The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-27
WIRE 1ApPERs Ar YORK.
They Cannot be Prosrcuted Under any Law
OF ThIs Stnte. and hoy Know It

"a many more dishonest lincmen. who tap DO o
room wiros over which the returns oftho hors
races are sent and dcfraud bookmakers. Tho,
are not amenable to any law. and they know
1t. Therefore. they drift about the country
tapping wires promiscuously. and making
good living without doing much work. Som,
are stationed permanently in New York, ant
they devote their entire attention to tho poo
rooms of this city The loader Of the gang ha.
his Headquarters here and directs his confcd
crates from here. He Is well known by the tel
esraph companies aud Is one OF the most en-
pert te'egraphcrs IN tho business. He knows
oil tho operators in tho city and spends a great
deal OF his tinia IN IrUnt OF tho main Offices oi
tho companies. .r,t
AT intervals for years back tho newspapers
nave had news reports OF the work OF wire tap
pers. ana in the past fow months brief items
have appeared telling how book makers had
been deirauded by tho wire tappers. In one
instance the wire tappers attempted to opor-
ate on bookmaker In Cedar street. They
We're captured by tho police and locked up In
| tho church street POLICE station. Tho janitor
| OF the building into which tho race wire had
| been carried by means Of very fine wire iden-
titled one OF the men as the renter Of room
| in which telegraph Instruments. batteries, and
oil of tho accessories Of wire tappcr perfectly
connected to the poOlroom wire. had been
found. An effort WAS nade by the Western
| Union Telegraph Company to convict tho on.
| but 1t was not successful. No law OH the
| statute books was applicable to their case.
Although there was no doubt that the mon
occupied tho room to which the wiro ran. the
company could not prove that tney actually
cut tho poolroom wire. Since tho Discharge
OF tho men several unsuccessful attempts
havo been mado to tap wires in New York.
10 tnp wire means t% cut y wiro and make
tho wire is cut ~ nenrt tho pool room as posi-
to n,aco IN, hot, ',,,oti, nv, ~ orDo w, .
49,, p,'.e VIZ Dot' ."'eAS. im Nv, any pooi room
aoW ,Hw rH, hS rhS wrH appsrs
tho ;nt,, inr AZ tt,, n,,l rnn.,, e., ,h ..a, M.
.he ihsof,pp"l Vne poo, room to mo roof. Then
building to make the connection. They hire a
room fcw doors nwav IL tnov ann and ,aaI
d, tia uoolroo'n 1irainto thor rendezvous by q
loop of fine. almost Invisible wire. The
only furnishings Of the wire .appcrs' room
are, cheap, Pine table. two sets of regular
mn nS to'cETnph j and several
tho telegraph Offices and thn pool room. ana
they can manipulate tho wire to suit them
liminary matter about the races they allow to
PAS Yer the wire unmnested listening to it
race that the wire tarrers begin active opera
es Of 'HSk TN wire fw9 S
Office to tho wire tappers: the other from the
w.re tarpsrs to tho n9ol room. When news
the post, il Is sent out to all tho city pool
rooms. Nothing moro comes from tho race
ing BETS The horses may be- Ss0 at 9ot te
yns ehay aneff nsrdd n S
certnintythe wire tGppors are able to do their
work, work They usually take !. race that is run
start Is meat for them. When tho word
comes that tho horses arc Off the wro tap
pcrs hold it back from the pool rooms. As
soon rs tie name OF the winner is flashed over
the wire one ne, OF the ,o wire tnppers huslos
aze bet 20 On the wnnnp hop ana % good
per VINO is working the wire waits !. rcasona-
bic, time for hi; companion to make his bot
They're off, to the poo! room. A few min
utos later tho wire tppper IN the room only, u
ssane as lie received il from the telegraph Of
flee dc gives tho names and positions Of the
MIR thS result q tho race, Tie Wiro s HSss
VINO dld the ne Letting gets his tickets cashed |
right away. AZ a rule. they begin over again
AMI select new victim. -
introduced the service bctwcon tho race tracks |
and the pool rooms t, very little vigilance was
trusta1 thom implicitly. Messages containing |
INFORMATION regarding races from owners OF |
runn,ts to theif frlcnds passed over tho wires.
and the ophrMtors knew everything TINT was
gong on IEoiMinary to tho races. In most
INSTANCES theE were honest. and they treated |
the messages as business affairs. Occasion
ally. hewtfvey. N, operator who work cd ono OF
the wi res would t4Ee advantage Of his position
to make Some, eNfr1 money Tho news from
the race t,S,"I Was received in tho main office
OF tho toiegrntIh company. and then relayed.
or retranssntted; to the city pool rooms. as it
ground stories and an operator. With tho aid aid
Of a confederate. had good opportunity to
beat the bookmukors daily without any one
being the wiser to,oauo,,s
seen standing At tho window Of a certain down;
town office and apparently. toying with load
pencil. On tho sidewalk could be seen another
young man gazing ut tho man in the window. |
Tho man ut the window worked a race wire.
After each race he would walk to tho window
and signal to tho man outside. by wiGwagginR |
his pencil. the name OF the winning horse His
would then run to the ncurest pool
room and place bet on tho race. In tho mean
time tho operator who had received the re-
turns from tho race track would hide the mos
sngo on his desk for IL luw minutes to give his |
confederate chance. Then no would hang
usual course; 1t would DO delayed sufficient
tunity TO make his bet. That scheme was