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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 25 |
25 stories matching escape
- The Bear That Bit Back: Deputy Collector’s Narrow Escape from Tax-Collecting Felines
In a bizarre twist of frontier justice in Toledo, Washington, two tame bears were unleashed on a deputy revenue collector after their Italian owner refused to pay taxes.
- The Great Dockside Stampede
A pair of range steers escaped their handlers at a Seattle wharf, terrorizing workers and prompting a desperate, armed chase through the northern city streets.
- The Dock That Swallowed Five: A Narrow Escape on Madison Street
In a sudden collapse that sent debris crashing into the Sound, five people survived by inches when a poorly constructed lunchroom and menagerie annex gave way beneath them.
- The Day an Indian Survived a Waterfall Leap
Mitchell Potera, a Shawnee man from Waunette, Washington, jumped off Steilacoom Falls to escape his pursuers—and walked away with only scratches.
- The Pickpocket of South Third Avenue
A notorious local grifter lands back in jail after a dance invitation turns into an attempted robbery in a downtown Seattle saloon.
- The Madison Street Midnight Escape
A Seattle grocer skips town in the dead of night, leaving behind a shop full of unpaid bills and curious neighbors.
- The Night They Were Left in the Brush: A Highway Robbery on Third Avenue
Two desperate men held up three victims at gunpoint near the Union Trunk Hotel, binding them in the cold wet brush while a fourth escaped. One victim’s wife walked within twenty feet of the scene, unaware her husband was lying bound nearby.
- The Bullet That Missed: A Masked Highwayman’s Attempt on a Seattle Merchant
C.H. Helling of 112 Seventh Avenue was left with a burned face and a shredded lapel after a masked robber opened fire on him while walking with his companion near Pike Street.
- The Tragedy of the Diver in Tacoma Harbor
A routine salvage operation to reach a sunken vessel turned fatal when a burst air pipe left a diver trapped in the depths of Puget Sound.
- Seattle’s First Battle for Clean Air
The city council passes a landmark ordinance to curb factory smoke, signaling a crackdown on the industrial polluters that have long choked the downtown air.
- The Ice That Crushed a Man: A Frightful Death on White Pass
Louis Wrick was clearing ice near the summit of the White Pass when a massive block gave way, pinning him beneath tons of frozen weight. Another worker survived; Wrick did not.
- The Midnight Mystery of Alki Park
A recent arrival to Seattle is left wounded in the dark after an unseen assailant fires twice into his hand during a walk through the woods.
- The Last Stand of Denny’s Old Home: A Seattle Landmark Consumed by Fire
One of the city's oldest structures, a cedar-built house on Second Avenue, was reduced to ashes early this morning. The blaze, sparked by a fallen lamp in the room of a shoe company employee, claimed the home of Mrs. Kali Palmer and her children, who barely escaped through the roof.
- The Cougar Who Saved a Cyclist’s Life
A Tacoma engineer recounts his miraculous escape after a mountain lion knocked him upright on his bicycle during a terrifying encounter.
- Tragedy on Pioneer Square: A Young Woman’s Brush with Death
While visitors from Victoria watched the fireworks display on Pioneer Square, a stray firecracker ignited a young woman's clothing, leading to a harrowing struggle for survival.
- The Great Puma Panic: How a Loose Cat and a Lucky Dog Sparked Chaos at Leschi Park
In the early days of Seattle's municipal parks, a puma escaped its cage, chased a terrier into a bear pit, and nearly cost the zookeeper his bones in a brawl that read like a cartoon.
- Doctor Questions City's Smallpox Quarantine Delay
A health officer faces a public revolt after a suspected smallpox outbreak at a local mission leads to a tense standoff and accusations of official negligence.
- The Man Who Hated the Number 13
A Seattle resident petitions city commissioners to change his house number because he believes the digit brings bad luck to his family.
- The Iron Molder’s Attack on Main Street
A young Seattle woman narrowly survives a brutal assault by her stepfather, who attempted to force muriatic acid down her throat before fleeing the city.
- The Great Seattle Hoax: How a 'Captain' Fooled the Press with a Phantom Ship
A con artist named Captain John Brown sold a wild tale of a treasure-laden voyage to a local newspaper for $10, only for customs officers to discover the vessel didn't exist.
- The Quarantine of Tacoma: When a Hotel Became a Prison for Railroad Workers
In April 1898, a single case of smallpox in a Tacoma hotel triggered a massive quarantine that stranded dozens of railroad employees and paralyzed the city's transit network.
- The Treasurer Who Vanished: A Seattle Fraud Case
John Dougherty, treasurer of the Pacific Coast Steamers' Association, was arrested in San Francisco after a four-day flight from Seattle. The case highlights early 20th-century corporate accountability and the reach of cross-border law enforcement.
- The Chambermaid’s Lock: A Seattle Hotel Guest’s Brutal Mistake
When a wealthy Chicago businessman accidentally locked himself in his hotel room and then roughed up the maid who tried to help him, he found himself facing a $10,000 lawsuit for assault.
- The Boy Who Vanished Into the Dirt
A contractor’s chilling account of a six-year-old who fell into an open trench and was buried alive—only to be dug out just in time.
- The Man Who Jumped the Fence: A Tale of Love, Debt, and Disappearance
A Seattle man recounts a twenty-year-old mystery involving an English defaulter who fled to Australia, married his way out of disgrace, and left behind only a letter and a fortune.