Street Railway Lawyer Loses Case After Missing Court
A legal representative for the local street railway company loses a judgment by default after failing to appear in court.
G. M. Savage, the legal head of the local street railway, happened to drop asleep at the wrong time regarding a legal question of considerable importance decided yesterday in the supreme court. O. C. Lacey, representing a claim against the North Olympia Land Company, tied up the running gear of the railway. Mr. Savage answered in the superior court that he was sick, but Judge Campbell administered a counter-irritant in the shape of a judgment by default for Mr. Lacey. Mr. Savage then took his case to the supreme court, but was not legally present—having, in fact, forgotten his brief. His opponent made a motion for dismissal, which was granted, and the invalid representative of the railway went out of court.
“Can such things be, and overcome us like a summer cloud, without our special wonder?”
This story captures the chaotic, litigious nature of early transit development in Olympia, where streetcar lines were often under-capitalized and constantly embroiled in land-company disputes. It serves as a reminder that the 'booster' era of the 1890s was as much about courtroom battles as it was about laying tracks.
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