracks leads to the arrest of an Austrian man and triggers fears of mob violence.
- Tragedy in the Ashford Coal Mine
A foreman dies in a heroic but doomed effort to rescue his colleagues trapped by an explosion of fire damp deep beneath the earth.
- The Mardi Gras Con Job
Tacoma's city government is accused of selling out to a traveling troupe of mediocre performers after being warned by Seattle newspapers.
- Congressman Cushman and the Tariff 'Barter'
A stinging editorial accusation that Tacoma's representative traded his constituents' interests for a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
- The Perils of a Modern Diet
A local column warns Tacoma residents that the 'great national vice' of gluttony and poor food combinations is endangering public health.