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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
15 stories matching bloat
- The Sad Case of the Shoe-Snatching Prisoner
A man’s desperate theft of footwear ends in a courtroom, highlighting the meager choices available to the poor in 1870s Seattle.
- Padding the Patrol
A skeptical editorial questions the necessity of a bloated police force in an orderly town.
- The Battle for the County Clerk's Desk
A public spat between M. C. Belle and W. S. Jenkins over whether the county clerk’s office is a bloated expense or a manageable public service.
- The Scandal of the Ghost Sewers
A newly appointed Board of Public Works uncovers evidence of rampant incompetence and political patronage in the city's sewer construction project.
- Is the U.S. Weather Bureau a Fraud?
A Tacoma newspaper puts the national weather forecasting service to the test, finding that while local predictions often fail, the bureau struggles most in the capital itself.
- Railroad Switchmen Walk Out in Massive Strike
Everett switchmen join a regional effort to shut down rail traffic from the Great Lakes to the Pacific in a fight for higher wages and safer working conditions.
- The Telegraphers Who Spilled Too Much Tea
Two railroad telegraph operators make the mistake of gossiping about a bridal couple over the wire, only to find the groom is a company superintendent.
- The Great Horticultural Graft
A scathing editorial from The Ranch magazine accuses the state legislature of creating a bloated, ineffective bureaucracy under the guise of agricultural protection.
- The Tragedy of a Lonely Soul
A local eccentric is found dead in Mill Creek, sparking a somber realization about his hidden struggles and poverty.
- The Human Cost of the Seattle Labor Crisis
As unemployment rises in the late 19th century, Chinese laborers in Seattle face severe hardship as employers replace them with white workers during a period of economic depression.
- The Dealer in the Gambling Den
In the rowdy timber town of Sedro-Woolley, the local gamblers have found a unique way to keep the peace: replacing the standard rough-hewn card shark with a captivating young woman.
- The Dead Horses That Taught Tacoma How to Raise Sunken Ships
A Tacoma patent company says its collapsible air bags can lift wrecks from the sea floor—a trick supposedly inspired by a bloated boatload of horses in the Ohio River. Investors are already fighting over the fortune.
- The Policeman, the Whiskey, and the Sober Pigeons
A Seattle officer's attempt to trap church-dwelling pigeons using liquor-soaked corn ended in a hilariously humiliating failure when the birds refused to lose their composure.
- The Tide Flat Mystery: A Carpenter’s Body Found Beneath the Rails
Three weeks after bridge carpenter Abner Abbott vanished in Seattle, his bloated remains were pulled from the water under a railroad trestle. With $400 still on his person and bruises on his face, police and citizens alike debated whether it was a tragic accident or a cold-blooded murder.
- A Stage for the Falls: The Push for Spokane's First Great Opera House
With touring companies expected on the Northern Pacific, local boosters propose a 1,000-seat frame hall—and a joint-stock company to build it for $6,000.