128 Ala. 645 | Ala. | 1900
The pith of this bill is that Austin, as chief of police of Birmingham, stationed Cunningham, a police, officer, at a place on a street of the city which commanded a view of the side door of Hewlett’s saloon and of a stairway leading to. the, floor above where Hewlett carried on a “stock exchange,” commonly known as a bucket shop, and directed Imh, said Cunningham, to take down the names of persons entering the saloon by that door or ascending to the bucket shop by the stair, and that Cunningham carried out these directions and thereby irreparably injured both the saloon and bucket shop business of the complainants, and was continuing so to do, so that intending patrons, by ¡the back door, of the saloon and intending customers of the bucket shop were deterred from their purposes in this regard to the diminution of each of said businesses and consequent loss of profits to the complainants. The sworn answer of Austin and Cunningham makes it clear, that while ithe latter was stationed at the place averred in the bill, it was not for the purpose of taking down the names of persons entering the saloon or ascending to the bucket shop, but only for the purpose of identifying and taking down the names when known to the officer of persons who ascended by that stair and another nearby into a room or rooms on the third floor of Hewlett’s building which the police authorities had good cause to believe were unlawfully occupied and used for gambling purposes, that ¡the officer was stationed at this place at 8 P. M. after the bucket shop was closed and all lights on the second floor had been extinguished and while those on the third floor were alight, and remained until midnight, during which interval only persons going to the third floor passed up the stairway, and that Cunningham had no instructions, and did not in fact seek to identify persons going into the saloon or up to the bucket shop, and did not at any time take down the • names of such persons. The relief sought is injunctive of 'the alleged espionage of Austin and Cunningham upon the patrons of the saloon and bucket shop. A preliminary writ issued. Respondents moved to dis
Affirmed.