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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
24 stories matching downfal
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- The Dramatic Downfall of a Seattle Speculator
After allegedly staging a robbery to cover his mounting financial failures, a prominent political figure and businessman took his own life in his Seattle offices.
- The Sad Downfall of City Treasurer Adolph Krug
Seattle's disgraced city treasurer is apprehended in St. Paul, blaming 'friends' and mounting political pressure for his embezzlement of public funds.
- The Water Superintendent Who Brought Down a Mayor
After the local option election, Colville's mayor fires the man whose inside knowledge of gambling and cooked books wrecked his administration — and the victors plan a clean sweep in December.
- The Evangelist’s Plea: Saving Seattle’s 'Fallen Women' with a House of Refuge
Rev. Crittenton packs the Armory to raise funds for a Florence Crittenton Mission, exposing the grim economics of prostitution and the desperate need for a local shelter.
- The Ship Canal Double-Cross at the Democratic Convention
Seattle's delegates went to Olympia ready to die on the canal plank. Their own campaign manager had already sold them out.
- The Shoe That Could Save Seattle: Why We Must Stop Exporting Our Hides to San Francisco
An editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch argues that Seattle’s economic survival depends on manufacturing its own boots and shoes locally, rather than shipping raw hides south for a 10% premium.
- The Rainy Day Landslide in Duwamish
When an obscure race for road overseer became a test of precinct dominance, political machines mobilized hundreds of voters through a steady downpour.
- The Scholar Who Became a Burglar
A University of Washington athlete turns to a life of crime, only to be processed into prison by a former classmate.
- The Machine Smashed: Walla Walla Rejects Levi Ankeny
In a local municipal election, the political machine of U.S. Senator Levi Ankeny is soundly defeated by an anti-machine coalition, signaling a shift in county influence.
- Nine in Ten Convicts Blamed on Whisky
A Walla Walla prison chaplain's letter gives Washington's temperance movement its starkest statistic—and a bill for the saloon.
- The Ghost of the Kneeland Hotel Fire
After three years in jail, a petition for clemency for Angus McClain sparks local debate over reformation, justice, and the costs of a retrial.
- The City Treasurer’s Downfall
After a week of intense scrutiny, A. Krog is convicted of misappropriating public funds; the case marks a major legal test for Seattle’s municipal accountability.
- The Preacher, the Deed, and the Burning House
A small-town minister's affair with a married parishioner ends in arson, a whitewash trial, and an effigy swinging from an electric light pole in the heart of Oakesdale.
- The Clerk Who Stole His Boss’s Fortune to Gamble Away
Leander Miller returns from a political trip in Olympia to find his confidential clerk, J.H. Corcoran, has drained his accounts through gambling debts.
- The Fallen Clergyman of Seattle
A once-renowned lecturer and minister of the gospel descends into alcoholism, leaving behind a trail of unanswered letters and ruined potential.
- Postmaster Arrested for Embezzlement in Bright
Marion E. Jackson, the postmaster of the small community of Bright, has been charged with embezzling nearly $700 from government funds to support his ailing family.
- The Fall of a Society Man
A once-prominent Seattle socialite and billiards champion has been tracked to a remote California hideout following an alleged $2,500 embezzlement scandal.
- The Lesson of the Tribes
A labor editorial invokes the history of Indigenous dispossession to argue that unions must unify or face the same fate as the tribes of North America.
- The Cashier’s Downfall
A Seattle Transfer Company employee’s descent from competence to embezzlement begins with a simple, hidden accounting error.
- The Mirror in the Half-Dollar: A Gambling Cheat's Downfall
A man arrested for theft in Seattle was found carrying a doctored coin designed to help him win at cards.
- A Fremont Girl, a Seduction Charge, and a Marriage Offered as a Way Out
A 22-year-old insurance agent was arrested after a carpenter swore out a complaint over his 17-year-old daughter. He offered marriage; she reportedly refused.
- A Local Political Feud
A scathing editorial attack on a local rival editor, accusing him of paranoia and claiming he sees imaginary plots to destroy his newspaper.
- The Fragile Earth Beneath Our Feet
An 1877 editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer warns that the city's obsession with waste and its failure to return fertility to the land mirror the downfall of Rome.
Also about this, in other words
- A Shooting in a Kitchen
A domestic dispute leads to a shooting in the home of Kate McClain, highlighting the volatile conflicts of the time.
- A Doctor Returns to Jail After Bail Trouble
Dr. W. St. John Downey finds himself back in custody after his bondsman withdraws his support.