Amey v. Winchester
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Case, against an innkeeper, by each plaintiff for the loss of his hat. Facts found by the court. Near the entrance to the dining-room of the defendant’s hotel in Manchester, he has a rack on which his guests are invited to deposit their hats while eating their meals. On the evening of January 8, 1895, he provided in his dining-room a banquet for a club, under a contract by which the club agreed to pay a specified sum for each plate.
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Case, against an innkeeper, by each plaintiff for the loss of his hat. Facts found by the court. Near the entrance to the dining-room of the defendant’s hotel in Manchester, he has a rack on which his guests are invited to deposit their hats while eating their meals. On the evening of January 8, 1895, he provided in his dining-room a banquet for a club, under a contract by which the club agreed to pay a specified sum for each plate. About one hundred persons, mainly residents of Manchester, attended the banquet. The plaintiffs were not members of the club. They arrived at the hotel that…
1Opinion of the CourtBlodgett, J.
To subject the defendant to liability as innkeeper, it must appear not only that the plaintiff’s goods were lost at his inn, but that he was acting in the capacity of innkeeper when the goods were lost, and that the plaintiffs were his guests; or, in other-words, that the plaintiffs were at the inn for purposes which the common law recognizes as the purposes for which inns are kept, namely, the accommodation and entertainment of travelers and wayfaring men, and not for those who may be there for some special purpose not connected, with passage or travel. Calye’s Case, 8 Co. 32, and note;…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Carter v. HobbsMichigan Supreme Court · 1863
- Minor v. StaplesSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1880
3Cited by3 opinions
- Smith v. Cedar Rapids Country ClubSupreme Court of Iowa · 1963
- Edwards Hotel Co. v. TerryMississippi Supreme Court · 1939
- Robinson v. Gunter Hotel Corp.Court of Appeals of Texas · 1943