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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 2 |
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16 stories matching prima
- Six Years Away Was Enough to Cost a Man His Claim to America
A Seattle Chinese merchant's brother is ordered deported after a commissioner rules that a long absence in China is proof he never really lived here.
- The Fight for Childhood
A national campaign to end the exploitation of children in the factory system gains ground in state legislatures.
- The Council Seat That Went to Court
After Blake outpolled Morris in December, the city council seated Morris anyway. Judge Langley rules that the courts, not the council, must decide who really won.
- The Lights Turn On in Fairhaven
After months of construction, the Fairhaven Electric Light Company successfully powers the city's streets and businesses for the first time.
- The Pirate Queens of Seattle
How an amateur opera company in 1886 Seattle silenced critics with a masterful performance of Gilbert and Sullivan.
- The Great Cedar Shingle Cartel: How Washington’s Mill Owners Colluded to Halt Production
In a bold move to stabilize collapsing prices, nearly all of the state's 141 cedar shingle mills agreed to shut down for two weeks, forming an association to enforce quality standards and living wages.
- A Saloon Debt, a Partnership, and a Judge’s Ruling on Fraud
A Tacoma liquor wholesaler tried to attach Olympia and Tenino saloons over $700; the court said the property shuffle wasn’t enough to prove fraudulent intent.
- Seattle Wins Its Yesler Avenue Grade Assessment in the State Supreme Court
The state Supreme Court reverses a lower court and holds that a regular assessment roll alone makes the city's case to collect the Yesler Avenue grade assessment — the defense must now prove any defect.
- The Great Seattle Fire: How a Painter’s Fall Saved the City
In the chaos of the 1889 inferno, a worker’s tragic accident at a construction site inadvertently alerted the city to the approaching flames, turning a moment of horror into a pivotal warning.
- The State Moved the Line, and the Waterfront Went With It
Tide-land owners at Port Angeles say they filled in the harbor in good faith, paid their money, and then learned the state had redrawn the meander line to swallow the most valuable frontage — and that the attorney general now refuses to issue their deeds.
- Seven Votes Decide the Sheriff: Judge Langley Tosses Out Fraud Charges and Seats Van de Vanter
After a six-week ballot-by-ballot recount, a Seattle judge ruled that clumsy election officers could not disfranchise King County voters—and confirmed the Republican sheriff by a seven-vote margin.
- The Last Rally: How Seattle’s Republicans Tried to Buy the Vote with Prima Donnas and Quartets
As election day approaches, the Republican party stages its final grand spectacle at the Armory, promising musical entertainment for ladies and a landslide victory for Frank D. Black over the 'mongrel' Populist ticket.
- Tacoma’s Electric Light War
A private power company accuses the city of selling light below cost to drive it out of business—and of a local editor gagging the story because he runs his own hotel plant.
- A South Seattle Murder Case Becomes a Constitutional Test
Henry Craemer’s court-appointed lawyer argued that Washington could not try a capital case on a prosecutor’s information. Judge Humes said it could; Craemer pleaded not guilty and began hunting for an alibi witness lost in the Cascades.
- Seattle Loses by Half a Length—and Wins the Lake
In August 1894, Seattle's first amateur regatta drew crowds to the Madison Street shore of Lake Washington for a four-oared thriller against Portland and Burrard Inlet. The home crew lost by less than half a length, but set a course record and gave the young city a new civic stage.
- The Gall and Wormwood of Olympia: Tacoma’s Defeat in the Senate Race
As Washington's first U.S. Senator is chosen in a bitter legislative battle, defeated candidate Calkins' supporters cry foul, while Jefferson County delegates secure the victory for Watson Squire.