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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
34 stories matching composit
- The Great Fertilizer Fraud
State chemist warns farmers that nearly half of commercial fertilizers on the market violate state law.
- Commencement at the Academy of the Holy Names
A crowded hall celebrates the academic achievements of young women at a cornerstone Seattle institution on Jackson and Ninth.
- The Fake Evening Herald
A morning newspaper launches a sham evening edition to monopolize city printing contracts through a loophole in the city charter.
- Turning Sawdust into Stone
An innovative German industrial method promises to transform Aberdeen's abundant sawmill waste into fireproof, durable building bricks.
- The Waterfront Scandal: A Questionable Contract for Seattle’s New Fire Boat
The Washington Iron Works alleges that city officials bypassed proper oversight in a murky deal for the city's new fire-fighting vessel.
- The Unbreakable Glass That Promised a Household Revolution
In 1877, a new chemical tempering process promised Seattle residents that lamp chimneys would never crack again—even if you drove nails with them.
- The Great Goose Hunt Fiasco
Four local men head into the wild to secure a feast, only to return with a story of deception and a very expensive bottle of wine.
- The Shoddy Scandal: How the Tariff Made Our Clothes Garbage
Aberdeen readers are warned that under the McKinley Tariff, the American clothing industry has swapped quality wool for 'shoddy' rags, hair, and cotton.
- The Man Who Set Type at 71: William Lloyd Garrison’s Snohomish Surprise
In a rare moment of local celebrity, the famous abolitionist visited his old printing shop in Washington Territory to celebrate his semi-centennial anniversary as an apprentice.
- The Swindler in the Customs House
A former customs official turned smuggling mastermind uses a fake 'special detective' scheme to trick colleagues and line his own pockets with molasses-filled trunks.
- The Struggle Over a Mother’s Custody
A local children's bureau official defends the controversial intervention into a family's life in the face of public criticism.
- The Tacoma Ledger Labor Dispute
A scathing report on how the Ledger imported scab labor from California after union printers resisted wage cuts and automation.
- The Reverend and the Editor Spar Over Grammar
A local minister demands public corrections for his column, leading to a feisty rebuttal from the newspaper's editorial staff.
- The Final Journey Home: Chinese Funeral Customs in Early Seattle
A detailed 1877 account reveals the elaborate mourning practices of Seattle's Chinese community, centering on the sacred duty to return the deceased to their ancestral land.
- The $20,000 Road Left to the Wind
Finley's Live Wire Sparks demand to know who maintains the new Kennewick-Finley road after the experts depart and oil over sand turns into ruts.
- The Fading Ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic
Twenty elderly Civil War veterans observed Memorial Day in Lynden, marching with the local Woman's Relief Corps to honor the fallen.
- The 'Sot Guilty' Scandal: How a Legal Loophole Freed a Murderer in Washington Territory
A detailed account of the chaotic grand jury proceedings in Port Townsend that resulted in the dismissal of an indictment against a man accused of killing his wife, exposing deep flaws in territorial law.
- The Grammar Grudge of 1876
An editor and a local developer get into a petty, hilarious feud over building codes, split infinitives, and civic competence.
- The Seattle Doctrine: 'Live and Let Live' in 1876
An editorial from the pioneer era argues that local business growth shouldn't be a zero-sum game, warning against the 'vampire' spirit of monopoly.
- A Blind Herb Doctor and the Death of a 14-Year-Old
An Olympia coroner’s jury found that Clara M. Linton died from the botanical treatments of Dr. William T. Campbell, a blind patent-medicine practitioner who promised her father a cure.
- A Thousand Dogs for the Klondike
A Seattle syndicate imported stray dogs by the carload from Chicago, trained them to haul gold-rush supplies, and kenneled the pack in an abandoned brickyard.
- Seventy Percent of Washington's Schoolbooks Came From One Publisher
A new textbook law forces Olympia to throw out most of the books Washington children use. One agent demanded a private hearing with the state board; the board opened the doors and he walked out.
- The Architect Who Built Seattle’s Skyline (But Lost the Biggest Job)
In 1890, L.H. Fisher submitted plans for a magnificent new hotel that Denny himself called 'the most perfect of any submitted.' But cost concerns killed it—launching a career that would define Seattle's architecture.
- The One-Armed Compositor: A Seattle Printer Defies Gravity and Doubt
Harry Penrod, who lost his left arm in a train accident three years ago, has mastered the art of typesetting with one hand—working faster than two-handed men and setting records that baffle the industry.
- The Postmaster Who Refused to Hire Women
An eighteen-year-old applicant details how she was misled and eventually dismissed by the Olympia postmaster due to her gender.