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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
27 stories matching contriv
- The 'Disgusting Custom' of Victorian Child-Kissing
As diphtheria claimed lives along the Pacific Coast, public health experts in 1877 issued a stark warning against social rituals that helped the contagion spread.
- The Iron Horse Reaches Aberdeen
After much anticipation, the first regular passenger train pulls into the city, marking a new era of connectivity.
- The Hero of the Smalley Home
A family bulldog loses its life defending its mistress from a rabid dog, exposing a community crisis over local muzzle laws.
- The Futility of Prohibition
A skeptical legislator warns that strict alcohol bans in Washington Territory will lead only to evasion, black markets, and public distrust.
- The Scandal of the Stage Tights
A Spokane socialite faced a moral crusade for daring to play a male role in a light opera.
- The Butter Sculptor of Snohomish
How a farmer's wife from the Arkansas wilderness used humble tools to carve her way into the art world.
- The Deadly Spring-Gun Trap
A Whatcom man faces a murder conviction for setting a booby-trapped shotgun to defend his vacant cabin.
- The Unsinkable Seaman
After losing his leg in a shipboard accident, an American sailor invents a wooden limb that keeps him working the high seas.
- The Roller Rink Craze of 1872
Before the city's modern obsession with wellness, local promoters banked on a new indoor exercise to save Seattle’s youth from 'pernicious influences and vile haunts.'
- The Reporter in the Belfry: A School Scandal Ends in Resignation and a Rope Slide
A closed-door investigation at Olympia's Collegiate Institute ended with a professor's resignation and two students dismissed—and a newspaperman who tried to eavesdrop from above.
- A Mechanical Solution to a Medical Mishap
When medical brute force failed to reset a man's dislocated shoulder, a local hospital resorted to industrial machinery.
- Arson Trial Reveals a West Seattle Cover-Up
A grocery store owner on trial for burning his own shop admits to paying 'hush money' to witnesses after becoming 'confused and crushed' by his losses.
- The Crisis in Seattle’s Classrooms
A scathing critique of 1892, where local observers argued that the public school system was a 'machine' failing the working-class children who needed practical skills over academic pretense.
- The Ballard Roulette Heist
A masked gunman terrorized a Ballard gambling hall, making off with the house cash while twenty players stood frozen in surprise.
- Betrayal in the Press Room
When the editor of the Northern Star went on holiday, his trusted staff staged a secret coup to force the newspaper into bankruptcy.
- The Astral Power Struggle
A Philadelphia mystic claims the late Madame Blavatsky’s spirit has hand-picked him as her successor, sparking a bitter schism within the Theosophical Society.
- Seattle’s First Electric Line to Woodland Park Opens
A luxurious new electric streetcar begins daily service to the city’s favorite sylvan retreat.
- A Gun-Toting Guard at the Liquor Store
A store owner hires a guard to protect his liquor supply, leading to a dangerous and accidental discharge of a firearm.
- The Real Estate Pitch That Conquered West Seattle
A booster-era advertisement uses high-flown, flowery prose to compare the views of West Seattle to the Swiss Alps, aiming to sell lots in a burgeoning new neighborhood.
- The Rainy Weather Club’s Practical Revolution
Aberdeen women unite to reject impractical Victorian fashion in favor of functional, mackintosh-based rainy day gear.
- The Bustle That Ambushed a Gentleman
A chivalrous attempt to help a lady on Main Street goes hilariously and disastrously wrong.
- The Great Seattle Hoax: How a 'Captain' Fooled the Press with a Phantom Ship
A con artist named Captain John Brown sold a wild tale of a treasure-laden voyage to a local newspaper for $10, only for customs officers to discover the vessel didn't exist.
- The Forged Rent Voucher Behind a Guard Captain’s Refusal to Resign
Capt. Hilmer K. Brady defies Company D’s demand that he step down while the Post-Intelligencer traces a tampered Armory rent receipt to the heart of the feud.
- The Mill That Built a Town: Inside Port Discovery’s Industrial Heart
A rare look inside the massive lumber operation on Port Discovery Bay, where 60 men worked around the clock to feed the timber boom of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Power Station That Bet on Newport’s Future
A Chicago engineer brings plans for a fireproof power station at Washington and Pine—and a 30-mile line meant to electrify Newport’s future.