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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1909 | 1 |
11 stories matching backus
- Creditors Move to Take Over Seattle's Rainier Railway and Light
A receivership fight ends quietly as the Third Street line, Western Mill and electric plant are slated for sale to a new creditor-owned company.
- The Roll Showed No Absences: Seattle Mourns Vernie Backus, 12, Drowned
The Boys' Brigade of the First Presbyterian Church enters a formal minute on the drowning of a twelve-year-old brother — remembered first for perfect attendance, and his parents commended to heaven.
- John Wiley's Whiskers Steal a 25–15 Ballgame
A comedian's two-base hit, a 1,000-person crowd, and a disastrous first inning turned a grudge match between the Jacobites and Philistines into Seattle's strangest sporting spectacle of 1894.
- The Receiver Cut Their Pay 2 Cents an Hour. A Judge Made Him Put It Back.
When the Rainier Avenue Electric Railway's court-appointed receiver trimmed motormen's wages from 20 cents to 18 cents an hour, the crews — months behind on pay, with houses in Columbia City bought out of their own wages — took him to court and won.
- The City Wharf as a Stone Yard: Seattle's Plan to Put Its Idle Men to Work
A petition signed by dozens of prominent Seattle businessmen asks the city council to turn the waterfront into a public stone yard, trading honest labor for meals and lodging — and to run the beggars out of town.
- The Democrats Drum Up Candidates—and One Staged His Own Surprise Party
Seattle Democrats organize ward clubs, weigh fusion with Populists and independents, and trade rumors over sheriff, treasurer and prosecutor—including a would-be senator who bought his own gold-headed cane.
- A Receiver Wants to Cut Streetcar Wages; a Judge Says Not Below $2 a Day
The Seattle Consolidated Railway, in receivership, asks the federal court to trim motormen's and conductors' pay from 20 to 17½ cents an hour.
- The Bank Clerk's 'Accident' Settled
A shooting at the Washington National Bank, previously rumored to involve a mysterious woman, is dismissed as a careless accident by the victim himself.
- Seattle Lawyers Turn a Charity Baseball Game Into a Biblical War
Rival teams of Courthouse Hill lawyers announced themselves Philistines and Jacobites, issued mock proclamations, and promised a 500-pound batter—all to sell tickets for the Associated Charities.
- The Streetcar Line That Paid Its Way—Until the Bonds Came Due
Seattle’s consolidated street railway reports that fares cover operations but not mortgage interest, while receivership leases and a city council refusal reshape the young transit network.
- Seattle Post Office Clerk Caught Stealing Marked Mail
A postal employee was arrested after inspectors planted marked currency in the mail to catch a serial thief.
Also about this, in other words
- The Bear That Bit Back: Deputy Collector’s Narrow Escape from Tax-Collecting Felines
In a bizarre twist of frontier justice in Toledo, Washington, two tame bears were unleashed on a deputy revenue collector after their Italian owner refused to pay taxes.
- Political Backroom Dealing in Spokane
Populist and Democratic party leaders meet in Spokane to orchestrate a fusion ticket, sidelining grassroots party members.
- The Art of the 'Back-Seat Sermon'
A Seattle preacher shares his cunning, slightly cynical strategy to force young couples in the back pews to stop courting and actually listen to the gospel.
- The Senatorial Backroom Deal
After his defeat in the race for the U.S. Senate, Judge George Turner reveals the 'combination' of political maneuvering and broken promises that cost him the seat.