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49 stories matching rat

  1. The Rat That Didn't Die: A Seattle Street Performer’s Electric Shock Gambit

    In a desperate bid to steal customers from a rival vendor on Commercial Street, an electricity salesman rigged a dead rat to a copper plate—only for the rodent to remain stubbornly lifeless.

    Mar 8, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountySnake Oil

  2. The Great Rat War of the Seattle Waterfront

    A local commission merchant argues that poor box design is turning Seattle apple shipments into a banquet for waterfront vermin.

    May 13, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, King County

  3. The Kennel Club's Howling Success

    High-society dog shows in 1891 Seattle were noisy affairs, complete with terrier rat-killing matches and stolen St. Bernards.

    May 19, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  4. The Sleeping Fireman and the Rat-Trap Defense

    Two city firemen faced an investigation after one was caught sleeping on duty and the other admitted to abandoning his post to hunt rodents.

    May 4, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Strange But True

  5. The Ruins of a Bishop’s Household

    After years in storage on the Seattle waterfront, Bishop Paddock's furniture was recovered in a state of 'shameful' decay, riddled with rats and broken glass.

    Jun 27, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

  6. The 'Rat' Printers of Seattle

    When an 1877 newspaper attempted to cut costs by firing union compositors, the resulting strike sparked a fierce, public feud between rival publications.

    Dec 22, 1877Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Scandal

  7. The Nurse Girl and the Rat Poison

    A thirteen-year-old girl stands trial for the poisoning of an infant in a case shrouded in domestic mystery.

    Jan 24, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  8. The Mud of Commercial Street

    Seattle’s main commercial artery was once a treacherous gauntlet of 'semi-fluid mud' and rats, nearly impassable for the city's horse-drawn wagons.

    Mar 23, 1878Puget Sound DispatchCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

  9. The Tragedy on Howard Street

    A household servant disappears after a toddler dies from arsenic poisoning.

    Jun 7, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  10. The Bustle Bandit of Front Street

    A routine shopping trip in Seattle took a chaotic turn when a startled store rat sought refuge in the most unlikely place imaginable.

    Jan 8, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerFront Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

  11. Acquitted in Five Minutes: The Girl Accused of Poisoning a Child

    A packed Seattle courtroom erupts when Hildegard Rundberg is cleared of murdering little Richard Parker with 'Death to Rats' rat poison — the jury needing barely five minutes to set her free.

    Jan 28, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerKing County Courthouse, SeattleTrue Crime

  12. The Ballard Tragedy

    A 14-year-old nursemaid is accused of murdering an infant in her charge with rat poison.

    Jun 8, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBallard, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  13. Dynamite Plot Found on Puget Sound Collier

    A meticulously rigged infernal machine, timed to trigger via a rat trap and revolver, was discovered in the hold of the steamer Bawnmore.

    Mar 30, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · True Crime

  14. The Rat Out of the Hole

    A bitter public feud erupts between two of Seattle's major industrial firms over the construction of a city fireboat.

    Jan 1, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Scandal

  15. The Vandalism of Seattle’s Fences

    An 1880 editorial decries the 'wanton vandalism' of men and boys who whittled, tore, and marked up the city’s decorative fences, signaling a growing urban friction between private pride and public mischief.

    Oct 30, 1880The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

  16. The Schoolhouse Reunion: A Grandmother’s Reflection

    A grandmother visits her granddaughter's rural school and finds herself transported back to her own youth, struggling to reconcile the modern fashions of schoolchildren with the enduring traditions of the classroom.

    Mar 15, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  17. The Art of Getting Helped

    A clever traveler tricks two impatient men into doing the labor he was too tired to finish.

    Jun 26, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

  18. Northern Pacific Takes Its Rate Fight to Federal Court

    The railroad will challenge Washington's sweeping grain-rate cut as unconstitutional, warning the reduction is ruinous and confiscatory.

    Sep 23, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

  19. Drunken Longshoreman Saved from Seattle’s Docks

    After stumbling off the Main Street wharf, a local laborer’s immense voice narrowly saves him from drowning in the harbor.

    Apr 23, 1882Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters

  20. The Tragic End of a Young Woman in Love

    A nineteen-year-old Seattle woman dies by suicide after a romantic disappointment, sparking local gossip about strychnine and heartbreak.

    Sep 30, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

  21. A Ticket Muddle for the Militia

    A breakdown in communication leaves local militiamen feeling spurned at the ballpark gates.

    Jul 4, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Nightlife

  22. The Tragedy of a 'Box Rustler' at the Standard Theater

    After being abandoned by her partner and facing a string of personal losses, 18-year-old Lillian Stewart took her own life in a downtown hotel.

    Mar 17, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

  23. A School Girl Takes a Stand

    A local student writes to the paper to challenge the community's hypocrisy regarding the treatment of animals.

    Jun 18, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

  24. The Tax Swindle: How Seattle’s Printer Defrauded His Neighbors

    In 1872, the publisher of the *Puget Sound Dispatch* exposed a collusive scheme between local tax collectors and a rival newspaper to overcharge delinquent taxpayers for legal notices, sparking a bitter war of words in the territorial press.

    Sep 12, 1872Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

  25. A New Home for Engine No. 1

    Seattle's volunteer firefighters get a state-of-the-art brick headquarters on Columbia Street.

    Jan 8, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

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