The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-12
How Things Are Managed in
Some of the Downtown
Poolrooms.
HEADS WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE.
The Real Commission Brokers Want
to Have the License Raised to
$1,000 Quarter.

women OF low degree, elDOWeQ eaCn OtneI
and fought their way to the poolbox. Any
amount, from quarter upward, was ac-
copied as wager.
One little lad, in full uniform of the
San Francisco District Messenger office,
was weeping on the street in front OF the
Crescendo Club. He had lost Is cents he
had wagered upstairs at the instigation OF
one of his comrades. That amount to him
meant the return from message he had
been sent out on and the probable dis
charge from the Office unless he had it
when reporting back.
Don't be a chump," another messen-
ger-boy advised him; "say de bloke.dldnt
pay you.
The lad was not quite SO hardened as his
friend and he saw no way out of his
dilemma. He kept on weeping.
A woman in silks and sealskin came
down out of the gambling den. She had
been up there tempting fortune, and
whether she had lost or won she was
laughing and in good humor.
What's the matter Harry ?' she asked,
evidently knowing the boy.
''Nuthins the matter" volunteered the
larger messenger; "he's made losin'
an he's kicking"
The woman handed Harry 81 and walked
him with view to inducing him to take
more chances.
Such scenes are frequent. If not mes
scnger-boys, young girls or men walk down
gloomily from these dens of iniquity, after
having lost money much needed in other
and better channels, and turn themselves
loose on the streets to recoup their lost
dollars in shady walks.
These unfortunate misguided creatures
do not stop to think for moment that
they are investing their hard-earned money
against snowbank, which must neces-
sarily melt in the sunshine of winning by
outsiders.
These pooIrooms, in that building form
ing the gore OF Market and Ellis streets,
over the Peerless saloon, are working on
no capital excepting the money put in
there by the players. They will take any
kind of a dying chance, so long as they
can handle outside money. Should they
make what is called "a losing" or in
other words, if the outsiders should guess
the winning horse for anything more than
a $50-note, these alleged commission
has been demonstrated time and again of
late. still the boys and girls and even full
grown men, who should have better sense,
persist in going up against these games.
The police could easily prevent this
wholesale flching. The Elert ordinance
pOOl-SellluS OOWubOWu anu IL Is
still In force.
These houses claim to be doing COM
mission business, which is not fact, as
they have no possible means to communi-
cate with the bookmakers at the Ingleside
track to lay their money.
A CALL reporter went the rounds yester-
day and satisfied himself that pools could
be bought at stated odds an hour or more
ahead of the time they were posted at the
| track, hence these bucket-shop keepers
| make their own odds and gamble outright
regardless of commissions.
For instance: Ayers Company, Ellis
street, laid 81 to 81 on Wheel of Fortune at
$3.50 o'clock in the afternoon, when the
opening odds at the track were not posted
until an hour later. Juckman & Co. sold
pool on Wheel of Fortune at to at
8 o'clock in the afternoon. The same ODDS
were given by Fleming e. Co. on the same
! race at the same time.
This is conclusive proof that no commits
sion business is done, that the game is
cidentally mentioned that only one side
can win-that of the gam blers, not of the
players.
This is clearly against the Ellert ordi-
nance; still, the police, who could investi-
gate the matter as we'll as any ordinary
Individual, allow the games to run.
If these gambling-houses are to run as
license, which they do not. Their total
expense is their hire and $40 per week for
each room. Even the small brokerage
license of So or 81 per quarter is not being
paid, according to the books of the License
Office.
The horsemen of the State deprecate the
manner in which betting on races is being
is only question OF time when the bucket
shops will cause horseracing on this coast
to be stopped entirely. Yesterday they
held q meeting, at which the principal
bookmakers were called in and an express
sion OF sentiment was exchanged as to the
better way to do away with the evil.
Most of the bookmakers at the track
have direct connections with the eight
main ommission-h houses. These are the
houses who, several months ago, retained
General ]. H. Dickinson to look after their
| interests. They have Paid their regular
| commission license, and send their COM
missions to the track over direct wire.
! These men declared themselves as want
| ing to stamp out the hucket-shops, and
believed that the only way to do it would
be to put on a license so high that the
killers of racing must be shut out.
| In speaking on the subject, Harry E.
Corbett suggested that the Supervisors
raise the license to $1,000 quarter. At
the present time there is no pool-selling
4 LICENSE issued, OUT Inc HImS uOlHg DuSl-
ness in that line who are paying at all
are doing SO under a regular commission
| brokers' license.
| The firms doing business now on the So
and 81 license and are willing to pay the
proposed $1,000 license are: Mailman & Co.,
Harry E. Corbett & Co., Levy & Co., Glynn
& Brewer, Henry Schwartz, Charles Kings
ley, Grant Israel and Jerry Driscoll.
| These different institutions, in one way
or another, are in communication with the
racetrack. and they know that the killing
of racing at Inglesde by the job
bers means their own death, hence the
action they propose to take, to first have
the license raised to $1,000, and to have
General Dickinson prosecute the firms not
complying with the law.