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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 1 |
15 stories matching shirk
- The True Cost of a Hired Hand
A frank critique of the era's labor relations, arguing that farmer complaints about hired help often stem from poor treatment and meager food rather than a decline in worker character.
- The City vs. The County: A Dispute Over Who Feeds the Poor
A finger-pointing match erupts between the City of Seattle and King County as local officials refuse to fund the medical care of the indigent.
- The Penitent Lion-Tamer
A quiet laborer in a traveling Seattle menagerie finds redemption through a final, fatal sacrifice.
- The Scandal of Chief Woolery
A scathing 1885 editorial accuses Seattle's Chief of Police of protecting gambling dens and brothels while posing as a moral martyr.
- County Money Drained Into a Doomed Bank — and an Effigy on Dock Street
A Whatcom banker stands accused of steering $50,000 in county funds into a failing institution, while angry citizens string up a stuffed likeness of him on a telegraph pole.
- Will the Railroad Make Seattle the Gateway to Asia?
General Anderson shares the ambitious, if controversial, vision for the Northern Pacific rail terminus, promising a future as a trade hub while dismissing Chinese labor as inferior.
- The City Hall Compromise on Vice
A heated debate over whether to permit gambling and vice reveals the deep divide between reformers and those who viewed 'sin' as a necessary economic pressure valve.
- The Price of Progress: Seattle’s 1878 Ultimatum
Facing a desperate need for a mountain-crossing railroad, Seattle civic leaders demanded total community compliance—and warned that those who refused to subsidize the line would face 'social ostracism.'
- The Bankrupt Streetcar Company Ordered to Keep a Mansion Lit
A Seattle court rules that a receiver must honor a close corporation's strange side deal to power G. E. M. Pratt's home.
- The Struggle for Better Roads in 1870s King County
Frustrated residents call for a centralized superintendent to replace the inefficient and disjointed road-building system of the Washington Territory.
- The Road Less Traveled: Seattle’s Shameful Contrast with Victoria’s Fine Highways
In 1876, the local press lambasted King County’s broken road system, praising British Columbia’s turnpikes as a model for Seattle’s own stagnant development.
- Hop Field Knife Fight Ends in Acquittal
A dispute over work performance in a Green River hop field leads to a court appearance and a surprising verdict for an accused man.
- The Judge Who Refused to Step Aside
In Thurston County court, Judge Robinson denies a change of venue in the Minkler case, rejecting claims that county prejudice or a newspaper feud had compromised him.
- The 1876 Plea to Ditch the City for the Soil
Amidst economic stagnation in a young Seattle, a local editorial poem urges the 'idle clerks' and unemployed of the city to trade their pens for plows.
- The Snohomish Valley’s First Great Showcase
In 1877, Snohomish County debuted its first agricultural fair, a high-stakes effort to prove the region’s soil and industry could rival the rest of the Territory.
Also about this, in other words
- Smuggling Silks in His Trousers
A crew member of the steamship Olympia attempts to bypass customs, revealing the era's aggressive enforcement against Chinese laborers.
- The Shadow Cabinet of the Tacoma Railway & Power Company
A critical report on corporate influence over municipal government and the 'nose counting' of city officials.
- A Narrow Escape at the Shilshole Crossing
A switch engine slams into a team on Shilshole Avenue, killing a horse and nearly killing the driver—who crawled out thanks to a broken wagon tongue.
- Vigilantism in Wiser
A deputy sheriff takes three men into custody for the targeting of Chinese laborers.
- Rent Pressures in the Red Light District
A street worker is arrested after struggling to meet the high rent demands of a boarding house landlord.
- Police Raid Pike Street Poker Room
Seattle authorities seize gambling paraphernalia from a cigar store, leading to a test case for local law enforcement.