New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-09
THE POOLROOM INIQUITY.
A MoNSTRoUs EVIL PROTECTED. I | ]

CUsE AT ALL-MANY PLACES OF ROBBERY.
Under the laws of the State Of New-York gam
bling in all forms is crime. The laws provide
for it's punishment by fine imprisonment or
both. The only exception to this general pro-
vision is made in the legislation known as the
Ives Pool act, which permits betting on race
tracks on racing days. during any thirty days
between May Is and October Is, in any year.
In no other way and to no further extent 70
gambling legalized in New-York, and by an amend
ment to that act, offered at Albany yesterday. the
general provisions of the laws against gambling
are strengthened and made to apply more d.
rectly to poolselling.
The poorooms, which are to-day in fun sud
open operation, doing business in connection with
the dishonest proceedings that 90 on at Gutten-
burg and Gloucester under the name OF racing.
are doing what is VIGOROUSLY an illegal bust.
ness. Distrct-Attorney Nicoll and the Police
Department have explained their failure to en-
force the law against the poolrooms by syins
that decisions have been rendered by certain OF
the courts which draw distinction between the
business done by the booksellers and gambling,
and the officials say that they need more IeSis-
lation. This excuse is not really justified Dy the
facts cooked-up case was presented some
time ago i'm court As shown to the court, the
facts were that the pooseller did not sell pools
at all, but merely did commission business;
that is, he acted the representative here OK
bookmakers on the tracks, receiving the money
of the Lettor for them and taking for his
services in thus acting as a broker and IN Trans
hitting the bet by telegraph to the track tho
sum OF 10 cents The Judge held that this was
not gambling
Perhaps it was not. but the state Of fagts rep
resented TO the court was a fraud. 1t %as DE-
viscd for the purpose of obtaining such de-
cision IL never existed. No such business was
ever done BY any poolseller No such business
is done to-day The District-Attcsney KNOWS
this Superintendent Byrnes knows IL.
The so-cllled commission business Is
sheer preterce humbng and fraud. IL
serves the booksellers good turn in that oy
keeping it up they cheat the purchaser OF pool
ticket Of the additional sum Of or 10 cents.
As matter of fact the poolseller does ms ouSi.
ness wholly on his own account The offers TO Des
are his offers to bet. The money put up ana
paid out and taken in is his money. HIS losses
are his own losses. Ills winnings 90 into his own
pocket lie does not transmit the bets or any
record of them, or any information about them
to the tracks or anywhere else The proofs where
with to convict the booksellers are not obtained
protects them for money regularly levied ana
collected month by month. These are the facts
as everybody knows who takes the trouble 10
ret on the inside of matters OF this SORT
There are more than sixty poolrooms IN 'hn
city. They do their business publicly az
Recorder Smyth conducts the proceedings ~ tine
Court of General Sessions. There are several IN
Park Row and around Printing House Square
There are numbers in B,rclay-st., Ann-st., Church,
st. Cortlandt-st New-st.. Great Jones-st.s
Eirhth-st. Broadway and the Bowery. There
| ara. several uptown in Fourteenth-st, twenty
eighth-st. and Twenty-ninth-st An hcnestEy COM
Quoted investigation into their affairs, had unoeF
the authority of the Legislature or even OF
determined Grand Jury, would disclose the iacS
that on an average these places pay about So"o
a month to somebody TO be let alone. whaS
individual actually receives this money, whom
bo gives il 70. and where it finally makes its
way. are Of course not easily to be ascertained'
hnuoh tbero ia no reason to doubt that the
1yboIa rotten business might come out in de-
termined and properly conducted investigation
Little less than $500, 900 is collected from the
noolrooms of this city in the course OF year
upon an understanding, more or less directly ex-
| nressed. that they are to be let alOhe. lnasmuch
as the understanding is actually carried ou''
| through the aid of fiction which couid DC
exnloded with little trouble time expense. the
| nuhIic is left TO conclude that this S3OO,O00
| goes TO the right places in Tammany Hall
The poolrooms are also compelled to employ cer'
tain number of Tammany men, and that whether
| tbev haye any use for them or not The price
| OF q Tammany man averages 80 day, ana the
number TO be employed varies according 10 tho
amount of business done. But in every sued
| room there are to be found in some capacity'
| real or pretended, two or three men VINO goo
| their places at the instance Of q Tammany poa-
| ticiau and who hold them part OF the ar
rangement under which the room Is protec.eo
| in its defiance Of the law. It Is probable that
about 81 0 900 q week exchanges hands in each OK
| the sixty places This, Of course, is an average
| Some do a much larger business some a small
ono and there ara low down, dive-like places,
| freouented by the lowest classes OF both sexes
| and all colors where bets OF twenty-five ana
| fifty cents, and from thOsd sums up 10 dohar'
| are received. In the ordinary poolrooins, now
ever one dollar is tile lowest sum accepted.
Tho average expense of on ordinary poolroom
| 10 about 81 900 a week, and this includes the
money that goes for Tammany protection, about
$500 a week that is paid to the Western Union
| Telegraph Company for dispatches from the race
tracks, giving the horses that are to run, the
| Jockeys. the quotations Of the betting ana dis
cription Of each race at the moment OF Its oc-
currence. The tracks receive from each OF the
poolrooms about 800 week for the support
of the alleged racing
To q person strange to the scenes Of the pool
rooms, who makes tour among them as
matter Of curiosity, the thing that strikes him
a most rpmarkablc is the character of the crowd.
M and % he finds himself constantly wondering where
il comes from. 1t is composed of all kinds OF
human creatures, young and old, decentlook1ne
and fouah.loOking. II would appear that about
half of the pooirooms patrons is made up OF
clerks drawn from ordinary downtown business rs
houses A large part might be supposed to DO
ally be engaged in doing almost any kind Of 2
day's work. From 100 TO 200 such people visie
Zach OF these sixty poorooms every afternoon, and
-, In ,:arx,nr decrees of h0ne