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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 12 |
| 1884 | 8 |
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| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 4 |
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387 stories matching inspect
- The Invisible Killer in Your Milk: Seattle’s Health Officer Warns of Tuberculosis Cows
With consumption rates soaring and no dedicated veterinary inspector on staff, local officials admit the city is dangerously unprepared to stop diseased cattle from entering the food supply.
- A Legislative Committee Finds the University of Washington Packed, Broke, and Worth Building
After touring the cramped old campus and the rising new grounds between Lake Union and Lake Washington, a joint legislative committee urges bonds, more books, a smaller board of regents, and a dry zone around the university.
- The Absurd Cost of Imaginary State Lines
A local rancher laments how rigid cross-state veterinary inspection laws turn a simple pig sale into a financial catastrophe.
- The Last-Week Jam in Olympia: Liquor, Primaries and a Budget Nobody Counted
With the 60-day session expiring, Washington's lawmakers settle local option, rewrite the primary ballot, kill the initiative and abandon the joint budget committee — leaving taxpayers to foot a three-mill levy.
- Tacoma’s Theater Safety Crisis
Following the horrific Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, local inspectors scramble to identify hazards in Tacoma’s aging entertainment venues.
- Eight Dead, and the Steamboat Owners Owe Only $3,500
A federal judge in Seattle limits the Annie Faxon's liability after a Snake River boiler explosion, extending an old maritime rule to inland steamboats.
- General Frederick Funston Inspects Fort Walla Walla
The decorated veteran of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars arrives in town for an official inspection of the local military post.
- Seattle's Fruit Inspection Racket: Dumping California Produce to Protect Local Markets
A dispute over British Columbia's fruit inspection leads The Ranch to admit that Puget Sound inspectors have used the law to condemn California and Oregon fruit, easing market congestion and raising questions about regulatory abuse.
- Coulee City Mandates Electrical Safety Inspections
New municipal code establishes safety standards and inspection fees for residential and commercial wiring.
- Fifty Dollars for a Clean Bill of Health
A quarantine officer charged a sealing schooner $50 to steam over and inspect her — and shipping men say the fee was less public health than protection money.
- Seattle's Mayor Vetoes Boiler Safety Bill Over a Clerical Error
Mayor J. T. Ronald sends a steam-boiler inspection ordinance back to the House of Delegates because a duplicated section would not survive court—and warns that a $3 inspection fee has already stirred opposition.
- The Navy Secretary Goes Down Into the Big Hole
Secretary of the Navy Herbert rides the lighthouse tender Manzanita across the Sound to inspect the giant new dry dock at Port Orchard, settles a bitter dispute over how deep to drive the pilings, and dances the night away at the Rainier.
- The Inspector Who Rode Free: Seattle's Steamboat Watchdog on Trial
Local steamboat inspector W. J. Bryant stands accused of favoritism in granting licenses, of padding his travel accounts while riding free, and of owing his office to his sidelines selling life-preservers and marine insurance.
- The Political Pilgrimage to Steilacoom
In 1887, Washington Territorial legislators took a collective trip to inspect the state's asylum, but the solemn mission quickly devolved into a social affair that kept the real results hidden from the public.
- After Disaster, Shipyards Scrutinized
Following the tragic Clallam disaster, federal inspectors turn a watchful eye toward ongoing construction at Tacoma’s Heath shipyards.
- The Ten-Foot Map That Would Sewer Olympia
In 1891, an engineer drew a room-sized map and planned a drainage system for a city of 20,000—if the council could get around the Seventh Street tunnel.
- Seattle Swarms the USS Monterey
The white monitor anchored in Seattle harbor becomes an overnight sensation as hundreds of curious locals crowd aboard to inspect the warship's machinery.
- The Mayor vs. The Board
Mayor J.T. Ronald rejects a city ordinance, clashing with the Board of Public Works over who controls the schedule of the city's executive branch.
- Tacoma’s Water Infrastructure on the Brink
A surprise inspection reveals crumbling pumping stations and a mounting $1,000 repair bill just to keep the city's water flowing.
- Turned Back for Being Penniless: The $50 Wall at Seattle's Dock
Fifty-six Japanese men and women arrive aboard the steamer Thistle — all admitted but two, who are deported to Victoria for lacking the cash the immigration law demands.
- The Transparency Tax: A Seattle Taxpayer Rails Against Red Tape
In 1877, a frustrated taxpayer penned a public letter attacking the County Commissioners for mandating expensive, redundant audits of public records, arguing that government transparency should be an everyday right, not a high-priced administrative burden.
- Inspector Blames Defective Boiler in Mukilteo Wreck, Urges State Locomotive Inspection
A state railroad inspector disputes the coroner's jury and asks lawmakers to adopt New York-style inspection of locomotives.
- The Bench Inspects the Horse
A judge takes an unconventional approach to a cruelty case, heading to the sidewalk to inspect an injured teamster's horse personally.
- A Town Buries Its Miners
Funeral services for the Blue Canyon mine disaster dead fill Bay View cemetery as a coroner's jury begins asking whether enough air—and enough regulation—reached the men underground.
- The Health Board Targets Opera Alley's Squalor
City officials inspect disease-breeding housing conditions occupied by foreign laborers.
Also about this, in other words
- The Union Label Inspection
Everett shingle weavers form a committee to enforce labor solidarity by auditing the hats of their fellow workers.
- The Union Hat Inspection
Everett shingle weavers take a stand to enforce union purchasing power.
- The Railroad’s New ‘Company Cop’
A newly appointed railroad inspector wields broad authority to discipline train crews for incivility, drinking, or ticket scalping.
- The Constitutional Battle Over Fruit Inspection
A Superior Court judge rules that Skagit County fruit inspectors cannot be appointed, effectively stalling the state’s ability to regulate the local orchard industry.
- The Inspector Checks the Sheets and the Fire Escapes
A new state lodging-house law brought an inspector to Newport, where rope escapes and alarm gongs were ordered—and innkeepers grumbled about fees and red tape.
- The Sham Inspection of the Northern Pacific
A whistleblower account of how railroad executives entertained government officials with champagne to secure unearned land grants.
- After a Wharf Collapse, a Call for City Inspectors
W.A. Harrington wants Seattle to hire a wharf inspector with power to inspect piling, force repairs and arrest dilatory owners—paid for by an assessment on the wharves themselves.
- The Crumbling Tenement on Second and Main
A concerned citizen demands the city inspect a dangerous building teeming with residents and home to a rowdy saloon.