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62 stories matching lightn
- Lightning Strikes North Seattle
A severe thunderstorm in July 1885 brought dramatic electrical damage to homes and businesses in North Seattle, setting off fires and injuring a local resident.
- A Sudden Storm and a Frightened Team
A lightning strike and a team of horses lead to a harrowing accident for a mother and her young son.
- The Sound's Long Memory for Rain
While storms rattle the nerves of new arrivals, an old-timer’s meticulous forty-year record shows the 1894 weather is nothing compared to the '63 deluge.
- A Close Call in Colfax
A dramatic report of a lightning strike on the Sexton farm, featuring early electrical-medical treatment.
- Hail, Snow, Thunder and a Shock Down the Telephone Wire
For two and a half hours Seattle gets a storm almost no climate can produce — and a businessman on Second Street gets knocked against the door by lightning on the line.
- A Violent Summer Storm Sweeps the Yakima Valley
While Kennewick escaped the worst of the wind and rain, neighboring Prosser saw a church burn to the ground after a lightning strike.
- Tragedy on the Ridge: A Lightning Strike in the Mesan District
A brutal mountain storm leaves one prospector dead and another miraculously stumbling into camp to report the horror.
- The Lightning Rod Swindler Who Targeted the Courthouse
A traveling salesman tries to sell protection to a jury foreman, only to discover he’s been pitching his wares to the wrong building.
- A Bolt Out of a Clear Sky Passes Inches From a Sleeping Man
Lightning hits the flagpole of the Walla Walla Athletic Club on West Alder at seven in the morning, tears a hole in the roof, rips an American flag down through the building — and leaves manager S. S. Bettman untouched in his bed.
- Two Newport Homes Burn as Volunteers Fight Without Enough Hose
A lightning-sparked fire destroyed the Seeley house and spread to the Montzheimer home, exposing the town’s thin fire protection.
- Summer Storms Cut the Juice
A severe thunderstorm fried local electrical transformers, leaving the White Bluffs pumping plants idle for three days.
- Efficiency on the Waterfront
A clever engineering fix replaces a main mast in record time at the Seattle docks.
- When Wires Crossed: Seattle's Great Electrical Tangle of 1895
A freak accident at 11 p.m. mixed electric light, fire alarm, and telephone lines, cutting off 50 subscribers and burning out equipment across downtown Seattle.
- Disaster Averted at the Franklin Mines
A broken cable sends an empty coal car plunging into the depths of a flooded mine, barely missing a catastrophic accident for the workers.
- Singleton's Mound Mastery at Robbins Park
Everett's local pitcher puts on a clinic, fanning 19 batters in a dominating performance against the visiting Port Blakely team.
- The Tragedy of 'Poor Tom' Boyd
A scathing editorial commentary on a recent Seattle murder, reflecting the era's harsh moralizing and gendered double standards.
- Wedded in Under an Hour
A long-distance correspondence turns into a lightning-fast wedding after a lamp nearly explodes.
- A Sunday-Night Letter Asks Why Olympia Lets Main Street Saloons Run Loud
A reader complains of drinking, dancing and noise in the saloons below Third and demands that police keep young boys out of the crowds.
- The Perilous Slopes of Columbia Street
A teenage student’s sledding accident sparks a local warning about the dangers of winter recreation on Seattle’s steepest hills.
- The Trial of Ursula Juanita Unfug
A sensational murder trial in Seattle has become a lightning rod for social scandal, with rumors of political corruption and witness tampering swirling around the case.
- The Oyster Catastrophe
A restaurant diner faces a terrifying and slippery ordeal when a raw oyster takes a wrong turn.
- Fatal Runaway Mine Car Claims Life in Roslyn
A broken wire rope sends coal cars plunging down the slope, leaving one miner dead and another seriously injured.
- The Ghost Town That Wasn't: A Port Townsend Lament
In 1872, the residents of Port Townsend were waiting on a railroad that never arrived, stuck in a cycle of speculation and stagnation.
- The Miracle Inning at Tacoma
Down by nine runs, the Seattle baseball squad defied the odds with a legendary eleven-run outburst in a single inning against Tacoma.
- A Welcome Storm Saves the Harvest
After weeks of drought threatening the region's crops, a heavy storm brings relief to local farmers.