The San Francisco call., 1895-07-18

ferred to the raoetrack, for you keep on
taking bets till the horses are at the post"
ooh, that's easy" replied Corbett. "Joe
is supposed to take $1,000 with him every
afternoon when he goes to the track, and
out of that amount he plays what we tell
him.
OF course this is bald fiction and it
would seem easy enough to layman to
prove to a reasonable court or jury that
there is not time enough between the clos
ing of bets and the end of the race for the
man at the track to apportion several hun
dred dollars in quart ers and halves on half
dozen or more horses. And aside from
this the bets do not close on Ellis street
until they are also closed at the track.
Hence the fiction is impossible of being
performed.
Harry 4. and Joe Corbett and Jim Dun
can carry on the largest poolroom in town
in the place that was once known as Cor
belts saloon. When they began to sell
pools on the races the police took from
them their license to sell liquor and now
not even a glass of soda water can be pur-
chased there.
But their present business is far more
lucrative than even the saloon business at
best. The Corbetts' net profits are now
about 5000 day. The two large rooms on
the ground floor are thronged all afternoon
and stacks and stacks of small coins pass
over the bar in the course of business
hours.
Corbett & Co. have private telephone
| wire to the racetrack, and for this prlvl-
lege they pay the Western Union Tele-
graph Company $25 day, exclusive OF the
cost of the wire. Joe Corbett remains at
the track to send in the results of the races.
He rings one bell when the horses are at
the post and three bells when they are off.
Then, when the race is over, he calls off
the result to Jim Duncan and he calls the
lucky names to the marker In the rear
room.
The bets are made according to the track
quot ations. Unless it is otherwise stipu-
lated by the buyer his money is taken on
closing quotations, whatever they may be.
However. at the opening of bets on GER
tain race the buyer may demand the OPEN
ing cd ds, in which case they are accorded
him.
Henry Schwartz resort on Pauper alley
is of next importance to Corbett's. AT
these poolrooms a good many of the mer-
chants who are too busy to go to the track
come in for few moments to play sure
tip or two. But the merchants clerks and
the unemployed workmen are the most nu-
merous patrons by far.
That fiction concerning the transfer of
the money from the poolrooms to the rae
ing tracks is more palpably fiction at
Schwartz place than elsewhere, for here
all straight bets are paid off at the end of
each race.
Indeed, any one can stand at the bar or
counter in any of the poolrooms in the
| City, bet his money, see it laid away IN
stacks or in the cash drawer, and see it
stay there until the race is decided and the
bets paid.
| At all the poolrooms except Schwartz
no money is paid until o'clock in the
| evening. At Broyer's place, Fourth and
Mission only a blank slip of paper, with
the name of the horse written in indelible
pencil and the date and number of the
ticket. is handed the buyer.
OF course, Broyer claims to be in on the
commission fiction as well as all the others,
but since he enjoys the protection of King
McManus he does not think it necessary
to go to the expense of having printed
tickets. He pays his s25 day to the
Western Union, and has no other expense
bey ond that of an extra bartender.
His business is conducted openly and
above board in his saloon, the Arcade"
He finds pool-selling not injurious to his
retail liquor trade, and for some reason or
other-probably the pull of the King