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28 stories matching sleepi
- A Boston Banker Tells Walla Walla to Hold Its Wheat
A capitalist touring the territory by rail — with $75,000 already sunk in Washington land — predicts high grain prices, a finished Northern Pacific, and scolds the town's 'sleepy' businessmen for taking their money elsewhere.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- The Whatcom Million-Dollar Bet
Citizens of Bellingham Bay pledge their own wealth to lure the railroad, hoping to transform their sleepy coastal town into a Pacific terminus.
- The Night Federal Agents Made Chinatown Show Its Papers
A certificate sweep through Wa Chong’s rooms broke up card games and opium pipes and netted one man accused of lying in a deportation case.
- The War-Ready Chief of Ballast Island
Grandson of Chief Seattle, 'Tyee Peter' rallies his followers to defend the U.S. against Chile—and reflects on a history of misunderstanding with the military.
- A Grand Welcome for Seattle's Visitors
When an excursion party arrived in Seattle in 1885, they were treated to a citywide illumination and a clam bake at Port Blakely, sparking a fierce local rivalry over the naming of Mount Rainier.
- The Midnight Alarm at Pioneer Place
A construction mishap at the Yesler block causes a spectacular electrical failure and a city-wide false alarm.
- A Populist Call to Build the Ship Canal
A citizen offers a radical proposal to jump-start the construction of the Seattle Ship Canal through volunteer labor and public subscription.
- The Apple Trees That Sailed From England in a Sea Captain's Cabin
Seeds saved from a farewell dinner in 1833 were planted at Fort Nisqually and grew into the finest apple trees north of the Columbia. Now an editor wants Tacoma to move them to a park before the squirrels of Rosston are their only company.
- Seventeen Hours in the Jury Room, Then 'Guilty'
Rev. M. H. Nichols is convicted of criminally libeling Rev. T. B. Ford after an all-night jury fight; his lawyers promise a new trial.
- The City’s Stinking Secret
In 1888, Seattle's growing pains were literally surfacing on the beach as inadequate sewers turned the bay into an open dumping ground.
- A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking
In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.
- City Bonds Narrowly Pass by a Single Vote
A $23,000 bond issue to retire city warrants narrowly clears the 60% requirement after a sleepy election season.
- Newport to Metaline: The Steamboat Fleet vs. the Stagecoach
When Colville boasted a new tri-weekly stage line, Newport answered with daily steamer service, six Great Northern trains, and a reminder of who really controlled the east end.
- The Price of a Teaming Business
A pre-dawn blaze in Centralia destroys a feed barn and stables, claiming the lives of the teamsters' horses and revealing the high stakes of early Seattle-area transport labor.
- Olympia Prepares for the Rail Boom
As the territorial legislature pauses, a correspondent observes Olympia shaking off its sleepy, pioneer atmosphere in anticipation of a new railroad to Gray's Harbor.
- The Harbor Plan That Won on 214 Votes—and Three Ballots on Nob Hill
A port-district proposition for harbor improvements passed by 22 votes in a listless special election, with one polling place recording only three ballots.
- A Pigeon Flew 100 Miles to Report From Mount Rainier
A carrier pigeon from the Starlee-Meeker expedition delivers dispatches, tall trees, trout, and one very sleepy doctor.
- The Day Fall City Danced: A July 4th Celebration in the Shadow of War
While General Howard debated tactics against Native tribes elsewhere in Washington Territory, residents of Fall City gathered in a cedar grove to celebrate the nation's birthday with speeches, picnics, and swings.
- The Great Finley School Board Election
A sleepy community turnout of nearly 100 voters leaves a rural school district energized and calls for a healing of fractured neighborly relations.
- The End of the City Cow
Tacoma moves to ban the 'lowing herd' from city limits, declaring that more than two cows makes a dairy, not a home.
- The Circus Comes to Walla Walla
A traveling spectacle transforms a sleepy town with camels, elephants, and a daredevil 'human fly' act.
- The 'Graveyard Bug' Threatens Kennewick Berries
Horticultural Inspector warns local growers that a destructive snout beetle is infesting regional strawberry patches and offers advice on how to eradicate it.
- The Worm Army in the North End, and the Men Burning It Out
Ten laborers cut and burn infested trees on the Tacoma Land & Improvement Company's property while the county agricultural commissioner predicts four to six more weeks of caterpillars — then butterflies, and no more trouble.
- 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.