In Goldtree v. Spreckels (1902) 135 Cal. 666, after a demurrer had been sustained to two causes of action in the complaint, and prior to trial on the third, the plaintiff filed a written request for a dismissal of the action, which the clerk entered. Defendant's attorneys objected. The trial court ruled that a trial had been had when the court sustained the general demurrer to the two causes of action. It therefore set aside plaintiff's dismissal and entered judgment for defendant on the first two causes of action. Plaintiff appealed from the order cancelling the dismissal, and from the judgment. The reasoning of the Supreme Court commenced with the observation that the Code of Civil Procedure declared that issues were of two kinds, namely of law and of facts, and that issues of law were tried by the court. ( 588, 591.) The court reviewed the earlier decisions in California and elsewhere on the meaning of "trial" as used in section 581 and in comparable statutes, and stated its conclusion thus: "In our opinion the subdivision of the section 581 of the Code of Civil Procedure in question cannot be restricted in its meaning to trials of the merits after answer, for there may be such a trial on a general demurrer to the complaint as will effectually dispose of the case where the plaintiff has properly alleged all the facts which constitute his cause of action. If the demurrer is sustained, he stands on his pleading and submits to judgment on the demurrer, and, if not satisfied, has his remedy by appeal. In such a case, we think, there would be a trial within the meaning of the code, and the judgment would cut off the right of dismissal, unless it was first set aside or leave given to amend. The clerk had no authority, therefore, to enter the dismissal, and being void the court rightly set it aside." (Pp. 672-673.)