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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 6 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
53 stories matching rip
- The Electric Quack of the Arlington Hotel
An elderly traveler narrowly escapes a predatory ‘doctor’ who attempted to encase her in ‘electric’ metal shields under the guise of a miracle cure.
- The Great Seattle Brick Heist
A local contractor chartered a tugboat to chase down a steamboat captain who allegedly stole a scow full of brick over a payment dispute.
- Prison Guard Shoots Inmate in Jute Mill Fight
A convict is wounded during a prison brawl after guards are ordered to use live ammunition to stop frequent fighting.
- Vigilante Violence on the Tacoma Waterfront
A man is tarred and feathered by a mob of 'beachcombers' in a brutal display of frontier lawlessness.
- He Tore Up the Railroad Track, Then Flagged Down the Train
In 1877, a King County farmer named John Ross ripped up Seattle Coal & Transportation Co. rails to force a right-of-way dispute into court — then warned the locomotive before it reached the break.
- The Shadowy Break-in at the Hotel Bay View
A representative of the Independent Telephone company reports a suspicious burglary of his room, exposing a fierce battle for a local utility franchise.
- The Sudden End of a Pioneer Printing Treasurer
A quiet visit to an old friend at the Arlington Hotel turned tragic when a beloved local businessman collapsed mid-story.
- A Circular Saw Opened His Skull—and He Stayed Conscious
At the Stetson Post Mill on Commercial Street, engineer Horatio Stetson crawled under a rip-saw table to fix a belt. The saw caught his head, cutting through bone and into his brain, yet he never lost consciousness.
- The Ghostly Return of Mr. Folliott
A Seattle husband returns from a harrowing journey in India to find his 'widow' has remained faithful—despite the local gossips who were eager to see her remarry.
- The Strange Disappearance of the Wharf Thief
A witness recounts the mysterious final moments of a man who stole a boat and seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a trail of questions.
- The Women Who Stormed the Police Chief’s Office
In 1885, a group of Seattle women, frustrated by official corruption and the unchecked influence of saloons and gambling dens, launched a moral crusade to demand a new Chief of Police.
- Building a City on Sagebrush and Ambition
As 1890 dawns, a North Yakima editor reflects on a year of rapid growth, fire, and the relentless quest for the state capital.
- The Fruit Orchard Purge of 1916
As fruit growers in the Yakima Valley panic and rip out their orchards to plant alfalfa, one local paper warns that the cycle of boom and bust is as predictable as the rising sun.
- Ole Hanson Declares War on the Senate—and the Race Tracks
Blocked by a two-thirds rule, the fiery legislator vows lawsuits, subpoenas and a statewide hunt for betting losses until the senate bends.
- Dynamite in the Dark: A Great Northern Car Is Blown Apart
A locked dynamite car was opened and detonated near Newport, and detectives suspected disgruntled construction workers. No one had a clue.
- Metaline Wakes From Its Slumber as the Mines and Steamers Return
A concentrator whistle, new storefronts, and a faster steamer connection put the Pend Oreille River town within a day of Spokane.
- A Saw Cut Through His Brain. Seattle Doctors Watched Him Live.
Horatio Stetson's head was nearly split in two by a rip saw at a Seattle mill. Thirty-six hours later, he was talking, moving his limbs, and astonishing the physicians at Providence Hospital.
- The Old Union Flag
A group of Seattle schoolboys preparing for a dance discovered a historic, weather-beaten Union flag—triggering a local effort to preserve the banner that once flew over the Civil War-era Union League.
- The Mystery of the Vanished Prospectors
A trio of woodsmen, including a local favorite nicknamed 'Navy Jack,' set sail into the treacherous waters north of Seattle and have not been seen in eleven weeks.
- Seattle’s Cultural Desert: A Plea for a Theater
An 1877 editorial laments that while Seattle citizens invest heavily in private homes, the city remains 'negligent and tardy' in providing a decent venue for public performance.
- Lice Threaten the Hop and Apple Crop, and the State Says Spray Now
Washington's horticulture board warns that leaf lice are spreading fast in Western Washington and issues a detailed spraying recipe before the harvest is lost.
- The Night Colfax Built an Opera House
A secret crew of Spokane masons raised the walls of a new theater in a single night—while the town's electric lights conveniently failed.
- A Bolt Out of a Clear Sky Passes Inches From a Sleeping Man
Lightning hits the flagpole of the Walla Walla Athletic Club on West Alder at seven in the morning, tears a hole in the roof, rips an American flag down through the building — and leaves manager S. S. Bettman untouched in his bed.
- The Dueling Tomcats: A Hunter’s Tale of Feline Fury in Spring Brook
A local hunter witnesses a violent territorial battle between two male wildcats, fought over the affections of a female observer, before intervening with his shotgun.
- Cheers, Hisses and a Canal: The Night Tacoma Cheered the Ditch It Was Told Would Ruin It
At a packed Republican mass-meeting in Germania Hall, speaker after speaker dared the crowd to believe the Lake Washington canal would destroy Tacoma — and the crowd roared back that it would not.