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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
23 stories matching dismal
- The Poet and the Plagiarized Verse
A Tacoma man discovers his own lines in a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, sparking a debate over the poet's 'clipping' habits.
- A Call to the Ballot Box for Working Women
Despite women securing the franchise, local labor organizers find dismal registration numbers among union families.
- Terrorized by Construction Crews
A settler near the Cedar River reports harassment and danger from railroad workers blasting through the woods.
- The Wealth Gap and the Labor Question
A critical look at the ethics of extreme wealth versus the necessity of creating work over charity for the poor.
- The Predator of Hutchinsons Creek
A Danish settler in a local farming community takes matters into his own hands after a cougar targets his livestock.
- The Unlucky Forger of Prescott
A small-time fraud artist meets a swift end to his career after failing to convince local merchants of his math.
- The Tigers Break Their Losing Streak on Ladies' Day
After a dismal week in the cellar, the Tacoma baseball team credits their surprising win over the Vancouver Beavers to the inspiration of their female fans.
- The Toll Road Gunman of Snoqualmie Pass
A mysterious defender emerges for the man who tried to charge immigrants with a shotgun.
- The Price of Seattle's Coal Wars
A Senate committee interrogates local coal barons on why Washington's abundant resources are being undersold and exploited while labor conditions stagnate.
- The Great Seattle Fire: A Call to Rebuild
In the shadow of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, a local editor calls for unity, resilience, and an end to public complaining as the city begins the monumental task of reconstruction.
- 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 Strange 'Hamlet' Scandal that Wasn't
When a malicious rumor about a local politician’s past as a failed actor spread across the territory, the press had to step in to set the record straight.
- Homesteader Investigates Wailing at Lake Washington Spring
A lonely homesteader chases a supernatural wailing into the woods, only to discover a surprisingly commercial origin for his ghostly disturbances.
- The Winnifred Burns: A Lake Washington Steamer Lost at the Dock
An early-morning fire at Leech's Dock destroyed the Newcastle-run steamer Winnifred, a wharf and a boardinghouse, exposing how much of Seattle still depended on borrowed hose and luck.
- When the Circus Came to Seattle
Despite unseasonably dismal weather, Seattle crowds turned out in force in 1885 to witness John Robinson’s 'Ten Big Shows'—a massive traveling spectacle that promised wonder and a glimpse of the exotic.
- The Muddy Road to Greatness
As Seattle rapidly expanded in 1877, its editors lamented that the city’s commercial ambitions were literally stuck in the mud, demanding urgent infrastructure for a growing population.
- The Day the 'Worst Boy' in Seattle Found His Voice
In an 1876 schoolhouse, a song about 'John Brown' acts as a social intervention to curb the disruptive behavior of a local child.
- The Fruit Is Rotting on the Vines While Seattle Buys California Canned Goods
A Vashon grower and the Post-Intelligencer make the case for a Puget Sound cannery before another harvest spoils on the ground.
- The Bug Inspector Who Called Himself a Crank — and Warned That Japanese Oranges Could Wreck Washington's Orchards
A King County insect inspector accuses the state horticultural commissioner of botching a fumigation order, then warns that the scale insects riding in on imported Japanese oranges could become "a curse to one of Washington's greatest industries."
- The Body in the Hen House: An Unidentified Murder Near Eagle Harbor
A well-dressed stranger was found half-burned in an abandoned Kitsap County farmhouse, with only spectacles, a corkscrew, and a torn newspaper to say who he was.
- Down the Dark Drift: A Tour of Seattle’s Coal Mines
In December 1876, a reporter takes readers on an arduous journey from Lake Union to Newcastle to witness the grueling labor and industrial scale of Puget Sound's most vital industry.
- Six Men Climbed a Smoking Rainier in Midwinter
When Mount Rainier seemed to erupt in 1894, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer sent Maj. E. S. Ingraham and five companions up the Carbon River in deep winter to find out what was really happening.
- A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking
In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.