The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-16
PLAYING THE RACES,
This and Other Forms of
Gambling Going OH in !.
the City.
"NEWS' REPORTERS INVESTIGATIONS
Pastor Seudder's Young Men
Play Poker in a Number
of Places.
Their Information Given Chief
Murphy, Who Made a Few
Raids Last Night.
NEWS REPORTERS INVESTIGATIONS

of the last Legislature tumbled over each
other in their wild haste to get the repealers
of the race track laws at the opening of the
session, they thought the passage of their
bills would do away with all betting on home
races in this State. In order to make the
matter doubly sure that Young Statesman
Mr.. Storrs, of Orange, introduced a bill
which completely revolutionized such matters
by making the person who purchases pool
Or bets on a horse race equally criminal
with the professional gambler, and liable to
line of $500 or Imprisonment in the State
Prison for term of two years. This bill
passed the House and when it got over in
the Senate it was amended so as to leave the
Judge no alternative but to both fine and
jmprison the guilty person. According to
the Senators this was done SO that judge
could not permit an offender to escape with
fine.
1t is difficult matter TO get the average
s'sportp to believe that the Legislature has
passed 8 bill which makes it crime to buy
a pool or make bet. When told that such
law exists they emphatlcally declare That
there must be some mistake, and go right ON
making their bets and buying pools
TEXT OF sToRRs' Law.
In order to remove any doubt there may
be upon the subject, the full text of Mr..
Storrs bill is here set forth.
CHAPTER CL
Supplement- to an act entitled An act for the
Ma ch twenty seventh. one thousand eight hun
!. Be- It enacted BY he Senate and General Assem-
shall BUY or sell what is commonly known as
pool or any interest or share in any such pool or
Snail MAKE or take what IS commonly known as
Ioos, upon the rdnning paclne or tr3tlng, elther G
within without this STATE of any horse, mare or
inisie:,eanoI aud on conviction thereof shall be
punisle es by 2 fine not exceeding i've hundred dol
lars ail,. imprisonment not exceeding two years.
6ration sS slI habtusiiy or otherwise conduct the
cas commonly known as book making and
poo selling eitier of them, or shall keep place
10 vyich persons may resort for engaging In suea
practices or either OF them for bgtting upon the
event OF any horse race or other race or contest,
either Within or without this state or for gambling
in form. such person or corporation snaL 6e
thereof shall be punished by ine OF not less tnan
lair tilous sand dollars more than five thousand
dollars and imprisonment in the state Prison for
nas Ie IS tAan one year more than ave years.
S And be il enacted, That if any corporation OF
Of the provisions of the last preceding section Of
this a such conviction shall have the effect to dis
solve sGcii corporation. and TO render forfeit and
void is corporate franchise and powers, without
any And lf be & eacted That all :acs and parts of
acts Inconsistent vita this act be and the same are
hereh9 repealed and that this act shall take effect
Approved April 90. 1884.
Strange as it may seem, notwithstanding
this stringent Jaw. pun
and selling and betting on horse racing is
going right along as merrily as ever here in
Jersey City
HOW BETS ARE MADE.
Although there are no full hedged pool
rooms in the city there are numerous places
where bets are received and odds given on
the races These places are patronized not
only by the local sports but by gamblers
from New York. The proprietors pretend to
carry on a commission business and declare
that they visit the tracks every after
noon to s'place" the money on bets
which they receive. If they did this
they would be unable to give odds
on the horses until the quotations are re-
ceived from the track. These quotations
are not received on the sporting tickers
until two O'Clock each afternoon.
But if a person wishing to play any horses
visits any of these so-called commission
agents he can receive 'oddsn at any hour in
the morning This proves that the places
now running in the city, while not equipped
with special wires and quotation boards, are
nothing more than pO0lFooms.
MR.. PoyNToN, GENTLEMAN.
A reporter of THE JERSEY CITY NEWS,
upon information received from frequenter
Of these places, started out few days ago
to ascertain if the horse race betting game is
being carried on, and if so where
The first place visited was the saloon at
No II Montgomery street. The reporter
was informed that at this place a man
named Poynton would give him a chance to
beat the races and accordingly he asked the
bartender where Mr.. Poynton could be
found.
ssIn the rear room," was the reply he re-
ceived. As per instructions the reporter
went to the room at the rear OF the saloon,
and found a mani sitting at table arrang
ing a number of slips of paper The we'll
dressed young man jumped up from his seat
as the reporter entered and walked towards
him.
s.Mr. Poynton, l believe" said the re-
porter.
81 am the gentleman" was the reply.
81 want to play Ed Kearny in the first
race What odds viii you give me-"
''Ed Kearnys Well, I'll give you six to
one"
The reporter retired without making the
bet.
sCHwARz, COMMISSION MERCHANT.
The next place visited was the small cigar
store on the east side of Jersey avenue, and
about 100 feet south of Newark avenue
Here the reporter was informed he could see
Mr.. Schwarz who would also give him
odds on the horses. As he entered the store,
woman came out OF rear room TO ascef-
tain the object Of his visit
''No,' replied the woman, "he has gone
down to the track believe. He is seldom
here in the afternoon The best time to find
him is in the morning.
Il wanted 10 place some money ou Ell
Kearny," continued the reporter.
.sWell, I can't help you" replied the
woman, '.Mr. Schwarz tends to that him
SELF
The reporter then left and inquired at
neighboring saloons if MIR. Schwarz would
give odds on races. The persons in charge
Of the saloons all knew Mr.. Sehwarz, and
said that they believed he would accommo-
date all persons desiring to bet on the
races.
POKER FLOURISHETH ALSO.
It is painfully apparent that pool selling and
betting on horse racing are not the only forms
of gambling which exist here. For The past
three weeks complaints have been pouring
in upon the Rev. Dr. Scudder Of the Taber-
nacle to the effect that poker games were in
fun blast in several parts of the city. Be
fore taking any action in the premises Dr.
Scudder determined to ascertain how much
Foundation there was for the complaints.
Two of the bright young men Of the Peo.
pies Palace We're detailed to investigate and
Obtain evidence if they found any of the
places complained Of in operation The
young men found annistakable evidence