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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 15 |
| 1893 | 15 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 10 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 2 |
87 stories matching chemic
- 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.
- The Test of the Chemical Fire Extinguisher
A skeptical crowd gathers at Second and Marion to watch a new, pressurized fire-fighting contraption in action.
- Fairhaven's First Chemical Fire Engine
Without a municipal water system for fire protection, local business leaders are importing a chemical hand engine to prevent city-wide disaster.
- The Fire Engine Test that Thrilled Fairhaven
Citizens and business leaders gathered to watch a dramatic demonstration of a new chemical firefighting engine, sparking immediate calls for city-wide protection.
- Saving the Piers from the Teredo Worm
A new industrial chemical process is proposed to protect Seattle's waterfront timber from marine parasites.
- The Case for a Modern Fire Engine in 1880s Seattle
An urgent editorial call for the city to upgrade its firefighting capabilities to match Seattle's rapid expansion.
- The Ghost of a Industrial Metropolis
A century ago, planners envisioned Priest Rapids as the 'Niagara Falls of the West,' a massive industrial city of 50,000 destined to power the Pacific Northwest. It never arrived.
- The Deadly Hum of the Electric Current
A routine building fire in downtown Seattle turns into a terrifying, lethal brush with the new technology of electricity.
- The World’s Biggest Dam Proposed for Priest Rapids
An industrial visionary outlines plans for a massive hydroelectric and nitrogen-fixation project that could transform the Columbia Basin into a powerhouse of chemical production.
- The Phantom Arsonist of Queen Anne Hill
A grand residence on Highland Drive vanishes in a blaze, leaving investigators to wonder if a spurned enemy, a clumsy painter, or a spontaneous chemical reaction fueled the inferno.
- The Alchemy of the Sands
Prospectors on the coast claim to have found a secret chemical process to extract gold from black sand near Ocosta.
- The Postal Forger Targeting Local Merchants
A crafty con artist is raising the value of small money orders with chemicals, and authorities are warning shopkeepers to stay vigilant.
- Richland Eyes Municipal Water System for Fire Protection
After rejecting a used chemical fire engine from Kennewick, the Richland city council pivots toward building a self-sufficient water system.
- Fire Scare in Oroville Lumber Yard
A mid-town conflagration at the Mitchell Lumber Yard prompts urgent calls for a modern municipal water system.
- The East End Fire Fight
After a local shop burned down, a councilman demands improved water access and fire equipment for the city's growing East End.
- State Cracks Down on Butchers Doctoring Hamburger
Washington's Pure Food Commission has won convictions and fines against Seattle butchers who treated putrid meat scraps with chemicals, and more prosecutions are coming.
- 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.
- Fire Limits, Flying Switches and a Fifty-Year Franchise: One Evening at Newport's City Hall
In a single session the council moved to outlaw frame buildings downtown, chased street grades on three avenues, turned back a second telephone exchange, and heard that trains were nearly killing people at the Fourth Street crossing — three times in one day.
- Turning Slaughterhouse Waste Into Gold
A new industrial plant on the Grant Street bridge aims to convert city scraps into exportable fertilizer for the Hawaiian market.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- The Chehalis Inferno
A devastating blaze sweeps through four blocks of wooden buildings, leaving residents to wonder if firebugs are to blame for the city's second disaster in two months.
- The Asylum Poisoning Scandal
A state mental hospital is rocked by accusations that a patient was murdered, triggering a battle between local officials and an Eastern chemist.
- The Oasis in the Arid Belt
How irrigation transformed the Yakima Valley from desert to a model of agricultural productivity and speculative ambition.
- The Boy Who Squirted Ammonia: A Spokane Youth’s Descent into Infamy
Officer Ike keeps a watchful eye on Tobias, the 'bad boy' of the Cineograph theater, after he becomes a fugitive from home and targets Japanese children with chemical pranks.
- Fire Leaves South Seattle Helpless
A devastating blaze destroyed two grocery stores and a local lodge room because the buildings sat just one block beyond the reach of the city water mains.
Also about this, in other words
- The Milk Scientist
A breakthrough in chemical detection methods brings local scientists together to test the deadly effects of formaldehyde in the food supply.
- A Deadly Mistake at the Livery Stable
A local stableman survives a poisoning after accidentally consuming carbolic acid instead of whisky.
- The Chemist Who Couldn't Name the Killer's Weapon
In a Seattle courtroom drama, defense attorney John Y. Torum argues that the poison used in a murder was too obscure for any professional chemist to have selected—unless the killer had access to something far more common.
- The Poison-Peddling Pharmacist
The head of the state board of pharmacy is caught stealing and adulterating strychnine intended for local farmers.
- A Deadly Dinner of Mussels
Captain McAlpine's near-fatal meal at a local restaurant highlights the hidden dangers of the city's seafood consumption in 1893.
- Chehalis Bets on Condensed Milk
A Tacoma company picks Chehalis for a new milk-condensing factory, and local farmers get a pitch to supply it.
- A Blacksmith's Desperate Act of Heartbreak
After his sweetheart jilted him for flirting with her sister, a Tacoma man attempted to end his life.
- Fatal Milk: The Formaldehyde Poisoning Scandal
A coroner's jury in Seattle finds local farmers and milkmen responsible for the death of an infant after poisonous additives are found in the dairy supply.