Report of the Attorney General for The
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mmmkwfw inm : iiillliliiisi HGNRY F. HARRIS, &40 MAIN STREET, WORCESTER, MASS- HENRY F. HARRIS. 840 MAIN STREET, WORCESTER, MASS. PUBLIC DOCUMENT . No. 12, Commmxtoitlj of iltesatjntsttts. REPORT ATTORNEY- GENERAL Year ending January 20, 1904. BOSTON : WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 Post Office Square 1904. €ammaniatwli\f af UTassarJjustfis. Office of the Attorney-General, Boston, Jan. 20, 1904. To the Honorable the President of the Senate. I have the honor to transmit herewith my report for the year ending this day. Very respectfully, HERBERT PARKER, Attorney- General. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Roster, vii Appropriation and Expenditures, viii Cases attended to by this Office, ix Capital Cases, x Payment of Damages for Property taken under Right of Eminent Domain, xiii Accumulation of Business in the Superior Court, .... xiv Sittings of the Superior Court in Berkshire County, xv Compensation of Stenographers, xv Capital Trials, xv Procedure in Cases of Murder in the Second Degree, . xvi The Bertillon System, xvii Commitments to Insane Asylums, xvii Examination of Bonds for Faithful Performance of Duty, . xviii Office of Attorney-General, xviii Opinions, 1 Opinions upon Applications to file Informations, .... 66 Informations at the Relation of the Treasurer, .... 73 Informations at the Relation of the Commissioner of Corpora- tions, 76 Informations at the Relation of the Civil Service Commissioners, 76 Informations at the Relation of Private Persons, . 77 Applications refused and otherwise disposed of, . 77 Grade Crossings, 78 Land-damage Cases arising from the Alteration of Grade Cross- ings, 93 Corporate Applications for Dissolution, 94 Corporations required without Suit to file Tax Returns, . 97 Corporations required without Suit to file Certificate of Condition, 100 vi CONTEXTS. PAGE Collateral Inheritance Tax Cases, 103 Public Charitable Trusts, 128 Suits conducted in Behalf of State Boards and Commissions, . 132 Metropolitan Park Commission, 132 Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board, .... 136 Massachusetts Highway Commission, 144 Board of Harbor and Land Commissioners, .... 145 Miscellaneous Cases from Above Commissions, . 145 Cases arising under the Act limiting the Height of Buildings in the Vicinity of the State House, 149 State Board of Charity, 151 State Board of Health, ........ 151 Miscellaneous Cases, 153 Corporation Tax Collections, 168 Miscellaneous Collections, 172 Extradition and Interstate Rendition, 173 Rules of Practice in Interstate Rendition, 177 Commmitoattk of ^assac^xaette, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Rooms 225 and 226 State House. Attorney- General. HERBERT PARKER. Assistants. Ralph A. Stewart. Arthur W. DeGoosii. Robert G Dodge. Frederick H. Nash Frederic B. Greenhalge. Law Clerk. Fred T. Field. Chief Clerk. Louis H. Freese. viii ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S REPORT. [Jan. 1904. Statement of Appropriation and Expenditures. Appropriation for 1903, Comntaniucaltb of ffiassarfms-dts. Office of the Attorney-General, Boston, Jan. 20, 1904. To the General Court. In compliance with Revised Laws, chapter 7, section 8, I submit my report for the year ending this day. The cases requiring the attention of the office during the year, to the number of 1,928, are tabulated below : — Bastardy complaints 3 Collateral inheritance tax cases, 355 Corporate collections made without suit, 91 Corporation returns enforced without suit, 242 Dissolutions of corporations, voluntary petitions for, 82 Extradition and interstate rendition, .... 48 Grade crossings, petitions for abolition of, 129 Health, State Board of, petitions against, 20 Height of buildings, limitation of, cases arising therefrom, 48 Informations at the relation of the Civil Service Commissioners, 1 Informations at the relation of the Commissioner of Corporations 13 Informations at the relation of private persons, 9 Informations at the relation of the Treasurer and Receiver-Gen- eral 81 Indictments for murder, 14 Land-damage cases arising through the alteration of grade cross ™gs, 11 Land-damage cases arising from the taking of land by the Harbor and Land Commissioners, 7 Land-damage cases arising from the taking of land by the Massa chusetts Highway Commission, 22 Land-damage cases arising from the taking of land by the Metro politan Park Commission, 123 Land-damage cases arising from the taking of laud by the Metro politan Water and Sewerage Board, 234 Miscellaneous cases arising from the work of the above-named commissions, 56 Miscellaneous cases, 213 Public charitable trusts, 46 Settlement cases for support of insane paupers, 10 x ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S REPORT. [Jan. Capital Cases. Indictments for murder pending at the date of the last annual report have been disposed of as follows : — Demetrio Bagni of Plymouth, indicted in Plymouth County, February, 1902, for the murder of Elizabeth Feri- oli, at Plymouth, Oct. 22, 1901. He was arraigned Feb. 28, 1902, and pleaded not guilty. William H. Osborn and John J. Mansfield were assigned by the court as counsel for the defendant. In June, 1902, the defendant was tried by a jury, before Hardy and Stevens, JJ. The jury failed to agree upon a verdict, and on Oct. 5, 1903, this indict- ment was placed on file. The case was in charge of Asa P. French, district attorney. Andreas Samiczki of Southwick, indicted in Hampden County, September, 1902, for the murder of Anna Samiczki, at Southwick, Sept. 14, 1902. He was arraigned Dec. 24, 1902, and pleaded not guilty. Charles C. Spellman was assigned as counsel for the defendant. On Dec. 29, 1903, he retracted his former plea, and pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree. This plea was accepted by the gov- ernment, and on Dec. 29, 1903, the defendant was sentenced to State Prison for life. The case was in charge of District Attorney John F. Noxon. Edward Carter, alias George Edwards, and George H. Blake, indicted in Middlesex County, June, 1902, for the murder of Thomas Keefe, at Everett, Feb. 20, 1902. They were arraigned June 12, 1902, and pleaded not guilty. John J. Walsh and Thomas P. Riley were assigned by the court as counsel for the defendants. On Oct. 13, 1902, the defendants were placed on trial by a jury before Harris and Lawton, JJ. The result was a verdict of not guilty for Blake and a verdict of murder in the second degree for Car- ter. On June 8, 1903, Carter was sentenced to State Prison for life. The case was in charge of District Attorney George A. Sanderson. 1904.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 12. xi Indictments for murder, found since the date of the last annual report, have been disposed of as follows : — Walter Smith of Clinton, indicted in Worcester County, May, 1903, for the murder of Thomas Smith, at Clinton, April 23, 1903. He was arraigned May 22, 1903, and pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree. This plea was accepted by the government, and he was thereupon sentenced to State Prison for life. David I. Walsh was assigned by the court as counsel for the defendant. The case was in charge of District Attorney Rockwood Hoar. George L. O. Perry, indicted in Middlesex County, February, 1903, for the murder of Agnes McPhee, at Somerville, Oct. 3, 1902, and Clara A. Morton, at Bel- mont, Nov. 1, 1902. The prisoner was not arraigned. He died on March 8, 1903. The case was in charge of District Attorney George A. Sanderson. Nicolo Fiore, indicted in Essex County, January, 1903, for the murder of Bennedetto D'Pietro, at Haverhill, Dec. 3, 1902. On Feb. 2, 1903, he was arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. Edmund B. Fuller was assigned by the court as counsel for the defendant. At the September sitting, 1903, of the Superior Court, the defendant was again in- dicted for manslaughter. Upon this indictment he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to not less than fourteen nor more than seventeen years to State Prison. The indictment for murder was placed on file. The case was in charge of Dis- trict Attorney W. Scott Peters. John Marotta of Boston, indicted in Suffolk County, June, 1903, for the murder of Katherine J. Keenan, at Bos- ton, April 26, 1903. He was arraigned June 9, 1903, and pleaded not guilty. Frank Keezer appeared as counsel for the defendant. On Oct. 27, 1903, the defendant was tried for manslaughter, and found guilty by the jury. He was thereupon sentenced to State Prison for not less than ten nor more than thirteen years. The case was in charge of District Attorney Oliver Stevens. xii ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S REPOKT. [Jan. Mary E. Ambler of Rutland, indicted in Worcester County, for the murder of her infant child, at Rutland, Jan. 21, 1903. She was arraigned Aug. 17, 1903, and pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree. This plea was accepted by the government, and thereupon she was sen- tenced to the Reformatory Prison for life. John W. Sheehan was assigned by the court as counsel for the defendant. The case was in charge of District Attorney Rockwood Hoar. The following indictments for murder are now pending : — Wong Chung and Charlie Chin of Boston, indicted for murder in the second degree, in Suffolk County, November, 1903, for the murder of Wong Yok Chong, at Boston, Oct. 2, 1903. They w^ere arraigned Nov. 11, 1903, and pleaded not guilty. Charles W. Bartlett, Michael J. Creed, Thomas J. Barry and Edward T. McGettrick appeared as counsel for the defendants. In November, 1903, the defendants were tried by a jury before White, J. The result was a verdict of guilty upon the indictment. Exceptions were taken, and the case is now pending. The case is in charge of District Attorney Oliver Stevens. George William Herbert, alias Huber, indicted in Berkshire County, January, 1903, for the murder of Ger- trude Ottillie Bertha Rentall, at Monterey, Sept. 14, 1902. He was arraigned July 21, 1903, and pleaded not guilty. William Turtle and Charles Giddings were assigned by the court as counsel for the defendant.