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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 13 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 11 |
| 1892 | 9 |
| 1893 | 10 |
| 1894 | 12 |
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| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 6 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 2 |
151 stories matching soft
- Cheaper to Ship Wheat to Liverpool Than to Seattle: An Inland Empire Farmer's Case Against the Railroads
A Whitman County grower tells the Post-Intelligencer that Palouse wheat can be raised for about 30 cents a bushel — and sent 16,000 miles to England for less than the railroad charges to haul it 400 miles to the Sound.
- The Prohibition Ploy: Licensing Soft Drinks to Stop Bootlegging
A new city ordinance requires soft drink counters to purchase a license, not for revenue, but as a lever to shut down businesses caught selling liquor.
- Seattle's Broken Sewers Were Shoveled to Pieces, Engineer Says
City Engineer Thomson rejects the explosion theory and blames wet clay clods and soft-burned pipe for fractures under Kenny Street.
- Sunday Controversy at the Fruit Fair
A local clergyman denounces the management of the Walla Walla fruit fair for permitting the sale of soft drinks and confections on a Sunday.
- The Last Great Gush: West Seattle’s Promoters Promise Paradise on the Edge of the Sound
In February 1889, real estate agents and newspaper editors were busy selling a dream of West Seattle, touting its majestic views of Mount Rainier and promising that the new railroad would turn this rugged plateau into the next gold rush for land speculators.
- Newport Goes Dry
As local saloons shutter their doors, proprietors weigh their next moves and threaten legal action over license refunds.
- The Confidence Man’s Tears: How a Thief Fooled His Victim and the Court
In May 1877, Seattle confidence operator Dowd was granted a change of venue after moving his robbery victim to tears with a sob story about his destitute family. The District Attorney’s lenient stance sparked outrage among citizens who feared the law was too soft on crime.
- Kennewick’s Saloon Keepers Pivot to Soft Drinks
As Washington State approaches prohibition in 1916, local bar owners prepare to trade spirits for sodas, card tables, and light lunches.
- The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island
In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'
- The Unsolved Mystery of the 'Soft-Footed' Burglar
A quiet intruder terrorizes Seattle residents, leaving victims baffled after appearing in their homes in the dead of night—only to flee at the sound of a voice.
- Four Shirts, Soft Hands, and Ten Years: Olympia Sends a Window-Smasher to the Penitentiary
A burglar who broke into two downtown jewelry stores and made off with a watch and some plated ware gets the maximum from Judge Robinson — and nearly faints when he hears it.
- The Forest Empire That Built Washington
A sweeping 1900 survey of the state's lumber industry counted billions of feet of standing timber, 250 sawmills, and $7 million a year in wages—proof that the trees, not the cities, came first.
- Forty Thousand Bricks Rejected at the New Courthouse
Superintendent Rogers refused to let nearly 40,000 soft bricks from a Westside yard go into Olympia's new courthouse, warning contractors that the specifications would be enforced.
- The 'Easy' Job That Wasn't
A classic tale of a hotel proprietor in Snohomish trying to hoodwink a miner into an impossible, unpaid-labor arrangement.
- Prohibition Sparks a Local Grape Boom
With Washington going dry, local juice producers struggle to keep up with the sudden surge in demand for non-alcoholic refreshments.
- Seattle's Sewers Were Cracking All Over Town — and the City Engineer Blamed the Dirt
A furious letter writer insists the pipes broke not from 'percussion' but from the very worst kind of trench work — and points the finger straight at the man in charge.
- The White Doe of the Cascades: A Rare Albino Captured in the Wilds
A peculiar white deer, killed north of Cascade Valley and brought to Spokane for exhibition, offers a glimpse into the region's untamed wildlife.
- Kennewick Prepares to Showcase Local Harvest at Panama-Pacific Expo
A state exposition official visited Kennewick to coordinate a strategy for displaying local soft fruits and processed goods on the global stage in San Francisco.
- The Real Estate Pitch That Promised a Mediterranean Paradise in West Seattle
A 1889 promotional blurb captures the early, breathless hyperbole used to sell West Seattle as the 'Italy of the Pacific Northwest.'
- The Real Estate Boom of the 'West End'
Developers pitch the sweeping vistas of West Seattle as the city's future crowning jewel, borrowing praise from a San Francisco journal to lure investors.
- The Real Estate Pitch That Conquered West Seattle
A booster-era advertisement uses high-flown, flowery prose to compare the views of West Seattle to the Swiss Alps, aiming to sell lots in a burgeoning new neighborhood.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The Bank Robbers' Wild Escape in Ellensburg
Two notorious robbers jailed in Ellensburg staged a daring jailbreak, shot a local boy, and held a family hostage during a chaotic afternoon standoff.
- A Monster Rally Against Rome: Nativists Pack the Seattle Armory
Anti-Catholic secret societies and the American Protective Association fill the Armory to protest 'papal interference' in American politics and to promise a fight at the ballot box.
- A Dismissed Complaint, Then a Woodshed Ambush in Tacoma
Maggie Kornder had charged Mike Pfeifle with threatening her. A judge let the case go; days later, the rejected suitor hid in her employer's woodshed and shot her before turning the gun on himself.
Also about this, in other words
- The Solar Plexus Surprise
A local storekeeper's attempt to act tough with a schoolgirl ends in a swift, painful lesson.
- The Quiet 'Giant' Arrested for Saving Pictures
A man of enormous stature was taken into custody after wandering through downtown Seattle, 'saving' people and art by touch.
- The Hard Times Ball
Seattle's elite staged an 'economical' dance party to navigate the financial strain of 1893.
- Mentalist Collapses on Seattle Stage
A theatrical performance of 'muscle reading' turned into a medical emergency when Prof. J. McIvor Tyndall collapsed in a cataleptic fit.
- The Ink Bottle Defense: A Wenatchee Judge Rules That a Well-Aimed Throw Can Keep the Peace
A hotel owner who hit a Seattle man for cursing in front of women was cleared—the court decided he was preserving public order, not disturbing it.
- The Miracle Bologna That Fought a Cat
A local man tests a dubious 'elixir of life' on his lunch, with shockingly violent results for his sandwich.
- The Hard Pan Tax Dispute
A small-town legal battle in Anacortes reveals how railroad companies and local governments clashed over the definition of 'rock' to dodge municipal assessments.
- The Clerk’s Odd Sales Pitch
A farmer learns a strange and aggressive new way to test if his wife is 'sound' while shopping in 1877 Seattle.