The Day Justice Went Mad: A Proprietor’s Threat and a Drunkard’s Triumph
In a Tacoma courtroom in January 1890, the owner of the Lomar House threatened to kill a man accused of drunkenness. The court watched, entertained, and ultimately acquitted the accused after witnesses proved he was sober.
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.
"Say that again, sir, and I'll kill you, whatever the consequences." The speaker was Mr. Morgan, proprietor of the Lomar House, and he stood shaking his fist under the nose of Charles Woodruff, in the august presence of Justice Setter, then trying the case of the Territory v. Woodruff, wherein husband and wife were the complaining witnesses.
Woodruff had just testified that Mrs. Morgan was half drunk most of the time, when Lomar made this violent outburst. He was promptly ejected by officers, reprimanded by the justice, and warned that he would be sent to jail upon a similar outbreak. The courtroom was filled with spectators at this time, and the scene was very exciting, everybody expressing a good deal of amusement.
The matter originated in an attempt by Mr. Woodruff to get Mrs. Morgan out of his room in the Lomar House, alleging that it was fully warranted brought there in his person. Such a violent outbreak of recklessness produced the charge. The justice ruled that Mr. Woodruff was intoxicated, which he thought entirely false, and it was proved that he never took liquor as a beverage.
Both the male and female witnesses testified to quite an extent. After the one or more witnesses in the case had been examined, Setter promptly dismissed the case, imposing the costs to the complaining witnesses. Mr. Woodruff, an estimable gentleman, slightly retarded by his lashes, is connected with the Northern Pacific railroad.
The latter is anticipating the institution of trouble about the matter. The last warrant was first brought to Justice Lawrence, who refused to issue it.
This 1890 account of a courtroom brawl highlights the volatile nature of early Western justice, where personal tempers often overshadowed legal procedure. It serves as a stark reminder of how far civil discourse and judicial decorum have come, contrasting sharply with modern standards where such public threats would result in immediate contempt charges or arrest.
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