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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 8 |
22 stories matching racket
- The Spokane Racket Over Male Attire
When an amateur actress faced a local scandal for wearing pants on stage, the press stepped in to defend the choice as both traditional and modest.
- The Coal-Throwing Landlady of Third Street
A quiet complaint about a noisy apartment turns into an assault charge after a tenant is struck by a thrown piece of coal.
- The Lamp-Explosion Racket at Snoqualmie
Confidence men peddling a miracle powder to stop lamp explosions are run out of town after a local skeptic replicates their 'scientific' trick without the product.
- A Circus Brawl Breaks Out in Chehalis
A local deputy sheriff attempts to arrest a carnival worker for short-changing a farmer, only to be beaten by a mob of show employees.
- The Coal-Throwing Lodger
A domestic dispute in a third-floor rooming house leads to a trial over property and manners.
- A Labor Day Skirmish at the Salvation Army
A reveler celebrating Labor Day early finds himself in a brawl after a nap at the Salvation Army barracks.
- Smuggling Across the Border
A new team of customs officials is struggling to curb the flow of undocumented Chinese laborers entering the U.S. through the northern boundary, as local agitators reportedly run wild.
- The Laundry Con Artists
Two men posing as city water works employees extorted a Chinese laundry owner, sparking a police crackdown on a recurring racket.
- New Year's Eve Brawl Leaves Landlady Stabbed
A festive celebration at a Jackson Street boarding house turned violent when a dispute between two women resulted in a serious stabbing.
- A Lamp, a Three-Story Frame, and Two Families in the Street
A predawn fire at Bismarck and Hanks streets in Lake Union leaves the Krieger and Masly families uninsured and out of their belongings.
- The Jury That Sang for Its Supper
After a heated, near-violent deliberation over an attorney's fee, a sequestered jury finally reached a verdict—but only after singing 'Home, Sweet Home' to calm their nerves.
- A Pulpit Punch-Up at the Epworth League
A church dispute over meeting protocol ends in a physical confrontation and a stinging verbal jab.
- The Right-of-Way Racket: How One Man Tried to Sell Seattle's Waterfront Twice
A legal battle in King County reveals the chaotic land grabs of early Seattle, where a single deed could claim ownership of deep-water access rights across the entire waterfront.
- The Night a Belltown Real Estate Agent Fought Five Officers and Yelled 'Murder'
J.J. Middleton was taken from his home near Front and Virginia streets in a fit of violent insanity, convinced that a cabal at the post office was plotting to seize his property.
- The Rake-Off on the Scales
A Puget Sound shingle maker said the new freight-weighing law would expose a quiet racket: shippers pocketing the difference while mills were charged for phantom overweights.
- The $40 Forgery That Fooled Seattle’s Hardware Elite
A dashing stranger with a dark mustache and bare chest walks into W.P. Boyd & Co., flashes a forged check from the Seattle Hardware Company, and vanishes with $40 in cash—leaving behind only a single typo that saves the victim from total ruin.
- The Charcoal Burner Who Confessed to a Killing the Birds Made Him Do
Arrested for stealing chickens, Ah Wah turns out to be Ah Chung — the Port Townsend murderer who told police where to find his partner's body, and was saved from the gallows by two volunteer lawyers and a story about blue jays.
- He Heard His Friend Cry for Help in the Dark
Joseph Pfahl, a Lake Washington rancher, fell from a boat-house incline at the foot of Madison Street after a Druids meeting; his friend heard his cries but could not find him in time.
- She Fought a Sailor in the Dark—and Helped Police Find Him by Morning
Mary Kriser, who ran a lodging house at South Second and Weller streets, was robbed and sexually assaulted in September 1894. A neighbor broke down a door, and police identified a suspect within ninety minutes.
- A Judge Reverses Himself and Lets the Gamblers Walk
A raid on Moy Lung's Washington Street gambling house netted twenty-two Chinese men. Then Municipal Judge Glasgow dismissed the cases, reversed a guilty verdict, and remitted the one fine he had already imposed.
- Candy, Land Claims and a 'Confidence Man': Arlington's Commissioner Hits Back
George Morrell denies stealing ginger snaps and swindling settlers—then accuses his accuser of running an extortion racket with a Seattle police escort.
- The Wooden Revolver That Sprung Tom Blanck
A murderer awaiting appeal in the King County jail used a hand-carved fake gun to force his way past the night jailer, then vanished into the Black River woods as a sheriff's posse rushed south by special train.