Dunster House Bookshop Head and Clerk Sentenced to Jail for Selling Obscene Literature--Watch and Ward Complained

The sale of an obscene book to a member of the Watch and Ward Society brought heavy fines and prison terms to James A. DeLacey, manager of the Dunster House bookshop, and Joseph Sullivan, clerk in the shop, which is located on South street. DeLacey was fined $800 and sentenced to four months in the house of correction by Judge Stone of the Cambridge court. Sullivan was fined $200 and sentenced to two weeks in the house of correction.

Judge- Stone, summing up the case, characterized the book as the most vicious piece of literature he ever read in his life and the vilest he ever saw in his 25 years on the bench.

"Have this book wrapped up, sealed, and impounded," he said, "and keep it until you receive an order from the district attorney or the superior court."

Agents of the Watch and Ward Society bought a copy of the book from Sullivan, and charges against both him and DeLacey were entered. Both defendants appeared, and when neither could furnish bonds, after sentence, were taken to the detention room.