The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-04-15
DOWN WITH THE PooL-RooMs.

The decision of the Superior Court that
the p0ol-ToOm ordinance is valid viii proba-
ably have the effect Of closing those resorts.
In New York they are battling for life with
equally gloomy prospects. Under a law
known as the Ives law they may be closed
and their proDrietors jailed, but the pull
of the poo,-ronm men has been so strong
and they are so potential with the police and
the politicians that they have laughed at the
threats Of enforcing the law. District At
torney Nicoll, however, who has a political
future, has declared that he will close the
rooms, and he appears to be doing his best
in that direction. In this city it is said that
Tuttle's application for a writ of habeas
corpus was a mere preliminary skiTmish.
and that the real battle viii begin when the
cases come up for trial. 1t is then that the
gambling element proposes to develop its
fighting strength. l. expects to win. But
the prevailing impression is that for once
the right will prevail.
II seems extraordinary that any one out
side of the circle Of professional gamblers
should defend the existence of pool-rooms.
They are concerns instituted for the eucour-
agement Of betting and for the systematizing
of the worst kind of gambling. In them an
outsider puts up his money, from a dollar to
lNluIGl OF q tuUuSdllu uollAiSs Utl MS ldfOl-
tie in a horse-raee. a foot-race, prize fight
or a political contest. II his tavorte wins
he receives many times his stake But as
general rule outsiders always bet on the
wrong horse OF the wrong man and leave
their money in the pOol-room. The game
is especially designed for the young and
the inexperienced. Old hands know too
much to engage in it. But to clerks, boys,
country youths and green idlers the pros
pect of winning a hundred dollars on
an investment of ten on a straight tip is
so fascinating as to be almost irresisti-
bic 1t leads numbers of young men every
year 10 steal money from their employers.
or the defalcations which take place in
San Francisco a prodigious percentage is
directly traceabe to the pool-rooms. 1t
seems SO easy TO earn money by betting on
what the silly better regards as a certainty.
These boys think they know it all and are
far better qualified TO judge of the capacity
of IL horse than professional jockeys. They
school themselves into the belief that they
are sure to be able to return to their en-
ployer the money which they pretend to
temporarily borrow for use in the pool
rooms. 1t is thus probably that young men
who would not at first think of stealing
money outright are beguiled into using
funds which are under their control in an
operation which, in their shallow judgment.
does not involve any real risk. 1t is only
when the bell rings that they discover their
delusion, and that they have wrecked their
lives.
He who entertains any doubt of the
necessity of closing the pool-rooms should
spend an hour on a race day in and about
the establishment in Pauper alley. Inside
he may study physiognony to advantage by
observing the "a room men," the commits
sion men" and the carriers" Hard faces,
sEarpened by inceSsant warfare with So
ciety, and Invested of every trace of honest
instinct; the faces of birds of prey, to
whom all flesh is food and all mankind
game. Outside. hurrying. scugrying throng
If young men with eager eyes and parched
lips. rushing into the den to stake dollars, 4
which, if they are their own, should perhaps
have been taken home to help support the
household, and if they are not their own
have been acquired by an act which con-
verted their possessor into felon. The two
groups commingle in the heart OF the city,
within a stones throw of the Stock Ex-
change and of the Merchants Exchange.
There is no eoncealment; knave and dupe
meet openly. each reckoning that he will
rob the other. There was lad who was
caught by friend of his father going into
this very pool-room. In reply TO exp6stula-
ton he said he was going there to make
money; that he had discovered that he was
a natural judge of a horse, and that he
could make twice as much in betting as he
did in clerking. The old man took him
Into the room and babe him mark the cum
ming. degraded, sordid, jail stamped faces of
the conductors Of the establishment. Now,
my boy" said he, 'out of which of these
gentlemen do you expect to make your liv-