The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-04-07

! MANY of them are fofbiddeh 49,, -. !,
tho race track. but manage 70 Pr
! prccarious living At Jackson e''''
IT no.sLyx AND BEYOND.
Alexandria county has no, o'ns race
/ nolicv ebop In Alexandra, inc W. -,
/ tracks. and the Jackson CITY pom, ,.',,s,
! - liner gambling dens 10 CONTEND Wiz
si' 49,, 49,. ore a number OF gambling
r1s<oa further up the river. lhess
49, are INST across the river iIoN'
] lb.nr,-o,oxvu since the South Nashiis-
,on oollcc have waeed war aSa''9e -
s.dostrsans on the long bridge, the eisee
majority OF policy players lro',i ~
/ CITY have taken TO going over ~ -
| Rossfyn shops. where tnere ~ ,, 49,
places. II IS SAID, ruhiilhs :" ~ T,yo
and I'm open violation OF the law. 80
~ Them are I'm the village proper. WINE
tbird one IS a room built under an
a,chvva-- beneath the bed OF the ola Ches-
aneake and ohio canal. Ihese Piaee7
AZ a thriving business. Such a thlhs
ae genuine raid by the county officers
would be a great surprise to the gambler.
as well as the police on TINS slue "a
the river Most OF the patrons OK these
places are poor people. VINO can III AZ
ford 10 lose their money. Then, TOO
hero are the drinking saloons, which
seem 10 go hand in hand with these
gambling places. m.
Along the shore. less than mile
above the bridge, there are three sd"ip
ling places. and in them are games OF
almost every description, includihs crap,
keno roulette. sweat. chuck-luck, ana
an occasional game of poker. crap SEEMS
10 be the principal game hC"' nav '.'',
taken the place of keno, hazaru 'i"u
poker. which were played 30 in" -
wear ago. There is a fascination aDoul
- s,enoe which seems TO have strong
hold on old poker players, as wei as
on cart drivers and coiored boys WHO
hang about alleys and low dives III
,rheee nlaces do n thriving business all
tho wear round. and while the exact extent
Of II is not known. some idea OF II may
he formed from the fact that the palroh-
age is great enough to JUSTIFY the run
ming Of a steam tug from the city every
day although sundays and wednesday
are known as the "bis days.
Al Rosslyn the patrons Of the policy
ebops and one gambling house. where
other games SIRE conducted, are OF All
colors sexes and sizes, while at the up
river nlaces the patrons are chiefly White
people including professional gamblers
business men, mechanics ana store CLERKS
as well as department clerks. Inc PV-
Ice say that a number OF young nloh'
clerks i'm stores. visit these places ana as
n &c n well-known fact that the games
are losing ones. the police suspect tlal
some of the employers Of these people
must suffer
From time to time a policeman has
hoen detailed AT this end OF the bridge.
and he has arrested many OF the poncy
neonle The steam tug, however, mas
been permitted to take the more hiEn-
toned gamblers. or people with more
monev to the more fashionable gambling
places without molestation.
LOOKING FOR cAusFs
II asked why such state OF AFFAIRS
rrevails the people Of Alexandra count!
would sbrur their shoulders ana remark
tb,t n does not pay TO arrest people AT
oftv cents a head, when the same people
are willing to pay literally not TO be ar
-ested. -,
a resident of Alexandria, man wen
Informed in such matters. speaking OF
,bo subject. explained that the colored
voters Of the county far outnumbered the
whites. and that money was lavishly eN-
nonded by the rambling and other I'M
lawful elements at the elections Tor the
purpose Of securing the support or the
colored voters in the interests or those
candidates for sheriff, justices OF the
peace and constables. on whom the gam
hIers could rely. The courts 1t was eX-
planned. were anxious TO suppress law
lessness, but were powerless TO enforce
the law. The citizens of the county had
on many occasions contributed FUNDS
for the purvose of securing 'Nloence
o-,-irst- 4.ie gambling and criminal ele-
ments, but 1t had been practically impos-
sible to secure the evidence. Time and
time again, It was said. plans made for
raids and arrests had been disclosed by
those very persons through whom II was
expected to effect the raids and arrests.
This gentleman stated further that the
people of the county had at last reached
the conclusion that only through a change
In the county offices was there any hope
of putting down the lawlessness. Property
adjoining the laWless districts ha grad
ualy deprecated, II was pointed out
and unless law was enforced and the
thieves, gamblers and toughs routed and
forever ~banished. there could be no real
or substantial advancement Of the mate
rial interests Of the county. No intelli-
gent person. it was said, even dreams
of such a result under the present adj
ministraton of the law.
THE VIEWS OF CITIZEN.
IF the Sheriff and the County Attor-
ney would do their duty" he remarked.
"every gambler in Alexandria county
could be driven out Of 1t in twenty-fcur
. hours. The race-track gamblers would
not be included IN this, because their oc-
cupatiOn is legalized, and il remains for
the State Legislature 20 say whether they
shall continue it unmolested or not, but
l repeat. with fun knowledge Of what 1
say. that the faro, craps and policy peo-
pie could be rooted out. horse foot and
dragons, and kept out irdehnitely if
the county authorities ] have mentioned
would only do their duty. There Is not
a resident of Alexandria county, opp0-
site this city. not man engaged in the
brick business over at Waterloo for in
stance, or located anywhere in that reigh-
borhood, who is not fully convinced that
Sheriff Ne!tch and hts deputies and all
the other county authorities, from SUI
pervisors down to justices of the peace
and constables, are perfectly familiar
with the location of every gambling hell
across the river. as well as with the men
who own and run them. Every now and
then the sheriff makes what he calls a
raid. that is the subject of jeers and
sport among the gamblers before and
after II takes place"
"Before?"
why. yes; every big gambler knows
When SUCH an event is gorg to hapnen"
'ln his last charge to the grand Jury
Judge Chichester fully showed the neces-
sity Of action in this matter" continued
the gentleman. but his words had no
more effect upon the sheriff and the other
law officers than water falling on a ducks
back. What Is the reason? Well It is not
FAR to seek 1t is a notorious fact and It
he