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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 10 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 11 |
| 1895 | 15 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1924 | 1 |
109 stories matching absurd
- The Morning After: A Local Scandal Retraction
The Press-Times finds itself in an awkward tangle, celebrating its own bold reporting of a poisoning plot before immediately disavowing the accusations as 'too absurd for belief.'
- The Fight Over the River
Washington's Fish Commissioner clashes with Oregon courts over the right to arrest fishermen on the Columbia River.
- The $4-an-Acre Shoreline Fight
Olympia’s Tribune rebuts a Spokane paper’s claim that Washington tide lands were being handed away for a pittance—and asks whether Governor Ferry must share the blame.
- An Explorer's Curious Discovery in the Puyallup Valley
In 1878, a local explorer ventured into the uncharted territory of the Puyallup Valley, reporting back with observations that bordered on the absurd.
- The Great Dimple Scandal
A jealous husband, a mysterious package, and a 19th-century beauty obsession gone wrong in an upper-crust Seattle home.
- The Absurdity of Local Mail Service
A scathing editorial laments the bureaucratic inefficiency of sending mail across Puget Sound only to have it return to a destination a half-mile away.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad's Gibberish
The Portland Board of Trade is left baffled by a nonsensical and dismissive letter from Northern Pacific President Robert Harris regarding regional transit.
- The Mayor Takes an Unplanned Swim
Mayor Byron Phelps learned the hard way that log-rolling is best left to professionals after a fishing trip to Maple Valley went awry.
- Was it Murder or Manslaughter?
A Seattle newspaper criticizes a jury's decision to convict William Wilcox of manslaughter instead of murder for the death of Mrs. Charlotte Petting.
- Federal Judge Hanford Sentences Coxeyite Protesters
Twenty-six members of the Coxeyite industrial army face jail time after seizing a Northern Pacific train in defiance of federal court orders.
- Political Deadlock and Dirty Tricks in Olympia
Accusations of corporate puppetry fly in the Washington State Legislature as the battle for the U.S. Senate seat intensifies.
- The Never-Ending Senatorial Deadlock
Legislative chaos in Olympia as power-brokering and petty infighting stall the selection of a U.S. Senator.
- The Great Population Bluff of 1887
A scathing editorial exposes how local politicians inflated King County’s census data, revealing the long history of 'boosterism' in Seattle's growth.
- The Political Plumes of Washington Territory
A partisan battle over which political party actually deserves credit for the birth of Washington State.
- The Fight Over Tribal Land in the Path of Progress
Booster newspapers in 1889 editorialized against the reservation system, calling for the seizure of Indigenous land to satisfy a hungry real estate market.
- The Struggle Against Railroad Monopoly
A political demand for the forfeiture of unearned land grants given to the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Census as an Intrusion of Privacy
A scathing editorial critique of the 1890 Census, calling government inquiries into property and health a 'meddling' breach of private life.
- A Local Woman's Wit on the Suffrage Debate
A satirical letter to the editor uses the 'woman question' and local chores to expose the absurdity of the disenfranchisement of women.
- The Battle for the Cascade Pass
Skagit County residents argue that the state’s proposed route for a cross-Cascade wagon road is a geographic absurdity designed only for political patronage.
- The 'Deep, Dark, Damnable Conspiracy' Against Women’s Votes
In 1887, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer mocked the 'absurd' suspicion that the Territorial Supreme Court, the President, and local newspapers were conspiring to disenfranchise women through judicial appointments.
- The 'Combined Eye-Glass and Deadshot Expectorator'
A traveling salesman tries to peddle an absurd invention to the local elite of the Pacific Club to 'fix' a social problem nobody knew they had.
- Geography and the Marital Bond
A look at why Washington Territory's lax divorce laws are making it a destination for those seeking to leave their marriages behind.
- The Power Fight of 1924
A fiery public debate erupts over utility profits, corporate control, and the cost of electricity in Washington.
- Labor Day and the Myth of Calamity
An editorial critique of the People's Party 'calamity' campaign during the 1892 Labor Day celebrations.
- The Blackmailer of the Bird's Nest
A husband is convicted of attempting to blackmail a police commissioner, exposing his wife's past life in the Everett underworld.