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44 stories matching drunkard
- The Forgotten Law That Listed Walla Walla's Drinkers
A judge in Walla Walla is shocking the state by enforcing an 1883 statute that forces saloon keepers to post lists of 'habitual drunkards' in their establishments.
- The 'Habitual Drunkard' List
A proposed law would have forced Seattle barkeepers to publicly post a list of 'habitual drunkards' in their establishments, effectively blacklisting them from purchasing alcohol.
- The Wife Who Built a Saloon to Save Her Marriage
When her husband blamed his drinking on a 'dull' home life, a Seattle woman staged a radical intervention that turned their parlor into a cabaret.
- The Persistent Loophole in Walla Walla's Temperance Laws
While the city restricts alcohol sales to 'probated' drunkards, families find that local saloons are ignoring the law—leading to a potential wave of civil litigation.
- The Price of Protection
A local businessman pleads guilty to habitual drunkenness to trigger a legal guardianship, hoping to shield his assets from local gamblers.
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- The Wealthy Landowner and the Guardianship Fight
A judge rules that being a 'habitual drunkard' is not sufficient legal grounds to seize control of a man's assets, thwarting his children's attempt to secure their inheritance.
- The Drunkard’s Fortune: Tacoma Bank Takes Over $1,100 from an Inebriate
In a stark display of 19th-century temperance law, Officer Frank Cavanagh has declared wealthy Tacoma man Michael Murphy legally incompetent due to alcoholism, depositing his cash into the bank for 'safekeeping.'
- The Redemption of a Drunkard
A harrowing night of domestic violence and neglect ends a decade later in an unexpected act of grace.
- The Fiendish 'Joke' at the Seattle Waterfront
A saloon keeper is arrested for a brutal assault on an intoxicated man, having stuffed a burning newspaper into the man's throat as a spectacle for his patrons.
- The Northwest’s Industrial Army Takes Shape in Seattle
Seventy-two unemployed men gather at a storefront on South Second Street to march on Washington D.C., demanding economic relief during the Great Depression of the 1890s.
- The Tragic Cost of the Miner's Den
In a remote mining camp, a man’s hard-earned savings and life are lost in a sudden, violent encounter with card sharps.
- The Man Who Shot at a Chinese Girl and Then Tried to Fight the Police
A drunken brawl on Washington Street ends with a drunkard in irons, revealing the volatile mix of frontier lawlessness and early civic order in Seattle.
- The Night Watchman's Duel: Officer Thorndike Wrestles Pistol from Drunkard in Seattle Jail
A violent struggle inside the local jail cell block leaves an officer battered but victorious after a prisoner attempts to shoot his way out.
- The Day Justice Went Mad: A Proprietor’s Threat and a Drunkard’s Triumph
In a Tacoma courtroom in January 1890, the owner of the Lomar House threatened to kill a man accused of drunkenness. The court watched, entertained, and ultimately acquitted the accused after witnesses proved he was sober.
- The Minister and the Saloon
A fiery Memorial Day sermon calls out the city's corrupt politics and the vice rampant in the very shadow of Seattle's churches.
- The Rich Man and the Guardianship Fight
A wealthy pioneer's children seek to control his estate, alleging he squanders money on 'wine and women.'
- The Inhumanity of the City Jail
A plea for the humane treatment of women in Seattle's overcrowded, mixed-gender prison system.
- The First Gold-Cure Club in Washington
At Olympia's Keeley Institute, former patients formed the state's first Bi-chloride of Gold Club—part mutual-aid society, part fundraising engine for poor alcoholics who could not afford the cure.
- The Jailbreak of Port Angeles’ Fake Banker
After fleecing investors and local organizations, Benjamin F. Schwartz slips past his jailer to disappear into the night.
- The Cigar Drunkards of Seattle
In 1877, police were baffled by a new phenomenon: Native Americans getting intoxicated not from liquor, but from smoking cigars. As the city grappled with enforcement of temperance laws, this bizarre loophole left officers scratching their heads and citizens demanding new legislation.
- Sensationalism Pursues a Former New York Educator
A cruel smear campaign against a Seattle man proves the devastating power of yellow journalism in the young state of Washington.
- The Price of a Drunkard’s Grave
A teenage boy is fined for public intoxication, sparking an editorial demand to hold the 'Blue Front' saloon owner accountable for serving minors.
- The Tragedy at Fernhill
A domestic dispute in a Tacoma suburb ends in a horrific murder-suicide, leaving a community shaken.
- The Drunkard, the Mortgage, and the Burial Money
Helen Tracy told a Seattle judge how her husband gambled away their Green Lake property and even the neighbors’ burial fund for their child.
Also about this, in other words
- The Judge and the Philosopher in the Tank
A local drunk arrested for public intoxication offers a colorful, philosophical defense to the judge, arguing that his lifestyle is a necessary pillar of the city's economy.
- The Patriotic Drunkard
A Walla Walla local argues that his drinking habit is a noble contribution to the war effort.
- The Doctor Who Walked Among Us: A Case of Acute Alcoholism
In a rare moment of public health transparency, the Snohomish Star details the physiological dangers of heavy drinking, warning that moderate consumption can turn a man into a 'walking dynamite' ready to explode at the sight of a candle.
- The Jail-Breaking Drunkard of 1877
A rowdy arrest in Seattle leads to a display of destruction inside the city lockup.
- The Anatomy of a 'Drunk' in 1883
A local observer breaks down the social mechanics of the saloon-crawl, from the first casual invitation to the inevitable collapse on the floor.
- The Drunken Gentleman of Commercial Street
A tipsy passenger’s chaotic attempt to board a streetcar and his subsequent social performance in 1877 Seattle.
- The Deaf Dodge
A local drunkard tries to outsmart a judge by faking deafness, only to be tripped up by the prospect of a free drink.
- The Drunk, The Lecturer, and The Law in Walla Walla
A local drinker makes a fool of a traveling quack in a public square, leading to a trial that turns into a town comedy.