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154 stories matching delight
- Master Magician Laurant Dazzles Opera House Crowd
Laurant's performance of illusions and tricks at the Colfax opera house last night left the audience delighted, with comparisons to Hermann and Keller. The magician announces a new program for tonight.
- The Tea That Fed a City: How One Woman’s Lunch Saved Seattle’s Newsboys
In the winter of 1903, Mrs. M.E. Handsaker didn’t just throw a party; she provided a full hot lunch to hundreds of street children, revealing the harsh reality of child labor in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Greasy Pole Gambit: Seattle’s Summer of Slapstick and Sweat
On a sweltering July evening in 1889, thousands gathered at the foot of Madison Street not for politics or protest, but to watch three men fail spectacularly at climbing an oiled pole—a moment of pure, unadulterated civic joy.
- The Webster's Wild Ride: A Steamship’s Storm-Tossed Survival in Puget Sound
After being battered by a violent gale and running dangerously low on coal, the steamer *Webster* limped into port just days after its sister ship foundered nearby, leaving passengers shaken but alive.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.
- The Cosmic Illusion at the Seattle Theatre
A scientific lecture turned spectacular, the 'Urania' show brings the moon and the stars to downtown Seattle through the magic of electricity and stagecraft.
- The Hyena of Seattle: A 'Herculean Woman' Leaves a Man Sprawled in the Dust
In a rare display of physical dominance that defied Victorian gender norms, a local woman engaged in a public brawl so fierce it was described as 'fiendish delight,' leaving her male opponent screaming for mercy.
- The Last Goodbye: A Seattle Widow’s Final Sermon
Rev. I.W. Read delivers a poignant eulogy for Addie Z. Pross at Market Street Baptist, reflecting on her hopefulness and refusal to gossip in the face of sudden death.
- The Midnight Mutiny of Annabel McCarty
A young socialite’s debut party in 1877 Seattle takes a turn when she decides the festivities are entirely overrated.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- The Price of Challenging the Northern Pacific
After suing a railroad giant for injury, George Conroy was met with a perjury charge, jailed for the summer, and driven to insanity.
- The Bonfire of the Vanities on Occidental Square
Months after a jubilant, torch-lit victory party in Seattle, the city’s new power-brokers were left holding the bag as lawlessness and economic despair gripped the town.
- A Saw Cut Through His Brain. Seattle Doctors Watched Him Live.
Horatio Stetson's head was nearly split in two by a rip saw at a Seattle mill. Thirty-six hours later, he was talking, moving his limbs, and astonishing the physicians at Providence Hospital.
- The Allegorical Wedding of Two Great Rivers
Thousands gather at the Kennewick waterfront to celebrate the opening of the Celilo Canal with a symbolic union of the Columbia and Snake rivers.
- The Waterfront Conflict: Escalating Violence on Yesler's Wharf
Tensions boil over as displaced workers and local youth clash in a series of violent altercations on the Seattle waterfront.
- Political Rebellion in the State Legislature
Senator Hutchinson breaks with the Democratic caucus in Olympia to challenge railroad-backed influence in Washington politics.
- Seattle’s ‘Palace of Trade’: 10,000 Crowd the Rialto’s Opening Night
A Boston-backed department store at Second and Madison threw open four floors of retail spectacle, declaring Seattle had arrived on the Pacific Coast.
- Murder at Mica: A Midnight Political Killing in Spokane County
Charles Gloystein was called from his home after the Oregon election. Local papers blamed the Farmers’ Protective Silver Federation—and said neighbors were too afraid to talk.
- The Silver Fight That Split Washington's Republicans
A packed Spokane convention picked judges and congressmen, then turned on a single plank: whether the party would demand free silver.
- The Church Fair Scandal: When Seattle’s Clergy Played Prank on a Congregation
A reverend and his colleagues turned a charity fundraiser into an elaborate joke, dressing two women in 'shabbily' clothes to perform a 'Irish spectacle'—only for the punchline to backfire spectacularly.
- The Circus Comes to Town: Seattle’s First Big Top Spectacle
As the Hingling Bros. circus unloads its menagerie and performers in the Northern Pacific yards, locals gather for a parade and show that promises 'everything advertised.'
- The Wharf That Ate Its Workers: Seattle’s First Major Infrastructure Failure
In September 1876, a newly built lumber wharf in Seattle collapsed under the weight of its own laborers, sending Chinese workers and timber plunging into the Duwamish River. The disaster exposed the rotting reality of territorial construction and the precarious lives of immigrant labor.
- The Birth of Woodland Park
How a private visionary’s 'enchanter's wand' turned a rugged, logged-over wilderness into Seattle’s premier public escape.
- The Rising Metropolis of the North
A traveler reflects on Seattle's explosive growth in 1883, from its coal-driven commerce to the 'Titanic' scale of its lumber mills.
- The Rapid Transformation of Seattle's Eastern Woods
A new route to Lake Washington reveals a landscape undergoing frantic clearing and development as the city expands toward the water.
Also about this, in other words
- The Royal Society of Good Fellows Throws a Party
Athletic contests, fireworks, and a topical song about 'Ta-ra-boom-de-ay' mark a lively celebration in the mining town of Gilman.
- The Stolen Sunday Best
A university student's religious profession wasn't enough to curb his envy for his roommate's wardrobe.
- Sunday Refreshments at the Yesler Pleasure Garden
A look at the popular 1870s recreational spot where Seattle residents found relief, music, and ice cream on their days off.
- An Eccentric Prisoner's Optimistic Dance
A man awaiting sentencing in a local court baffles reporters by dancing a jig and promising a champagne celebration upon his release.
- Variety and Hilarity at Frye’s Opera House
A packed house in 1888 Seattle revels in everything from German mimicry to 'dashing soubrettes'—with one notable exception.
- The Italian Maestro Who Captivated Walla Walla
A visiting Italian band, led by a charismatic conductor, becomes the unexpected highlight of the local Fruit Fair.
- The 'Country Cousin's Comforts' and Other Delights at the North Seattle Social
A local church gathering blends wit, satire, and community spirit to celebrate the Centennial in late 19th-century Seattle.
- A Night of Whist and Crokignole in 1889 Seattle
A surprise party for Miss Fannie McKay at her family home on Fourth and Yesler offers a glimpse into the parlor social life of early Seattle.