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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 10 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1915 | 3 |
| 1917 | 4 |
21 stories matching ayer
- Farm Accident Leads to Serious Injury
A broken wire on an irrigation ditcher causes a violent workplace accident for a local farmer.
- The Case of the Resurrected Steer
A cattle theft trial in Olympia falls apart after the alleged victim's 'slaughtered' cow walks home.
- Defective Brick in the Courthouse? The Former Superintendent Says Yes
Former superintendent W. A. Rogers says the county courthouse contains defective brick that can be crushed by hand, disputing the county attorney's claim that only the architecture is at fault.
- The Last-Minute Rescue from a Broken Marriage
A mother on the verge of eloping finds her way back to her family when her young son falls dangerously ill.
- The Rowdiest School Election in Finley History
A local election for school directors descended into a scene of chaotic oratorical debate, resulting in one bruised nose and the election of a new board.
- The Miracle Medicine of 1889
A local Colonel claims a miraculous recovery from pneumonia, sparking a business opportunity for the city's druggists.
- They Burned Letters to the Dead on Ayer's Hill
Olympia's Chinese community gathered at a hillside cemetery in 1891 to honor eight departed countrymen with roast pork, red candles, wine and paper messages sent into the next world.
- Olympia’s Streetcar Franchise Fight Heads for the Courthouse
A requested extension for the Westside railway sparks a council move to forfeit the Savage Main Street franchise, with a two-year court threat hanging over the city.
- The Bachelor Doctor Who Died Walking Home Along the Rails
Dr. G. S. Smith, a familiar but solitary figure in Olympia, was found dying near the long trestle after visiting a family in Tumwater.
- The Finley Grange Turns a New Leaf
A surge of new membership and a renewed interest in national agricultural policy marks a turning point for the local Grange chapter.
- The Governor Orders a Military Court Martial
A simmering internal conflict within the Washington National Guard reaches a breaking point as a colonel faces formal charges.
- A Call for Local Relief as War Rages in Europe
A Kennewick correspondent appeals to the farming community to donate to the Commission for the Relief of Belgium, noting that local prosperity is built on the suffering of war.
- The White-and-Gold Trolleys That Would Link Olympia and Tumwater
In February 1892, Olympia Light & Power awarded a $70,000 contract for a four-mile electric street railway from Ayer's Hill to Tumwater—built with local labor and Pullman-style cars.
- The Speed Fiend and the Road Boss
As Benton County redraws its road districts, a local editor wants the men who maintain the roads given power to arrest the drivers tearing them up.
- Railroad Division Moves to Walla Walla
The Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company relocates its third division headquarters, promising new jobs and infrastructure to the city.
- A Lincoln Judge Buried: Olympia Mourns C. C. Hewitt
The bar and superior court adjourn as pioneers honor the ex-chief justice of Washington Territory, remembered as a plain, honest man who served from the bench through stormy years.
- Forty Young Olympians Become Company A — and Veto the 'Governor's Guard'
A new National Guard company musters at the capital, elects its officers, and then debates what to call itself — until one young soldier warns that a governor might someday misbehave.
- The Tunnel Under Seventh Street: Two Property Owners Take On the Railroad
Captain Hatch seeks $10,000 and J. A. Silsby $5,000, blaming the Northern Pacific's new tunnel for damage to their buildings — while the railroad insists the city, not the company, should pay.
- The Doctor Wasn't Who He Said He Was
Found dead along the Northern Pacific tracks near Olympia, Dr. C. S. Smith was unmasked by his own will as S. C. Thompson, an Iowa county treasurer who had fled a defalcation in 1872.
- The Electric Gate: An Olympia Father Declares War on Front-Gate Courting
A gadget-minded Eastside householder wires his front gate to deliver a jolt to lally-gagging sweethearts — and proves it first on an unwitting dog and a cabbage-loving cow.
- The $70,000 Rebellion: Olympia Refuses to Pay Its Railroad Bill
Northern Pacific missed its promised deadlines, so the citizens who pledged land and cash to bring the line to town decided the contract was void—and headed to court.