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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 29 |
| 1891 | 17 |
| 1892 | 44 |
| 1893 | 62 |
| 1894 | 56 |
| 1895 | 63 |
279 stories matching lock
- The Unlucky Yawn of Mr. Jackson
A Seattle man faces an awkward medical predicament after his jaw locks mid-yawn.
- The Tragedy of August Peters
A laborer, driven to despair, takes his own life in the Kent town jail after a series of failed attempts to find peace.
- Daylight Burglary at Minor School
A bold thief locks themselves inside a Chestnut Street home to clear out jewelry while children played across the alley.
- The Padlock Swindle on the Sidewalks of Seattle
A new arrival in Seattle was relieved of his life savings by a pair of confidence men using a trick lock and a fake partnership.
- Flood Waters Ravage Duwamish Valley Farms
Farmers report $25,000 in damages and plan to petition county commissioners over neglected drainage locks.
- The Fatal Lock: A Mother’s Visit, a Father’s Work, and Two Children Burned Alive
In January 1893, a house fire at the Kinyon mills in Tacoma claimed the lives of two young children left alone inside. The tragedy highlights a grim era where child safety was often secondary to labor demands.
- The Great Cigar Heist of Third Street
A burglar uses skeleton keys to bypass a shop lock, proving that even petty thieves in 1894 had expensive, specific tastes.
- The Lock and the Bunko Men: How Two Hop Pickers Turned the Tables on a Seattle Con Artist
Richard Sullivan, a bunko man with a Tacoma headquarters, was convicted of petty larceny after swindling two Indian boys on the City dock.
- The Great Northern Smuggling Case
A train conductor faces federal charges for allegedly attempting to transport Chinese passengers across the border.
- Inside Job Suspected at Mount Vernon Depot
The Great Northern depot in Mount Vernon was robbed of $40 in cash, suggesting the thief had intimate knowledge of the office.
- The Populist Orator's Family Sues Tacoma Over a Bruising Arrest
James H. Ross and his wife seek $15,080, alleging that police locked up a screaming child and treated the family indecently after a theft charge.
- A Fire, a Locked Door, and a Daring Escape
A local reverend barely survived the blaze that destroyed his home in Black Diamond by shattering a window to escape the flames.
- The Lawyer Locked Out
A prominent Tacoma politician finds himself stranded on the street in his gym clothes after a drafty gymnasium door leaves him quite exposed.
- Marshal Narrowly Survives Jailhouse Shootout
A prisoner in Colfax, suspected of being a relative of the James brothers, opens fire on the police chief while being locked in a cell.
- The Potato Patch Fraud
A federal investigation reveals that a 'homestead' in Everett was nothing more than a few spuds and a locked door.
- Tacoma Printers' War Against the Ledger
A standoff in Tacoma pits union printers against a newspaper management that replaced them with imported 'rat' labor.
- Naming a Peak for an Infidel
Local climbers conquer a previously unclimbed mountain and name it after a controversial figure.
- A Bloody Melee at the Saloon
A violent brawl involving 'tramps' and razors spills out onto the streets of Spokane Falls, ending with multiple arrests.
- Chief Butterfield Raids Two Seattle Gambling Houses in 1889
When the city's top police officials swept through Washington Street, they found locked doors, battered them down, and hauled the proprietors off to jail.
- The Courtroom Scream
A witness in a railroad injury trial lets out a blood-curdling set of shrieks from a locked room, sending the entire Federal Court into a panic.
- The Canal That Would Reshape Seattle
A federal engineer brings word that St. Louis money is in place for a Lake Washington ship canal, with locks, dredges, and jobs promised within four years.
- The Nun on the Fire Escape
A delirious man, a locked bedroom, and a nun’s desperate climb up a high-rise fire escape to deliver medicine.
- The Star Chamber Water Loan Scandal
Tacoma city officials met behind locked doors to authorize the use of water extension funds for speculative warrant purchases, sparking threats of injunctions.
- Locked in the Slammer
A Seattle lawyer gets a rude awakening after being accidentally locked in the city jail while visiting his client.
- The Revolver in the Parlor: A Grocer's Case for Divorce
Threats to shoot him, a revolver produced in a rage, a locked door with mother and child inside — a Seattle grocer's complaint laid out what "cruel treatment" had to look like in 1895.