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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 9 |
26 stories matching eman
- The Well That Killed Twice
A promising new homestead a few miles east of Whatcom became a death trap when a pocket of gas swallowed John Kidwell and the neighbor who tried to save him.
- A Jury Called the Franklin Mine Fire Arson. Thirty-Seven Miners Were Already Dead.
A coroner's jury found that someone deliberately set the fire that suffocated 37 workers in the Franklin mine. The only survivor described how one opened door and one stopped fan turned the gangway into a death trap.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died 150 Feet From Safety
An 1894 coroner's jury in Franklin, Washington, heard how a small fire in the Oregon Improvement Company's coal mine became a wall of smoke — and why the men who could have escaped stayed to fight it.
- A Mountain of Coffins: Franklin Buries Its Miners
After a mine fire killed 37 men, the coal town of Franklin held a day of funerals—five graves at Black Diamond, three Italian miners on a hillside, and widows whose grief doctors feared would kill them.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- The Waterfront War of 1893
Sailors and vessel owners clash as labor unrest cripples Grays Harbor shipping.
- The Day the Wharves Froze: Tacoma’s Lumber Workers Strike Over Wage Cuts
In March 1890, dockworkers at Tacoma’s massive timber mills walked off the job when owners slashed their monthly pay from $60 to $45. The resulting gridlock piled lumber so high it brought the entire industry to a halt.
- The Water Works Betrayal
Tacoma citizens feel duped after voting for a massive bond issue to purchase a water plant under the false promise of a new railroad to Mount Rainier.
- Private Employment Agents Fight Back Against the City's Free Labor Bureau
Accused of swindling job-seekers, a Seattle employment firm blames organized labor and a union-backed city bureau for a campaign to put it out of business — and dares the city to investigate.
- The Man Who Bought His Last Meal with Strychnine
A carpenter checks into a Seattle boarding house, complains of abdominal pain, and dies by suicide in Room 23—leaving behind a diary entry that reads like a ghost story.
- The Darkest Hour: Temperance Leader Declares Cause 'Dead' Amidst Political Corruption
At the State Temperance Alliance meeting in Seattle, Rev. Clark Davis delivers a scathing indictment of the liquor industry's grip on politics and religion, while Rep. De Steiguer rallies support for Watson Squire.
- When a Railroad Held the Territory Hostage: The 1877 Fight Over the Northern Pacific Land Grant
Governor Ferry's message to the Legislature proposes a 10-year extension for the Northern Pacific—but warns the territory will be crippled if the western terminus lands in Portland instead of Puget Sound.
- The Battle Over Tacoma's Most Notorious 'Hellhole'
Citizens and reform groups rally at City Hall to shutter a local variety theater and saloon decried as a den of depravity.
- The Fake Telegram That Almost Started a Diplomatic Incident
A bored telegraph operator in Blaine sparked a scandal after forging a message from Secretary of State James G. Blaine to a town assembly, causing embarrassment for local officials and leading to an investigation by the Pacific Postal Telegraph Company.
- The Mayor Fires a Police Commissioner to Save His Chief
Seattle's mayor removes John G. Niggle from the police board, accusing him of protecting prostitution and conspiring to oust Chief Rogers — then demands that two more commissioners resign on the spot.
- The Mayor Fired Him; He Took City Hall to Court
Police Commissioner John O. Niggle challenged Mayor Phelps's removal power—and his fellow commissioner Cheasty refused even to shake the mayor's hand.
- A Near-Miss Conflagration in Old Seattle
A pre-dawn fire in a Commercial Street smokehouse nearly levels a city block, sparking a call for urban reform.
- The Sheriff vs. The Reservation Agent: A Neah Bay Standoff
When a federal agent refused to obey a district court order, a deputy sheriff took a midnight steamer to enforce the law—only to be met with a threat of the guardhouse.
- The Tragic Passing of Nettie Dinsmore
A beloved Seattle teacher succumbs to typhoid fever, revealing a grim public health warning for the city.
- Judge Lewis Blasts Portland and Olympia Over Seattle's Canal
A Tacoma judge's letter urges Washington state to fund the Lake Washington canal, accusing Portland's Oregonian and a political 'combination at Olympia' of trying to strangle Seattle's growth.
- Officer and Volunteer Rescue Man Clinging to Piling
A man is rescued from the freezing bay with his foot crushed, later dying at the hospital.
- The Forgotten Spring of Cherry Street
City Treasurer Adolph Krug proposes reviving a historic natural spring near Sixth and Cherry to provide free, pure water to the city.
- The Bogus Timber Inspector
A man's elaborate fabrication of a government appointment leads to a public scandal and an investigation into fraud.
- Two Dollars a Head: Seattle's Labor Commissioner Takes On the Employment Agencies
Charged with running the city's free employment office as a union errand boy, Commissioner John Lamb answers that the private agencies have been selling men jobs that do not exist.
- The Ghostly Wails of Lake Washington
A pioneer’s terrifying nightly ordeal near a 'haunted' spring ends not with a supernatural discovery, but with a piece of patent medicine marketing.