Editor's note: The West Seattle Herald has been covering news here for nearly a century. Robinson Newspapers (which publishes the West Seattle Herald) have a massive news archive of Herald coverage dating back to 1928. What follows are crime reports and public safety issues from 1931. Although reporters’ names were not included with stories at that time, their original words remain intact. As more historical crime reports are compiled there will be more installments of West Seattle All Time Crimes. Here is a link to Part 1 of 1931.

Jan 8, 1931
Wing-Nyhus Bakery Entered by Thieves
Thieves, believed to be boys, entered the Wing-Nyhus Bakery at California Ave. and Hinds St. through a window in the dressing room, but found their way barred into the bakery proper. They contented themselves with taking a few tools from under the seat of the bakery truck which was parked in the rear.

Jan 22, 1931
Grave Digger in Strange Tangle
Never married but gets divorce from “Wife”
The strange case of a man who hated women and was never married but who got a divorce came to light recently when friends were settling up the estate of Ernest C. Vierow, grave digger at Forest Lawn Cemetery who lived in a small house at 30th S.W. and W. Willow St.

Vierow came here a quarter of a century ago and subsequently purchases a lot next to the old Hansen greenhouse on California Ave, now the West Seattle Floral Co. There was a heavy mortgage upon the property and when Vierow found himself unable to meet the payments, he faced loss of property.

To prevent foreclosure, he filed a homestead upon the property. This, however, demanded that he be a married man, so he was forced to state that he had a wife, Anna. Everything went well until Vierow later tried to sell the property when he found it was necessary to get the signature of his wife upon the papers.

Being unable to produce the wife, Vierow did the next best thing: He got a divorce from “Anna.” A friend testified that he had never seen “Anna” around the place in the years he had known Vierow and this truthful statement was sufficient grounds for the divorce.

Vierow left a number of chickens and he directed that after his feed bill was paid, any money remaining should be used to buy a burial plot for any person too poor to do the same but who had an aversion to cremation.

March 12, 1931
Police Raid at Church Meeting
Fun at expense of W.S. Presbyterian Pastor
Coming as a complete surprise to the men who sat down to a chicken dinner at the West Side Presbyterian church last Friday night, a police “raid” caused momentary consternation among the members.

The raid was staged by Patrolman Cone, a member of the church who entered the room and informed the men that he had discovered a large number of chicken bones in the kitchen. These he seized as evidence that some one in the church was connected with the purported disappearance of a number of chickens from a farmyard.

Patrolman Cone also stated that the license number of the auto driven by the chicken hunter corresponded with the license held by C.J. Boppel, pastor of the church. The pastor was accordingly seized by the patrolman. However, when several character witnesses came to support the pastor, he was released without bail and after a good laugh by all, the meeting proceeded.

Feb 19, 1931
House is Stripped
Mrs. W.G. McPhee of 2307 46th S.W. reports that they left the house Sunday night for a short time and upon their return found the front door open and part of the furniture and all good clothing and valuables stripped from the place. Everything had been ransacked and silverware laid on the table ready to take, indicating that the thieves might have been forced away in a hurry.