Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
22 stories matching soften
- The Acid Plot in the Tacoma Jail
Prisoners used acid to soften steel bars in a desperate attempt to break out, but were thwarted by a suspicious jailer.
- Tragedy at the Barrel Factory
A young worker loses his life in a horrific industrial accident at the Seattle Manufacturing Company.
- The Tragedy of a Shoemaker
A local workman, suffering from a mental health crisis, takes his own life as his wife prepares the midday meal.
- The Unseen Toll of Seattle’s Great Fire
A Norwegian immigrant, unable to cope with the ruin of his family life following the Great Seattle Fire, is declared insane by the probate court.
- The Night the Milton Sawmill Burned
A late-night inferno consumes local businesses and a storehouse, leaving a rural community in financial ruin with no insurance to soften the blow.
- Grain Warehouse Collapse Kills Pioneer Settler
A Frenchman sleeping in a Spofford grain office was crushed when heavy rains caused the building to buckle under its own weight.
- The Most Progressive Session in Years
Washington's legislature scores a victory for labor with new laws on workmen's compensation, an eight-hour day for women, and the initiative and referendum.
- The Passing of a Seattle Homeopath
Dr. D.W. Starkey, a well-known local physician and Mason, passes away at Steilacoom.
- The Industrial Hubris of Puget Sound
A visiting machinery salesman critiques the stubborn confidence of Seattle's sawmill operators, who insisted on rigging their own equipment rather than following Eastern standards.
- The Jailbreak Tools Hidden in the Steel
A search of the county jail reveals two hack saws and a DIY heating lamp hidden in the structural pipework, intended for a prisoner's escape.
- The Governor Vetoes Debt Relief, and the Paper Cheers
A bill meant to soften deficiency judgments after foreclosure is killed — on the theory that frightened capital would simply stop lending, hurting the very debtors it was meant to save.
- The Church of the Pacific Northwest
As the Episcopal Church gathered in 1880, its internal struggles over mission work, inclusion, and the 'Indian question' revealed a rapidly expanding organization looking toward the frontier.
- The Tragic Delusions of a Seattle Engineer
After his child died, a railroad worker spiraled into a breakdown that ended in a tragic death at the asylum, leaving his family in dire straits.
- The Mealy Bug Standoff at the Seattle Docks
A county inspector orders 800 boxes of Japanese oranges stripped and fumigated. A horticultural commissioner softens the ruling—and the Japanese consul watches closely.
- The Minister’s Holy Kick
A traveling preacher pulls a fast one on a highwayman in this classic piece of frontier satire.
- A Bible in Every Schoolroom? The Epworth League's Careful Campaign in Western Washington
Meeting in convention, Methodist delegates moved to demand Bible reading in the public schools — then softened the demand, and asked the legislature to put a constitutional amendment to a vote.
- The Girls Who Couldn't Be Moved
When two sisters refused to budge for a fishing trip, a bizarre and prolonged standoff ensued involving a heavy door and a very frustrated brother.
- The State Tries to Soften the Panic for Delinquent Taxpayers
The Senate passes a bill remitting penalties and interest on delinquent 1893–94 taxes, citing “great financial stringency” and declaring an emergency.
- The Suffragist in the Hall: How One Woman’s Plea Shook Washington’s Constitutional Convention
In the sweltering heat of 1878, a delegation from Seattle petitioned the territorial convention for women's voting rights. Mrs. Dunaway was invited to speak, delivering an eloquent appeal that momentarily softened the hearts of the 'sage' delegates before the vote closed.
- A Rockefeller Tells Seattle It Is Destined to Be the New York of the Pacific
Visiting Cleveland iron magnate F. Rockefeller—brother of John D.—says the harbor beats New York's and the ore is right here, if only the city will manufacture instead of import and steer clear of the boomers who killed Wichita.
- The First Rector of Trinity: A Quarter Century, and a Church Rebuilt from the Fire
Rev. George Herbert Watson marked 25 years in the ministry and 16 in Seattle, where he founded Trinity Parish, started Grace Hospital, and saw his first church destroyed in the Great Fire.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.