The Jailer Lost the Key
A murder trial in Kitsap County is stalled after a clumsy jailer heads downtown with the only key to the prisoner's cell.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The trial of Servius Rutten, charged with murdering William H. Fletcher, mate of the steamer Chehalis, at Chico on September 2, was begun in the superior court today before Judge Denny. When the case was called, the court room was well filled with curious onlookers. Mr. Shields, the defense attorney, asked to have the prisoner brought into court. However, the deputy sheriff came forward in an embarrassed manner, twisting his hat until he tore it, and whispered to the prosecuting attorney. The attorney addressed the judge, saying, 'Well, if your honor pleases, we can't get him now. Joe, that is the jailer, has gone downtown with the key to the tank in his pocket, and we can't get the prisoner out until he returns!' Judge Denny glanced about disgustedly and declared a recess until the recreant jailer returned, which he did in about an hour.
“The deputy sheriff came forward in an embarrassed manner, twisting his felt hat in his hands until he tore it.”
Courthouse inefficiency is a timeless Seattle tradition, though thankfully modern bailiffs rarely lose the keys to the holding cells. This incident captures the rustic, haphazard nature of justice in the 1890s, where rural trials felt as much like theater as they did law.
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