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47 stories matching freak
- Washington Senate Tries to Ban Election Pledges—After Being 'Buncoed' by the Anti-Saloon League
Lawmakers voted 27 to 11 for a 'freak bill' disqualifying legislators who promise support for bills before election, then added a rider against corporation lawyers. Legal scholars called it unconstitutional.
- A State Medical Examiner Accused of Faking a Fracture to Bilk the County
M. D. Minkler of Centralia faces charges of obtaining money under false pretenses after county commissioners say his claimed treatment for a pauper patient was a fabrication.
- The Tragic Fourth of July Death of a Local Policeman
A Seattle officer lost his life in a freak horseback accident during the city's holiday celebrations, marking a somber end to the 1885 festivities.
- Tragic Accidental Electrocution in Tacoma Home
A prominent local family mourns the loss of their teenage son following a freak electrical accident in his own bedroom.
- Strange Earth Upheaval Floods Queets River Basin
A geological mystery near the mouth of the Queets River has flooded valuable land, baffling local observers.
- The Tragic Cost of a Neighborhood Game
A young boy's chase after a ball ends in a freak, fatal accident in Bellingham.
- Tragic Horse-Kick Claims Life of Youth
Nineteen-year-old Hiram Hamilton is killed instantly in a freak accident while tending horses at his father’s barn.
- Fatal Winds at Milton Station
A sudden, freak accident during a windstorm claims the life of a resident just steps from his home.
- Freak Rail-Cutting Accident May Cost Foreman His Eye
A. L. Bird, section foreman at Hay, was struck in the eye by a flying piece of metal while cutting a railroad rail. He traveled to Colfax and then Portland for treatment, but doctors fear the eye cannot be saved.
- The Unlucky Hitchhiker of Seattle
A freak accident during a spring storm proves deadly for a man seeking shelter under a passing wagon.
- The Unluckiest Ranch Hand in White Bluffs
After surviving four freak accidents, one local worker finally decided his employer's ranch was cursed.
- Tragedy in the Timber: A Pioneer's Fatal Accident
A newlywed husband is widowed in a freak accident when a tree, toppled by the great storm of 1891, crushes his wife in their own backyard.
- The Sad End of a Local Pet
A harmless land otter, kept as a mascot, was killed by an erratic local resident in a senseless act of cruelty.
- The Mystery of the Egg Within an Egg
A Richland woman discovers a natural curiosity in her poultry flock: an egg that contained another perfectly formed egg inside.
- Tragedy in the Timber: A Faller’s Fatal Error
A young logger’s life is cut short by a freak accident in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest.
- Tragic Household Accident Claims a Young Life
A seven-year-old boy has passed away at St. Joseph's Hospital after a freak accident involving a window sash at his family's home.
- Five Hundred Sheep, One Embankment, and a $2,000 Loss
A herd already sold at $3.40 a head was wiped out near Kiona when the animals piled atop one another in a freak accident.
- The YMCA Takes the Tacoma Basketball Crown
A scrappy season ends with a decisive win against the high school, solidifying the city championship for the Y's quintette.
- The Day the Railroad Stopped: How Two Boys Nearly Derailed a Train in Seattle
In October 1876, a group of mischievous youths removed the brake from a freight train at the Northern Pacific terminus. A lucky passerby noticed the danger just in time, averting a potential catastrophe that could have turned Seattle’s early rail history into a tragedy.
- The Tragic Death of John Curran
A laborer crushed in a freak accident while driving a rock-laden cart through South Seattle.
- Tragedy at Pacific School
A ten-year-old boy dies in a freak accident during a schoolyard game.
- The Tragic Accident That Stopped a Clock: The Death of Mr. H. Kelly
A promising builder and father of four dies in a freak hunting accident on the banks of the Snohomish River, leaving his grieving widow to raise their children alone.
- The New Penal Code Left the Red Lights Burning
Washington's 1909 criminal code accidentally protected brothels from local crackdowns, and Northport's city fathers could only watch the glare.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- Tragedy on the Naches Road
A seven-year-old girl is killed in a freak horse-and-wagon collision near the Naches River.