The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-08 00:00:00

A LADY PLUNDERED IN A GAMING-HOUSE,

An application for a warrant, under very singular circum-
stances, was made on Tuesday by a gentleman to Mr. Chambers,
in the magistrates' private room,,at Marlborough-street Police-:
office. The following particulars, obtained from good sources,
transpired during the application :
The applicant, an officer in the army, and a frequenter of.
some of the gaming-houses in St..James's, wished the magis-:
trate to grant a warrant for the apprehension of eight indivi-
duals, who composed a gambling gang, and whose establish-
ment was in a court not far from Bury-street. He had the
clearest evidence to prove that these eight persons were the
principals of the gaming establishment, and were co-partners
in the plunder obtained from the frequenters of the house,
which evidence he was willing to bring forward, in order to in-
sure a conviction against them. He could bring forward par-.
ties who had been plundered of their money, and in particular'
the following recent instance :—A lady of his acquaintance,
from curiosity or from some.other less pardonable motive, hay-.
ing a strong cesire to see the interior of a gambling-house, bad
the consummate folly, as well as indelicacy, to dress herself in
male attire, and to obtain the entree of the hell, kept by the in-
dividuals against whom he sought to obtain a warrant. She,
was soon marked out by the confederates, who, however, had.
not any suspicion of her sex, and, havinc, been prevailed upon.
to sit down to the table, she, in a .very short time, *as stripped
of upwards of £1,500. The applicant added, that if the magis-
trate granted the warrant, he would give every assistance to-
wards identifying the parties.
Mr. Chambers said he could not grant the warrant upon the
grounds which had been laid before him. The law had been
altered on the subject of gaming-houses, and now, in cases'
where it was proposed to indict persons for keeping such a
place, it was necessary that two housekeepers should first come
before a magistrate and lay their complaint.
Mr. Bryant, one of the overseers of St. James, being in the
office, was sent for into the room, and asked if he thought the
parish, with the information and assistance which the applicant
professed to be willing to afford them, would choose to proceed
in the matter.

_
Mr. Bryant replied, that he considered It was a perfect waste
of the parish fund to apply it to the prosecution of gaming-house
keepers. The gamblers were so confederated together that no
sooner was one house suppressed than some one of the confe-
derates had another house prepared for the purpose. The pa-
.rish had recently spent upwards of £2OO in prosecuting such
cases, but, instead of having obtained an abatement of the nui-
sance, an increase had occurred; for where one gaming-house
had been shut up two others had sprung up in its place, under
the auspices of some of the partners of the one extirpated.
The applicant was very urgent for a warrant, but it was ulti-
mately refused.
It has not unfrequently happened that persons applying to
lay informations, under circumstances similar to those stated
by the applicants, have had an interested motive in view ; and
in some cases where proceedings have been commenced they
.havn compounded with the gamblers, and, as the withdrawal of
their evidence has been thus secured, the prosecution has failed
and the expense fallen on the parish.