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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 3 |
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16 stories matching spurious
- Insurance Agent Vanishes After Passing Spurious Checks
A smooth-talking insurance agent charms his way through Seattle's business community before disappearing with premiums and bad checks.
- The Mystery of the Counterfeit Dollar
A single bill makes its way through the local economy, settling debts until it hits the bank, a counterfeit, and finally, the collection plate.
- The Forged Deed of Fairhaven
A landmark land title dispute is settled in court after the discovery of a printing date discrepancy.
- The Swindler with the Golden Brick
A local confidence man allegedly fleeced hotels and saloons by leaving behind fake gold bricks as temporary collateral.
- The Hatchet-Faced Forger of the Palouse
A dapper swindler left a trail of bad checks and discarded lard across eastern Washington, fooling local business owners with a bank punch and a smile.
- Counterfeiters Cornered on the Tide Flats
Secret Service agents raid a clandestine workshop near Occidental and Atlantic streets, nabbing two men in the act of minting gold.
- The High Stakes of the 1894 City Election
As Seattle prepares for a municipal election under the Australian ballot system, the city is gripped by political rallies, accusations of forgery, and debates over the future of infrastructure funding.
- The Counterfeiter of Tacoma
A notorious gang of spurious coin makers is finally apprehended in a remote Tacoma house, ending a long cross-state crime spree.
- The Butcher and the Counterfeiter
A young salesman tries to pass bogus gold at a local market, only to be outsmarted by a quick-thinking shopkeeper.
- The Counterfeit Gang of Port Townsend
A local variety theater manager and his associates operated a secret 'mint' to flood the Puget Sound region with fake gold, but their scheme was dismantled after laundering operations stretched to Seattle, Tacoma, and Utah.
- The Customs Inspector Who Planned to Print His Own Money
A Port Townsend official's plaster-of-Paris counterfeiting scheme unraveled after his mistress went to police — then he caught a midnight boat for Victoria.
- Kennewick's Close Encounter with the Great War
An editorial reflecting on the sudden, violent onset of World War I and the fear of its reach into a small Washington town.
- The Editor Who Sold His Paper to a Brothel Keeper
A scathing letter in the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes the corrupt alliance between Seattle’s Republican party and its most notorious vice kingpins, asking: 'What of that newspaper publisher... who for a palm share in the wages of prostitution gives his aid and influence?'
- A Counterfeiter's Conscience: How the Salvation Army Led a Seattle Man to Turn Himself In
Thomas Gorman, an iron moulder, confessed to making and passing $190 in counterfeit coin after a religious conversion, telling authorities he didn't care about jail as long as his conscience was clear.
- The Pacific’s Lesson: Floating Decks and Real Sailors
A correspondent proposes turning steamer decks into life-rafts—and blames the wreck of the Pacific on owners who replaced seamen with freight handlers.
- The Flower Seller's Valise Held a Counterfeiter's Die
Z. M. Hawkins, who sold bouquets at Second and University, was held for trial after officers found a counterfeit dollar and a coin-making die—and a trail leading to a Mexican-dollar exchange in San Francisco.