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| 1876 | 2 |
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48 stories matching janitor
- The Janitor Who Was a Cop: How One Man’s Brutal Discipline Was Legalized by Law
In a landmark ruling for school safety and corporal punishment, a Seattle janitor is acquitted of child abuse charges after proving he was sworn in as a special police officer.
- The Janitor Who Foiled a Ten-Man Jailbreak in Ellensburg
Prisoners had almost tunneled out of the county jail when a janitor sleeping in the sheriff's office heard the scraping—and made a promise they believed.
- The $37,500 Handshake: How Benton County's Tax Crusaders Blessed a Courthouse Deal
Prosser's anti-tax league swore it would guard the public purse to the last janitor's salary. Then its own man changed his mind on Monday, and the Kennewick editor noticed where the $37,500 went.
- A Fatal Mistake in the Bernice Building
A man looking for an office on the sixth floor instead steps into a fatal accident on the fifth.
- The Engine House Was Locked—and the Janitor Was at Church
When two fires broke out in Seattle's Chinese quarter, the engine house was locked and the janitor held the key. Bystanders put out the flames—and the paper demanded a fire department overhaul.
- City Hall Janitor Crushed in Elevator Tragedy
A routine morning cleanup ended in a gruesome death for an elderly janitor when an elevator started unexpectedly.
- Political Patronage and the Janitor's Broom
The state legislature navigated a delicate political situation by dismissing a Tacoma man's manual-publishing contract, only to pacify him with a janitorial appointment for his brother.
- Assault at the Denny School
A school janitor is left insensible after confronting a group of teenagers for loitering and smoking on the schoolhouse porch.
- The Janitor's Failed Replevin of Romance
A Seattle janitor attempted to sue his former flame for the return of bedroom furniture after she refused to marry him, only to be laughed out of court.
- An Anonymous Threat in Everett
A local bank janitor receives a typed, skull-and-crossbones threat to leave town or face accusations from his past.
- A Daughter's Testimony Sends Her Father to Jail
Paul R. Nelson, a Swedish M.E. church janitor, was convicted of incest after his 14-year-old daughter told a neighbor she was pregnant and named him as responsible.
- The Elevator Man Who Fell Through the Transom
Joseph Albright had run the elevator in the Seattle National Bank building for barely a month when a half-second's slip crushed him between cage and door — and sent his body through the glass over the ground-floor entrance.
- The Great Northern's Cold Response to Striking Car Cleaners
Striking workers at the Great Northern railroad were barred from their own hearing before the Chamber of Commerce, where the company dismissed their demands as 'janitor's work.'
- Tragic Drowning of School Janitor
A search for health ends in death for a respected member of multiple fraternal orders.
- University of Washington Students Revolt Against Campus Dining
A campus protest erupts as students challenge a restrictive new meal mandate and the poor quality of food provided by the university's janitor's wife.
- A Sudden Death at the Masonic Temple
A janitor who kept the furnaces running at the Second and Pike building dies quietly while at his post.
- The Night They Burned the Bridges: Sprague Makes Its Stand
A mob stones the returning militia, torch-wielding strikers destroy trestles on both sides of town, and a governor wires back orders to 'use all force at your command' to disperse the rioters.
- The Floor Gives Way: Panic and Death at Seattle’s Morris Opera House
A grand opening night turns into a nightmare when the second-story floor of the newly converted theater collapses into the stables below, killing several and injuring dozens in one of the city's earliest major disasters.
- Tacoma’s Wealthy Elite Demand End to Public Schools
A committee from the Chamber of Commerce, led by industrialist Nelson Bennett, argues that public education is a wasteful burden on taxpayers and poor citizens.
- Fireworks Panic at Wright Park
A lack of basic safety measures at Tacoma's Fourth of July celebration nearly leads to a deadly stampede.
- The Blundering Firefighters of Pioneer Square
A satirical look at a day when a local livery stable fire turned into a slapstick comedy of errors for Seattle's volunteer hook and ladder company.
- The Drunken Lawyer Who Kept Coming Home to Jail
Ross Hogan paraded Second Street with a tattered parasol, asked strangers for birthday quarters, and spent his mother's train fare on whisky.
- The Tragedy of a Backyard Stream
A toddler’s unsupervised play ends in a heartbreaking drowning in a narrow irrigation ditch, highlighting the perils of a growing city.
- The Con Artist Who Fleeced All of Seattle
A smooth-talking lawyer arrives with a letter of introduction from the Governor, only to leave a trail of unpaid debts, fake mortgages, and broken promises across the city.
- 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.
Also about this, in other words
- The Janitor War at City Hall
Mayor Ronald and the Board of Aldermen are locked in a standoff over who gets the keys to the city building.
- A Close Call at the Cleaning Shop
Static electricity turns a routine cleaning job into a dangerous fire, destroying a local shop's equipment and wardrobe.
- The Midnight Laborer of Seattle’s Waterfront
A rare, intimate portrait of a 19th-century 'night worker' advertising his specialized sanitation services in the growing settlement of Seattle.
- The Unseen Labor of a Male Housekeeper
A rare 1888 account reveals a 'male housekeeper' performing the exhaustive, often back-breaking daily labor typically expected of women, in a time when such roles were strictly gender-segregated.
- The Midnight Scavenger of Old Seattle
A modest advertisement for a 'night worker' reveals the grim, necessary sanitation infrastructure of 1880s Seattle.
- The Landlady of Cherry Street
A Seattle lodging house keeper is hauled into court after an altercation with a troublesome tenant—a minor dispute that reveals the grit of a changing city.
- A Furniture Store Fisticuff
A social slight between families led to a curse-filled brawl inside a Second Street furniture shop.
- Japanese Waiter Performs Jiu-Jitsu on Diner
An attempt to leave an Empire restaurant without paying for a meal ended in a swift martial arts takedown.