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117 Mass. 116

Commonwealth v. Crowther

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided January 8, 1875

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1875-01-08

Indictment on the St. of 1864, c. 79, alleging “ that Hatfield Crowther of Fall River, in the county of Bristol, on the nineteenth day of July, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-four, the same being the Lord’s day, at Fall River, in the county of Bristol, was the keeper of a certain house, shop and place of public entertainment and refreshment, and did then and there wilfully suffer certain persons whose names are to the jurors unknown, to the number of twenty, to…

Decided 1875-01-08

Devens, J.

¶1In the allegation of the indictment, which charges the keeping by the defendant of the premises wherein the offence was alleged to have been committed, it is averred to have been a “ house, shop and place of public entertainment and refreshment; ” and in the second allegation, which charges that the defendant suffered certain persons on the Lord’s day to abide and remain in “ said house, shop and place of business drinking and spending their time idly,” the words “ of business ” are not inconsistent with the words of public entertainment and refreshment; ” they may therefore be rejected as surplusage, and there is still left a sufficient allegation that the defendant suffered persons so to abide and remain in the house, shop and place of public entertainment and refreshment before alleged to have been kept by him.

¶2The negative allegation sufficiently states that the persons suffered thus to remain were neither travellers, strangers nor lodgers.

¶3The locality of the “ house, shop and place ” was also sufficiently alleged. Commonwealth v. Lamb, 1 Gray, 493.

¶4^Exceptions overruled.

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