The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-12-17
FINE LEGAL POINT
Raised in a Damage Suit in
Which Lumbermen are
Interested.
Technical Point Raised by the
Defendant May Now Check
mate the Plaintiff.

mate the Plaintiff.
From the ST Paul Dispatch.
Judge Otis Tuesday morning entered
upon the trial of a case which presents
novel and extraordinary aspects with
respect to the legal points raised.
Page Bros, lumbermen, we'll known
( throughout the State. are the plaint-
ifs, and the Mile Laos Lumbe cons
pany, another important lumber COM
pany, is the defendant. The damages
demanded by the plaintiffs are SAG, 40.
The plaintiffs. setSforth in their COM
plant that in 1890 they were engaged
in the lumber and logging business in
! the Rum river, down which stream
they were proposing to float Il large
Quantity Of logs which they had cut
in the country above Milaca. Had the
work been prosecuted, as they had a
right to anticipate, the work of get
ting the logs down would have been
easily finished in the season of 1890,
but they were prevented in their en-
terprise by the dam, booms and sort
ing places of the defendant at Milaca,
and the work was protracted into the
season of 1891.
On account of this occupancy Of the
river by the defendant company, plain
tiffs employed a large number of men
at high wages to handle their logs, and
paid dearly for the delay in, working
up their logs into lumber.
The singular condition Of the judicial
situation appeared before Judge Otis.
The case was first tried by Judge
Searle in Mile Laos county, and judg-
ment was found for the defendant. An
appeal was taken to the supreme court
and that court reversed the decision of
the lower court, and Indicated that the
plaintiffs were entitled to heavy dam
ages.
Weston Hammons, formerly of An
aka, and later of Duluth, was one Of
the attorneys for the plaintiff, and
handled the appeal.
In the supreme court the defense
discovered chat the certificate from
the lower court was irregular; that it
had been torn off some other paper or
document and attached to the bill OF
exceptions or paper book before the
supreme court discovered this to- be
the case it ordered the case stricken
from the records and sent back to the
district court, the attorney for the de-
4 Tense asking for a dismissal, with the
+ intention of renewing the suit from
the beginning. The original bill OF
exceptions could not be found It was
supposed, and so stated in an affidavit
from Mr.. hammons, that it had. passed
into the hands of a. clerk, who had GER
tain duties to perform with respect to
it, and from there it had disappeared
The sanity Of Mr.. Hammons has
since been called in question, and it is
intimated that he might have been in.
sane at the time.
Il J. j 4 5 +
In this new action the defendant, the
Mile Laos company, plead in their
answer res adjudicata-that is, that
the courts have determined finally the
case, and that the plaintiffs have nc
standing in court.
One of the witnesses of the morning
was Judge Searle, who tried the case
in Mile Laos county. He was called
to show that at the time the case was
before him he made his ruling on ali
the facts, and the entire case coming
before him regularly.
1t appears possible that the. plaint
ifs, who were, in the opinion Of The
supreme court, entitled to heavy dam;
ages, may get nothing, through a tech
tnicality.