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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
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| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 2 |
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| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
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42 stories matching damp
- A Breath of Fire-Damp Killed Twenty-Three Blue Canyon Miners
A coal-mine explosion near Lake Whatcom wiped out nearly an entire shift just before it was due to change, leaving only two survivors to tell what happened underground.
- Tragedy in the Ashford Coal Mine
A foreman dies in a heroic but doomed effort to rescue his colleagues trapped by an explosion of fire damp deep beneath the earth.
- The Perilous Depths of the Newcastle Mine
A rare eyewitness account from 1,000 feet below the earth, where miners fight 'black damp' and underground fires to power a growing Seattle.
- Fire Damp and Twenty-Three Dead at Blue Canyon
A gas explosion in a new coal working near Lake Whatcom kills twenty-three miners and forces a state inspection into what the company knew about the mine’s ventilation.
- A Town Buries Its Miners
Funeral services for the Blue Canyon mine disaster dead fill Bay View cemetery as a coroner's jury begins asking whether enough air—and enough regulation—reached the men underground.
- The Great County Treasury Heist
After fleeing to Whidbey Island, a disgraced ex-treasurer remains at large while investigators uncover a web of missing warrants and forged securities.
- The Ball That Shook Seattle: A Night of Masks, Money, and 'Transposed Sexes'
In the damp cold of February 1877, Seattle’s elite gathered for a masquerade ball that defied social norms, featuring cross-dressing performers and a prize for the 'best sustained character'—a rare glimpse into the territory's vibrant, chaotic social life.
- Report from the Mines
A troubling inspection report highlights dangerous conditions, black damp, and worker injuries across King County coal mines.
- The Rainy Retreat from Alki Point
A summer of relentless Seattle showers turns the city's camping enthusiasts into a 'bedraggled and disheartened' crowd.
- Wet Harvest Spoils Wheat Across Eastern Washington
State inspectors report that an unusually rainy autumn has led to widespread spoilage, forcing local growers to struggle with compromised crops.
- Into the Black: A Descent into Bellingham Bay Coal Mines
An intrepid traveler documents the perilous journey down an 800-foot incline to explore the workings of the Bellingham Bay Coal Company in the late 19th century.
- Militia Encampment Under Siege by Rain and Mud
Washington's National Guard troops endure a damp, difficult training session near Olympia, marked by runaways, a fistfight, and dismal weather.
- The Tragedy at the Roslyn Slope
A devastating gas explosion in the Roslyn mines claims forty-three lives, leaving a town in mourning and a company under scrutiny.
- Aftermath of the Roslyn Mine Explosion
As families bury their dead in double-funerals, the Governor orders a strict investigation into the safety and ventilation failures that caused the catastrophe.
- The Roslyn Mine Disaster
A devastating gas explosion in Northern Pacific Coal Company's Mine No. 2 leaves dozens of families in mourning as the town of Roslyn turns its city hall into a temporary morgue.
- The Dungeon Behind the Standard Theater: Inside Seattle’s Terrifying Jail
A reporter’s inspection of Marshal Hamilton’s holding cells reveals prisoners sleeping on straw in a damp basement, fed by a restaurant manager who claims their diet is 'wholesome' and identical to his paying customers'.
- A Steamboat Standoff on the Puget Sound
When a captain accused a passenger of skipping town on a fare, two witnesses stepped forward to detail a tense armed confrontation aboard the steamer 'Otter.'
- The Price of Industrial Growth
A scathing critique of Teddy Roosevelt's 'Homes Commission' report reveals the deadly reality behind the era's industrial boom.
- Inside the New King County Jail
A detailed look at the 'infallible' brick and iron lockup built to replace older, makeshift holding cells in 1870s Seattle.
- The Brutal Work of Boring Stampede Tunnel
Deep in the Cascades, a reporter documents the grueling labor conditions of the men carving the Northern Pacific’s Stampede Tunnel through the mountain’s gut.
- The Day Seattle’s Dudes Learned to Crease Their Trousers
A royal fashion blunder in New York trickled down to Seattle’s menswear stores, forever changing how local men pressed their slacks.
- Life on the Edge of the World: A Dispatch from Tatoosh Island
A rare 1861 account of the desolate, storm-battered lives of lighthouse keepers and their interactions with the Makah people at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- The Diphtheria Menace in Pioneer Seattle
A century and a half ago, Seattle residents faced a terrifying invisible contagion, with the newspaper urging 'sanitary' precautions that eerily mirror modern public health guidance.
- Spokane Dressed for a Railroad King—and Waited Until Midnight
Spokane Falls spent a week building arches and hanging evergreens for Henry Villard's Northern Pacific excursion, but delayed trains turned the grand reception into a series of after-dark whistle-stops—and Ulysses S. Grant drew the crowd that the railroad had promised.
- The Rain-Soaked Fourth: Seattle's 1899 Celebration
A persistent storm could not dampen the spirits of thousands as Seattle paraded through muddy streets, celebrated the anniversary of Manila, and grappled with the 'reckless debauchery' of a damp Fourth of July.
Also about this, in other words
- The Meteorology of the Woods
An 1880 meteorologist argues that deforestation is responsible for the drying of rivers and the loss of rainfall, a warning from the early days of Washington Territory.
- The Weather Bureau's Secret Weapon
An Aberdeen inventor was caught with a bizarre, Gattling-gun-style contraption designed to blast the clouds away and control the rain.
- A Welcome Storm Saves the Harvest
After weeks of drought threatening the region's crops, a heavy storm brings relief to local farmers.
- The Snohomish River's 'Miasma of Decay'
An 1876 editorial decries the hazardous state of the river banks, warning that stagnant water and rotting sawdust are breeding sickness in the growing town.
- The Dry Spell on Eureka Flat
Farmers are stalling wheat planting as a rare November drought threatens the upcoming harvest.
- The Rain That Saved the Harvest
A week of torrid heat and nervous anticipation ends as drenching rains sweep across the Inland Empire, securing the wheat crop.
- The 'Sawdust Swamp': A Public Health Warning for Seattle
A century and a half ago, the Intelligencer warned that Seattle's lack of proper drainage was not just a civic embarrassment, but a lethal threat to the growing population.
- Baseball on a Waxed Floor
A drizzling rain turned Seattle's Madison Street Park into a mud pit, forcing players to do more 'ground and lofty tumbling' than actual base running.