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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
23 stories matching cinch
- A Bitter Business Rivalry Ends in Court
An accusation of boat theft between former business partners in Whatcom reveals a long-standing feud and allegations of 'cinching'.
- The Hop Industry and the 'Cinch Game'
As Yakima’s hop acreage nears 1,500 acres, local growers struggle against predatory contracts and one-sided dealer practices.
- The 'Immortal Cinch': Aberdeen's Schools Signed Away a Year of Chairs
In March 1892 the directors of Chehalis County's school district No. 5 promised to buy every desk and seat they would need for a full year from one Seattle furniture firm at prices that could never come down. The local editor read the contract and asked the one question nobody had answered: what did the district get in return?
- No Monopoly on Gaslight: Spokane's Council Draws a Line
Council granted a gas company the right to lay pipes—but pointedly refused an exclusive franchise, warning that monopoly would 'cinch the consumers.'
- The Fifty-Year Streetcar Bargain
Seattle's house of delegates spent a night haggling over Fred Sander's railway franchise—how much rent, how often, and whether Seattle-made steel could be required.
- Buy Our Waterworks, or We'll Sell You to a Syndicate
Tacoma's Light and Water Company files its inventory for a $1.75 million city buyout — and a critic notes that the company has always known how to win a Tacoma election.
- The Water Monopoly
Critics allege the First National Bank is steering the city council toward an expensive water project to inflate the value of land it holds in escrow.
- Newspaper Presses First National Bank on Water Deal
The Statesman accuses local banking interests of attempting to force an overpriced land deal onto the city through the municipal council.
- The Sheriff’s Frustration with Aberdeen’s Courts
A local officer vents his rage at the judicial system after a robbery investigation falls apart.
- The Great Spokane Labor Carnival Swindle
A labor organization finds themselves penniless after a predatory contract with a traveling carnival company nets them only $6.40 from $18,000 in gross receipts.
- Seattle's School Money Sent to the Backwoods
A King County Populist senator votes to hand $10,000 a year of Seattle's tax money to remote rural districts — and the Post-Intelligencer is not having it.
- He Paid a Man $12 to Burn His Own House
A barber and the man he hired confess to torching 128 Rollin Street for the insurance money — a house that had already burned once, and whose policy had already been cut in half.
- The 10 Percent Rake-Off That Put Tacoma's Water Board on Trial
A job printer's testimony blows open an inquiry into the Tacoma Board of Public Works, where the president admits he knows little about running the city's water and electric plants—and a councilman asks if he has any shame.
- The Battle for Tacoma's Water
A complex struggle unfolds as private interests and the city council clash over a million-dollar water contract.
- The Tax Commissioner Who Couldn't Pick a Boss
J. E. Frost draws a state salary in Olympia while weighing a richer offer from the Northern Pacific — and the legislature is about to rewrite the railroad tax laws he advises on.
- Fifty Dollars for a Clean Bill of Health
A quarantine officer charged a sealing schooner $50 to steam over and inspect her — and shipping men say the fee was less public health than protection money.
- She Rode 2,000 Miles from Wisconsin to Seattle — Alone, in a Dress
Emma Larson, a 31-year-old Seattle woman, crossed the continent on horseback with only her mare Kitty for company, sleeping under the stars and going days at a stretch on nothing but water.
- The Sack Famine Hits the La Conner Flats
Farmers face a crippling shortage of grain sacks, threatening the season's oat harvest as dealers refuse to speculate on the necessary supplies.
- The Ten-Cent Bet That Backfired
An Everett light company employee tried to bluff a union man over strike-related power outages, but ended up losing his confidence and his pride.
- Seattle's Streetcar Deal: Fair Terms or a Giveaway?
An 1895 editorial defends the city council's bargain with a private streetcar company, arguing that good service and future investment mattered more than squeezing out a quick profit.
- Slapped Down on the Diamond
Tacoma’s baseball team drops to fourth place after a bruising 12-6 loss to the Seattle Siwashes.
- The Professor Who Gave Colour Photography Away for Free
An Oregon experiment-station scientist stumbles on a way to fix true flower colours permanently in a photographic print — then walks into Seattle and refuses to patent it.
- The Political Spoils System at Work
Speculation mounts in Washington Territory as the appointment for a new Internal Revenue Collector highlights the fierce, often petty nature of regional political influence.
Also about this, in other words
- The Senator Who Wanted to Cut Off Every Chinese Man's Queue — and Jail Him
After Chinese cooks boycotted his Tacoma spice business, a state senator proposed fining and jailing any Chinese man who wore a queue, with state agents sent out to shear them.
- The Tragic End of 'Wienerwurst Charlie'
A young immigrant street vendor in Tacoma takes his own life, leaving behind little but a nickname and a grieving brother.