Evening star., 1895-06-15
A Device for Undisguised Gambling
at the Race Tracks.
IN FULL SWING ACROSS THE RIVER,
Although Declared by the Governor
Of Virginia an Unlawful Concern.
LEE OF THE RACKS

pie of the District nave witnessed jus;
across the river racing day in and Cay out
in all sorts of weather, in summers heat
and in winters cold and snow and ice.
The spectacle has not been at any time a
pleasant one, not even to those who believe
that genuine honest racing Is the granlest
OF sports. The reason for this is lot at
all difficult of discovery, for it IS easily
apparent, even to those who have never
visited race track, that when racing is
indulged in day after day, the year around
1t ceases to be the sport of kings" and
develops into nothing more or less than a
gigantic gambling scheme, pure and SIM
pie, in which the results of the races are
viewed with that interest alone created Ly
money wagered.
T The degeneration of racing from a clean,
healthy sport, from the time when racing
Velopment of mans best friend" the
horse. down to- the present time when,
with extremely rare exceptions, racing has
subordinated the development and encour-
agement of the breeding of the horse and
all else to the passion for gambling has
been gradual, except during the past ten
years 1t has been most rapid. So rapidly
indeed, that one visiting a race track to-
day Tor the first time in ten or even less
years would be simply amazed by the ex-
tent to which gambling Is there carried on
Ih1S is especially the case at a track
where, as at the two race tracks across
the fotomac, what is known as for
eign book is run. Since the day when
The Star turned its guns from the dis
Hlantied fortress of winter racing at Ivy
City upon the Virginia tracks the people
Of the District have heard much more of
Foreign books" than ever before But
while this is true, nevertheless, few of the
good people Of the District know just what
foreign book is, or how it is run.
What is Foreign Book.
The term foreign books" is applied to
betting conducted by bookmaker on races
run elsewhere than at the track where the
betting is done. In racing a bookmaker is
man who posts odds against the success
Of the various horses in the different races
He is so called because originally the man
recorded in a little memorandum book the
different wagers made with him. That Gus
tom still prevails in England, where it
originated, in France and other European
countries, and since the prohibition of
bookmaking and pool selling in the state Of
New York it has been practiced there be-
ing made mere subterfuge to evade the
law.
The American bookmaker however, soon
found that such a method was far too prim-
ltive and inadequate for him and his pa
irons, and today the average bookmaker
mas no less than three clerks or assistants.
one OF these assistants writes down on a
specially printed card the name of the
horse selected by the bettor, the amount
Wagered, and, Of course, the odds given
AS one clerk is doing that a second clerk
is recording the number of the card or
ticket and the amount 1t calls for on a great
sheet of paper, specially ruled and ar
ranged. A third clerk acts as cashier, it
being his duty to pay at the end of the re-
spective races those holding winning tick
cts.
The bookmaker himself stands in front
of the small box occupied by his clerks, and
from time to time changes the odds posted
on slate or blackboard opposite the names
of the horses starting. These odds are con-
stantly changing, the increase or decrease
In them being caused. respectively, by the
heavy or light play of the speculating pub
lie.
To those unfamiliar with gambling on
horses the manner of play is thus described.
For about twenty-five minutes previous to
each race bets are made on the horses
starting.
The bookmaker, be it understood, never
bets that horse will win. but that he will
not. In this. perhaps, may be found not
infrequently a very substantial reason why
the horse capable Of winning Is beaten-it
being SO much easier to stop horse than
to win with him. However. the book
maker, to use an apt racing term is al
ways "out for the stuff" and his patrons
recognize that fact, and have an over
whelming faith in the doctrine that when
one beats de-, wins FROM a bookmaker
one Is fully entitled to all the money.
A Sample Board.
Standing upon the little step of his box
or stall, the bookmaker chalks up the odds
against the different horses in the race,
and then invites, by various cries, the
throng about him to invest. His slate or
board, when the odds are posted, has the
following appearances: