Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-15

in fifty that is given to the agency ever
reaches the track. The agent lays the
money himself and then they all form them
selves into Public RobbiDg Trust There
is racing here every day OF the week, in
cluding Sundays. The racing in Paris is
regarded as mere medium of speculation.
1t is quite true that the dice are perhaps less
heavily cogged than on the Stock Exchange.
Everything is possible with the 'kitty" of
the mutuals; accounts may be audited and
examined, but to no purpose, since the race
is too often run beforehand, and the few
tickets sold at the ''mutuals" are in the
hands of men who are accepting
LONG ODDS ABOUT A CERTAINTY.
There is no exaggeration In this statement.
You have only to study racing or follow it
from the book, read the papers or listen to
the statements made by racing officials to
find it is too true. The student of public
form is nonplussed. Men have to "follow
the money" aud endeavor to guess instinct
lively the intentions of men who own horses
or manage stables. The men who run
straight" can almost be counted on the
finger of one hand, and even thev cannot
vindicate form, for their horses are sent in
and taken care of, or ridden "wide at the
turn" SO as TO make room for the one which
carries the Qesn p0tS OF Egypt.
A couple of months ago NJ. Constans,
Minister of the Interior, announced from the
ministerial place in the Chamber o. Depu-
ties, that he was discussing with his col
league, the Minister o. Justice, ways and
means for the suppression OF the gambling
houses. Needless to add, nothing has been
done and nothing ever will be done so long
as the agencies have enough money ito see'
certain parties. A minimum calculation of
the amount taken in commissions by these
men is about $780, 600 season, but there are
more ways OF killing a cat than by hanging
it. and, as have said, very little business
is ever transacted by these agencies on the
track unless it is essential that thev should
send money there fer the purpose OF what is
technically known as "bunging" the market
HEDGING AND TRICKING.
When they have been overburdened with
commissions for any horse which cannot be
ridden out, whose owner or jockey cannot
be made to listen to reason, judicious in
vestment at the last moment reduces the re-
turn of the fIvorite to a minimum. At
times the returns of the "mutuals" yield
less than what could have been obtained in
the ring, but the ''touts" and "cappers" en-
pioyed by. the agencies with the professional
tipsters who stand in, have always some out
side dead clinch" which they can recon-
mend to the uninitiated.
That practically the same evils which |
have enumerated above exist to some extent,
though, perhaps, not quite as bad on the |
American turf, no one who knows anything |
about it can deny. The only way to stop it |
appears to be to make betting in any shape |
or form, by commission" or otherwise, off |
the track statutory offense. That this will |
ever be done Is doubtful. In all gambling |
it is evident that one law is required for the |
rich and another for the poor, for the one |
can afford it and the other cannot It is, |
perhaps. hard lines on the poor man, but the |
best way for him to get out of the difficulty |
is to work hard and get rich, and then he |
can blow it all in on "cinches" and set to |
work again to make more. Work, they say,
is healthy, and keeps the digestive organs
in good order. MACLEOD.