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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
9 stories matching meter
- He Steered the Runaway Team Into a Water Meter
When the fire department's supply horses bolted near Sixth Street, driver Thomas Dunn held the reins through a breakneck descent and steered the wagon into a water meter rather than let the team drown in the harbor.
- The Tragedy of the Hebrew Dramatic Club
A panicked crush at a local performance in Seattle leaves tragedy in its wake as crowds misinterpret an alarm.
- The Everett Water and Light Monopoly
A critical investigation into the extortionate rates charged by the Stone-Webster company and the case for municipal ownership.
- The Power Monopoly's Shadow Over Tacoma
A Seattle rate war reveals the aggressive expansion of the Stone & Webster combine, threatening to bring high-handed utility practices to Tacoma.
- The City Grants a 25-Year Monopoly on Water
North Yakima council passes a sweeping franchise to Edward Whitson to tap the Naches River, formalizing the city's infrastructure boom.
- Seattle’s Water Gamble: A Public Utility Success Story
While critics argued over bond debt and construction costs in 1891, the city's new water system proved to be an instant and lucrative revenue stream for the young municipality.
- The Aberdeen Rifles' First Grand Gala
A night of 'brass buttons and bright eyes' as the new local armory on Heron Street hosts its inaugural dance.
- The Unlucky Life and Death of 'Jim, the Stout'
A satirical poem published in 1888 Seattle chronicled the fictional misfortunes of a man whose attempts to embrace city life ended in total catastrophe.
- The City That Vanished: Seattle’s First Real Estate Bubble and the Ghosts of Terry’s Addition
A look back at January 1890, when Seattle’s land boom was in full swing, prices were soaring, and developers like George Dorffel were selling lots in new subdivisions to speculators eager for a quick profit.
Also about this, in other words
- The Strange 'Living' Well of Port Townsend
A dry well dug in an addition to Port Townsend acts as a natural, pneumatic barometer, baffling local scientists.
- The Ghost in the Machine: Snohomish Meets the Phonograph
A local advertisement for the cutting-edge technology of 1878 introduces the marvel of Edison's 'talking machine,' promising a future where the voices of the dead can be preserved forever.
- The Deadly Silence of the Mill
A young fireman is killed instantly when a mill boiler explodes, leaving the community to wonder how his body was thrust beneath the furnace.
- The Morning the Graphophone Spoke
A group of Seattle scientists and journalists gathered in 1888 to witness the wonders of Thomas Edison's new 'graphophone' recording device, marveling at its ability to capture and reproduce human speech.
- Death the Price of a Job
A brutal internal railroad memo reveals that safety rules were meant for legal protection, while speed was the only metric that mattered for keeping a job.
- The Day the Talking Machine Arrived in Seattle
In 1878, Seattle citizens gathered at Yesler’s Hall for a demonstration of Thomas Edison's 'wonderful invention' that could capture and replay human speech.
- A Marriage Cut Short by Tragedy
A young bride dies suddenly on her second wedding anniversary, triggering a callous rumor mill that the press quickly works to correct.
- A Mock Legislature and a Midnight Meltdown in Olympia
In the final hours of Washington's 1893 session, lawmakers cut a railroad freight rate, fought over a harbor commission, and staged a mock legislature as the clock struck midnight.