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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 5 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
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| 1892 | 15 |
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| 1909 | 6 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
136 stories matching apparatus
- The Playground Liability Panic
When a legal ruling turned the simple joy of school swings into a site of municipal fear, the school board in North Yakima moved to tear it all down.
- The Fire Chief They Tried to Blame
After a bad showing at the Whitehouse-Crimmins fire, the mayor and council concede the apparatus is worn out — then look for a scapegoat in a twelve-year veteran of the department.
- The Mischief Makers of Second Street
Seattle's fire department gets a workout from phantom alarms in the Boston Block.
- The Seidlitz-Powder Scheme to Raise a Sunken Ship
Confident investors bought a wreck off Grays Harbor and promised to lift it with secret chemicals, carbonic gas, and a patent they had not quite finished.
- Playground Liability Lawsuit Threatens School Equipment
A $5,000 jury verdict for a child injured on school apparatus has sparked fears that playgrounds across North Yakima will be stripped of their play structures.
- North Yakima School Playground Accident Leads to $5,000 Judgment
A court ruling finds a school district liable for injuries sustained on modified playground equipment, sparking concerns about the future of school recreation.
- Seattle Burned the Devil's Playthings in the City Furnace
The Colored Pastime Club's cards and tables went up in smoke, reviving memories of the Budweiser raid, Sheriff Cochran's cleanup, and the 1885 Chinese riots.
- Hoquiam’s School Board Prioritizes Local Business Over Outsiders
While Hoquiam mandates that local contractors perform school heating work, Aberdeen officials look to Tacoma for technical installations.
- A Bad Day at the Ballard Shingle Mill
A fire in Ed A. Auld's shingle mill is stopped by a neighboring company's apparatus, then two workers are maimed in separate accidents.
- The Fire Warden’s War with the Firemen
Seattle’s fire warden defends his authority against a rebellious engine company.
- The Tragedy of the Diver in Tacoma Harbor
A routine salvage operation to reach a sunken vessel turned fatal when a burst air pipe left a diver trapped in the depths of Puget Sound.
- Seattle Firefighters Demand Better Equipment
Local fire delegates warn that current equipment cannot reach the city's growing buildings during an emergency.
- The Firehouse Rebellion
Seattle's volunteer firemen resist a City Council power grab in a bitter dispute over control of firefighting apparatus.
- The Union Club's Roulette Wheel
A judge rules that a seized roulette wheel isn't necessarily a gambling tool, sparking a debate over the city's power to destroy property.
- The Flying-Machine Inventor Who Vanished and Left the Carpenter Unpaid
An Englishman named Howard hired a Tacoma carpenter to build a “living machine,” then disappeared with the key to the storeroom—leaving a very anxious workman and a mysterious apparatus.
- The Patent Steam Dryer at Yesler’s Wharf
A new industrial appliance for families arrives in late 19th-century Seattle, promising to modernize the household chore of food preservation.
- A House on the Bluff: Fire Lights Up the City as the Engines Fail to Arrive
The lakeside home of E. J. Jeffries burns to the ground while the fire department is too far away to save it — a blaze visible for miles across Seattle.
- The Dredger Pacific Resurfaces
A industrial mishap in the Sound leads to a dramatic recovery of a sunken dredger.
- Seattle Makes Its Case for Statehood
As the constitutional convention convenes in Olympia, Seattle’s delegates argue for the city’s readiness, its infrastructure, and its claim to statehood.
- The Struggle for a Fire-Safe City
Early Seattleites grapple with the slow, expensive process of organizing a volunteer fire department to protect a rapidly growing town.
- A Town Without a Pipe
A weekend fire in Oroville exposes the critical lack of a municipal water system, sparking frustration from residents and observers.
- Judge Chambers’s New Mill Turns New Dungeness Wheat Into ‘Superb’ Flour
A newspaper tour of the just-finished grist mill found machinery ‘complete in every particular’ and a cleaning apparatus that astonished the visitors.
- The Bridge That Saved a Boarding House
A ten-minute delay caused by a passing ship allowed firefighters to extinguish a blaze in the St. Paul Tacoma Lumber Company’s housing before it could spread.
- Abandoned North Seattle Home Destroyed by Fire
An unoccupied house in the city's north side was reduced to ash in the early hours of Monday morning.
- Puget Sound Fleet Hit with Heavy Fines
Sixteen steamships were penalized $750 each for failing to carry adequate life-saving equipment, according to the Collector of Customs.