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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
36 stories matching crank
- The Half-Million Dollar Idea
A Tacoma inventor discovers a clever water-powered pump that draws the attention of a major syndicate.
- The Ghost in the Machine: How a 'Practical Little Woman' Tamed the Steamboat Turbulent Sea
In the chaotic early days of Puget Sound steam navigation, one female cook didn't just serve meals—she served stability, calming a terrified crew with her own brand of turbulence.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- The Darkest Hour: Temperance Leader Declares Cause 'Dead' Amidst Political Corruption
At the State Temperance Alliance meeting in Seattle, Rev. Clark Davis delivers a scathing indictment of the liquor industry's grip on politics and religion, while Rep. De Steiguer rallies support for Watson Squire.
- The Mail-Order Crank of Seattle
A local mining broker faces prison for years of threatening and scurrilous letters sent to the Post-Intelligencer and national leaders.
- The Park Superintendent's Divorce Turns Into a War of Affidavits
Edward O. Schwagerl's sensational charges against his wife and her uncle meet a counterattack: neighbors call her devoted, and she calls him jealous, unfaithful, and a theosophy crank.
- The Ghost in the Machine: Snohomish Meets the Phonograph
A local advertisement for the cutting-edge technology of 1878 introduces the marvel of Edison's 'talking machine,' promising a future where the voices of the dead can be preserved forever.
- The Unwanted Guest of Providence Hospital
A 'harmless crank' in 1885 Seattle exposes the gaps in the city's social safety net.
- The Newspaper Built from Scraps
After relocating to Vancouver, a resourceful publisher faced a printing dilemma and solved it by engineering their own custom press from repurposed timber and discarded iron.
- Who Should Keep Olympia's Money?
On the eve of the 1891 municipal election, a dozen anonymous Olympians argued over the city treasurer's race, a regular nominee, a new brick block, and a saloonkeeper's ten-dollar joke.
- The Eccentric Visit of George Francis Train
The self-proclaimed 'crank' and inspiration for Phileas Fogg stops in Yakima to lecture on his own global travels.
- The Sheriff's Bad Week
Prosser's Sheriff C.E. Duffy had a string of bad luck involving a broken axle, a horse-drawn rescue, and a smashed finger.
- The Night a Bullet Whistled Through the Vice President’s Window
A brush with political assassination in Seattle's past—revealed only after the danger had passed.
- The Soldier Who Missed: Why Seattle Is Rooting for a Court-Martialed Hero
Sergeant Mason’s attempt to assassinate the man who killed Garfield has turned him from a mutineer into a martyr, sparking petitions and subscriptions across the Pacific Northwest.
- Hanged in Effigy, Then Gone: The Disappearance at Mica
A Spokane County man who campaigned against the Silver Federation was abducted and is presumed murdered — and an exchange paper lays the blame squarely on the movement's rhetoric.
- The Perpetual-Motion Man Came Downtown Armed
Before Dr. Hannibal Mills shot a man in the Occidental saloon, he told a restaurant waiter he would not live until morning and announced, “I'm God, the devil and himself.”
- When Seattle Tried to Break the Railroad's Grip
Before the city was a tech hub, it was a battleground for political autonomy against the suffocating influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- Seattle's First Municipal Election Under the New Registry Law
A record-breaking turnout draws thousands to the polls as two political factions clash in a pivotal city election.
- The Unwanted Devotion of 'The Indian Kid'
A popular actress at a Seattle theater seeks police protection from a fan whose obsession escalated from flowery letters to threats of suicide and murder.
- The Riverboat Captain Who Was Everyone’s Personal Errands Boy
Before the age of reliable logistics, the Snohomish riverboat captain was the community’s unofficial delivery service, tasked with everything from baby shoes to engine parts.
- The 'Lingerer' and the Moral Purge of Tacoma
A fiery 1885 editorial spat reveals the tension between town boosters and a 'Law and Order' movement intent on policing the morality of the emerging city.
- The High-Speed Chase Between Seattle and Tacoma
A chauffeur chases his stolen $5,000 Pierce Arrow across the county lines only to lose the trail in the dark.
- The Preacher, the Presiding Elder, and the Typewritten Screed
An obscure minister accuses a Methodist leader of seduction and embezzlement, setting off a Seattle church scandal and a criminal-libel warrant.
- The Fight for the Ballot Starts in Everett
A visiting Seattle activist challenges local prejudices as the statewide campaign for women's suffrage kicks off at the Literary Auditorium.
- The Blue Ribbon Reunion at the Union Depot
A young man waits nightly at the Seattle train station, searching for a stranger marked by a blue ribbon on her wrist.