ABSTRACT
The Chairman said that an inn-keeper could not refuse to supply a traveller with food and lodging without some lawful excuse. Mrs. Sprague did not say that she had a right to dictate to Lady Harberton what dress she was to wear. Therefore the question whether ladies should or should not wear rational dress was not in dispute. An inn-keeper could not refuse to supply food because of the particular shape of the dress of the traveller. The only question, therefore, was whether there was a refusal to supply food in a decent and proper place. The learned Chairman then referred to the evidence, and asked the jury to consider whether the bar parlour was a decent and proper room for a guest to have lunch in; and, further, whether the bar parlour was not to all intents and purposes part of the hotel.
