The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-20

On raw TRACK pool room operated iu New
YORK. Repeated raids Of This class of ~
sorts by nay efficient assistants have
broken Them mp in most effective man
ner. but gambling 10 the race tracks Is
securing a great bold on the people, not
as much SO, though, as In France, a IA
llon that Is abandoning It's provCrbial
thr1it Tor the hazards Of speculation. The
French as q nation were very free from
The gambling passion before the revolu-
ton, but since then. ! learn from Partisan
police officials who recently visited me, a
great change mas taken place.
Horse racing has undergone a great eX-
tension, but BY no means in the same pro-
portion that betting on horse races has
Increased. II IS the b0Olymaker, not the
Jockey, who has done the mischief. Form
erly the French never bet on horses, cX-
cept at the race course; they went 10 en-
betting goes on in cafes and wine shops
and the measures taken by the govern
ment of late years TO reduce evils arising
from this state of things are well known
But whore betting is concerned there is
always a way of outilauking the law, and
the number of persons belonging TO the
working class who spend all the time they
can steal from their regular employment
at the house of the sporting cafe
rather than diminishes. The cafe
tier himself, although his business
is TO keep out of danger and to make as
much as he can from others who are
drawn into it, is sometimes Cntangled in
the same meshes with his customers or
allows the shrewdest of them to victimize
him. This was the case with the man
Coupe, as told by a cable dispatch recent
lY. He kept small cafe and wine shop
in the Rue de la Glaciere, whose excessive
faith in tips brought him to the brink of
ruin. Like a Monte Carlo gambler
broken down IN health and credit, he saw
no solution but death, and having brought
his wife TO the same way of thinking he
shot her, his two children and himself.
It is this horrible affair that has made
the betting nuisance in Paris again u
subject of public discussion.
THE TRrCXsTER's PGTFALL.
The government has been asked to take
measures still more draCOnian in order 10
put 1t down bet experience has proved
that when people have fallen into bad
habits they are not to be brought back to
the straight path of virtue by legislation.
The truth is that the same class of people
who formerly were content to toll year
after year denying themselves all luxu-
rtes and putting by every franc in order
to secure for themselves a little independ-
ence, now find either that the struggle is
too severe and hopeless OF that their reso-
luton is not equal to so prolonged an cf-
fort All are casting about to find short
cuts to fortune, mot all in France but in
the United States as we'll, " and the con-
Clusion to which most of them come IS
that there is no short cut to this much
desired goal except gambling, either Of
the frank and open kind or disguised by
81,
BILE color.
But enough az to gambling.
There has been qnite a number Of now
weapons used by criminals brought me
recently, but the most dangerous of all is
the gimlet knife II Is a weapon so dan
gcrous that It's manufacture is forbidden
by law. This is the smallest fighting
knife used by people on this earth and
one Of the most deadly.
In length the knife is hardly longer
thata long gimlet, so that il can readily
be concealed inside the waistband Of the
trousers. The handle is not set on par
allel with the blade, as in an ordinary
knife, bat at right angles, like that Of
a gimlet-hence the name. The handle Is
grasped with the blade between the sec
ond and third fingers, the upper part of
the blade being drawn down to a shank
so as to prevent cutting the fingers while
the knife is so held. The blade, when In
position, represents merely an extension
of the axis of the arm, and is not
held at right angles 10 the arm as
the villain In the play holds his
knife The blade Is made of the best
steel, is double-edged for two-thirds of It's
length and is as keen as a razor. II Is not
dagger pointed, but has a stronger forma-
tion OF rounding point. The blade Is
short, but long enough to lnaict q fatal
wound, and so strong and keen that IL
will divide a rib under powerful blow or
cut through any garment like so much
paper The peculiar position Of the han
die leaves nothing for an adversary to
grasp at except the blade, so that II Is
impossible for the wielder of the knife to
be disarmed, the more so as the handle
curves In at the end, giving the fingers "a
better hold upon It.
There has also been added TO our cOllec-
tion of deadly weapons the regulation
weapon used by all highbinders.
THE BAR THAT STAYS.
A plain steel bar about an inch in diam
eter with a wooden handle covered with
cloth so that the finger can secare firm
grip upon IL. Such Is the weapon. It's
like is never found in tie possession Of
any class of criminals except the high
binders. In the midst of the hivelike ten
ement houses of the Chinese quarters
where the chances of escape after the
commission of a murder are greatly in
favor of the highlander, they prefer TO
use 4-caliber revolvers, the bullets of
which tear large holes through the bodies
of their victims. Outside of the Chinese
quarters, however, the weapon of the
highbind is usually the bar or knife.
These weapons make no sound, and that
is the reason why they are used on white
people.
In a recent raid on a "fence" I secured
a lot of very innocent looking imported
spools of thread The place raided was a
iewelry store. and the thread seemed
rather out OF place, especially as there
were number of spools lying around
made an examination of the spools and
discovered teweled treasures In the core
of each. That is the latest scheme of
smuggling gems or secreting them when
stolen.
Before closing I might mention the fact
that the New York municipal authori-
ties have decided to stop supplying liquid
ink eradicatOrs 10 the city departments
hereafter. A certain well-known eradi-
Gator was on the city's stationery list and
had been supplied freely to the depart
ments, but it was suggested that it was
throwing temptation in the way of the
city's employees, who might use the Grad
icatOr to change their books or accounts
without the risk of detection and thus
cover up fraud The mayor thought the
suggestion was very timely, and hereafter
only steel eraserS will be allowed for