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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
25 stories matching gag
- Mystery Attack on Teenager Near Church
A young girl is recovering in the hospital after she was found gagged and bound near the Presbyterian church in Hanford.
- The Ticket Taker's Midnight Mugging
A L'Allegro Club treasurer was lured from the dance floor into a trap, ending in a gagging and a $55 robbery.
- Nightmare in the Storeroom
Local merchant J.N. Scott endured a terrifying night of captivity after being surprised by armed intruders in his own shop.
- The Electric Gate: An Olympia Father Declares War on Front-Gate Courting
A gadget-minded Eastside householder wires his front gate to deliver a jolt to lally-gagging sweethearts — and proves it first on an unwitting dog and a cabbage-loving cow.
- Tacoma’s Electric Light War
A private power company accuses the city of selling light below cost to drive it out of business—and of a local editor gagging the story because he runs his own hotel plant.
- The Phantom Bicycle Robbers of Tacoma
A young girl claims two masked men bound her in broad daylight, yet police remain deeply skeptical of the theatrical account.
- Vigilante Mob Lynches Two Prisoners at Whitman County Jail
A masked party of fifty men broke into the courthouse to extract and hang a convicted assailant and a murder defendant, while a jury slept just feet away.
- The Dramatic Downfall of a Seattle Speculator
After allegedly staging a robbery to cover his mounting financial failures, a prominent political figure and businessman took his own life in his Seattle offices.
- The bloody evidence in the Wilcox murder trial
A courtroom drama unfolds as prosecutors reveal gruesome relics while the defense challenges the integrity of the police investigation.
- The Palace Coup at the Young Men’s Independent Club
A political faction attempts to seize control of a local club through backroom deals and 'gag rules,' only to be met with a revolt by the membership.
- The Great Seattle Boycott of 1885
When local liquor interests tried to starve a newspaper into silence for its stance on Sunday closing laws, the community launched a fierce retaliatory boycott of its own.
- The Tragedy in the Shantytown
An elderly woman is beaten to death in her South Seattle home for a small cache of gold.
- The Great Blaine Betrayal: How a Few 'Carpet-Baggers' Humiliated Washington's Republicans
At the North Yakima convention, local leaders rejected a resolution honoring James G. Blaine, sparking outrage and accusations of political conspiracy.
- The Populist Rebellion at Ranke's Hall
In a rowdy and defiant county convention, the People’s Party rejects fusion with mainstream Democrats, pushing a radical platform of state-owned mines and anti-monopoly reforms.
- The City Clamps Down on Variety Theaters
Seattle authorities arrest variety theater owners for allowing singing in venues where alcohol is served.
- The Machine Under Fire
An anonymous letter-writer accuses the local political establishment of corruption, illegal registrations, and voter suppression.
- The Midnight Escape from the King County Jail
When four inmates mysteriously vanished from their cells, the local authorities were left baffled and scrambling to track them down along the muddy roads of old Seattle.
- The Lumber Land Swindle
A band of unscrupulous swindlers is targeting the local labor force with promises of massive returns on timber land investments.
- The Judge and the Editor: A 1886 Contempt Battle in Seattle
When a judge appointed a receiver to run a newspaper, he effectively gagged the press by turning the paper's own voice against its editor.
- A Delegate, a Street Scuffle, and a Party at War With Itself
On Second Street, Lewis men rough up a Walla Walla delegate; at Sunday's caucus, Mayor Ronald and Junius Rochester trade barbs over the Lake Washington canal.
- The New Generation Declares Independence
A newly formed political club for young men organizes in Seattle to oppose the influence of established, corrupt political machines.
- The Political Ring’s Tight Grip on Chehalis County
Aberdeen’s Republican convention devolved into a 'cut and dried' affair as local party bosses utilized proxies and backroom maneuvering to maintain control.
- The Battle for Rail Oversight
Mayor A. L. Black of Bellingham clashes with rail giants, demanding a commission to regulate rates and combat monopoly practices.
- The Great Bed-Sheet Debate
Legislators in Olympia waste the public's time by bickering over the legal length of hotel linens.
- The Price of the 'Effect': A Lesson in Lost Ambition
A cautionary tale of a promising man who traded his health, property, and standing for a descent into the depths of a bottle.
Also about this, in other words
- The Great Stink of 1882
When Makah schoolgirls in Neah Bay proved to their matron that rotting whale blubber smelled better than imported Limburger cheese.
- The Fiendish 'Joke' at the Seattle Waterfront
A saloon keeper is arrested for a brutal assault on an intoxicated man, having stuffed a burning newspaper into the man's throat as a spectacle for his patrons.
- The Deaf Dodge
A local drunkard tries to outsmart a judge by faking deafness, only to be tripped up by the prospect of a free drink.
- The Sheriff’s Shabby Costume: A Prisoner’s Trick to Escape the Penitentiary
In a bizarre twist of early Washington Territory justice, a sheriff attempted to smuggle a prisoner into the territorial penitentiary by disguising him in shabby clothes. The trick failed, but not before the warden made a memorable quip.
- The Practical Joke of the Frontier
A settler’s terrifying encounter with two armed Indigenous men concludes not with the massacre he feared, but with a surreal—and expensive—demanding of his household supplies.
- The Man Who Laughed Through the Flames: A Snohomish Tragedy of Love and Loss
When a gas leak ignited his home in Fruitland, Washington, Chandler Chandler didn't run for safety—he shielded his wife from the blast. His subsequent conversation with the doctor reveals a stoicism that defies belief.
- Legislators Behaving Badly
Lawmakers attending a local performance in Olympia disrupt the show, casting doubt on their suitability for office.
- A Domestic Dispute Involving a Flat Iron
A husband and wife near the Walla Walla garrison settle their marital grievances in court after a heated altercation.