The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-02-16
aAMnL1Na INV PIrTsBURa.

..
"Gamblers' dens' is the head line in
an eight-column Illustrated article in
Saturdays Pittsburg Post. The rest OF
the head lines are: How they grow up
and flourish in Pittsburg-Eighty-
three of them IN blast-SeVen faro
banks, forty -one policy shops and thir-
ty-five poker rooms-A tour of the prin-
cipal resarts-Some of the inside scenes
and incidents-Men who patroniZe the
diyes4The enormous revenues derived
from the gilded palaces ofhvice and
chance Thousands of blighted homes
and broken hearts the result" g3t
The eight illustrations gwen of The
rooms,inside, indicate they are finely
furnished and have lots of CUSTOMERS.
The places are lecated, stfeetand mum
Der given. The Post says; Gambling
house proprietoTs in Pittsburg are now
reaping a harvest. These dens of vice
are visited by all classes of people. In
some, old time blacklegslcan be found"
Workmen are allured into, them and
'eappersp" handle and fleece them.
Clerks and young business men, ineS-
perienced, are common victims. In
fact it is a frightful picture and start
ling when we consider that Pittsburg
is Republican city, where "the party
of great moral ideas" rule and carry by
thousands of a majority. This expos
ure is a daring deed in the Post. We
append the Posts editorial:
That there are upward of hundred
known gambling resorts in Plttsburg+
ranging from the aristocratic and
high toned club houses, where heavy
play is .indulged in, to the lO-cent poker
rooms and policy shops-may surprisso
our citizens, but it is pretty well esGaD
lished this pOrnlng Dy lhe enterprise
and resedrch of the Post reporters.
Not that much research was necessary
for they flourish right under the eyes
and supervision of the police, and with
the knowledge of the city authorities.
No doubt of that, unless we conccde
the police to be blind and the authori-
ties dull and stupid, which they art
not in such matters. .a
We refer our readers to the chapters
printed elsewhere for details. Suffice
it to say here that these gambling
houses are largely responsible for the
awlessness, violence and crimes
against property and persons now So
largely prevalent. They draw to the
city not only the mere sporting charac-
ter but the desperate and the crook.
We have no question robberies have
been committed to crafty the mania
and passion for gambling. AS bad as
that, they tempt the weak to petty en-
beZZlements in store and home, and
start many young man-clerk and
mechanic--On the swift road to de-
The openness with which the gamb-
iers ply their vocation: the cool and
way they tempt the un-
wary and evil disposed; their well or
ganized system of operations, especial
ly in playing policy; the seductiOns of
free lunches, liquors and cigars, estab-
lish the fact that their business, their
places of business, and those who con-
duct the business are well known to
the police and the city authorities.
1t is the town talk that from these
gambling houses, more or less,
regular contributions are exacted to
paralyze the arm of the law and close
the eyes of justice.
And we suppose the answer to all
this will be, "What are you going to
10 about it?"