The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-17
AN EASY SWINDLE.
Opportunities for Relieving Citizens of
Their Money In Providence.

Their Money In Providence.
The following article from the Buffalo
Express shows how "square the red and
green game, recently introduced into
this city, really is:
"Ihe Canadian authorities believe
they have wrought the community of
Buffalo, as well as their own, an everlsst-
ing blessing. BY the action OF Magistrate
Logan of Fort Erie they believe the no.
torious red and green game OF policy
which The Express has exposed number
of times, has been broken up. William
Kohl, the operator of the wheel of the red
and green game at Fort Erie, was fined
$40 yesterday and told that II caught
running the game within the Dominion
again he would be imprisoned without
the option OF q fine.
The red and green wheel has been run
ming at Fort Erie for 1l2 years. IL
whirled ont numbers for two drawings
daily in building which was labelled
the Fort Erie Museum, as disguise for
the real nature of the contents OF the
place. There each day at II 80 p. m. and
$3.50 p M, William Kohl gave thr g.
foot lottery wheel whirl, and a small
boy, blindfolded, fished IL numbers out
of the wheel for the afternoon drawing
and I3 for the evening drawing. The
establishment Is said to be backed by Witt
man, the old time policy magnate OF this
city. Kohl simply was his employee.
Though the drawings were had over
thereto evade the law over here-stiil 1t
was well known that almost all of the
business done by the Red and Green
Policy Company was in this city. The
company had at least IL agents or writers,
who handed their books recording the
plays into the office. over II West Eagle
street. The manager of this office aid
not need to go over TO Fort Erie to get
the figures of the drawings, There was
telephone between the two headquarters.
And il the story of the investigator be
true, this telephone was the means by
which hundreds of poor Buffalo people
have been swindled.
The 2:30 o'clock drawing was supposed
to be issued at 2 p. m. and the $50 draw
ing at p. m. The writer's were required
to have their books in at the Eagle street
manager OF the Eagle street Office 1l2
hours time to examine the books before
the slips were supposed to be issued. II
Is declared by one who Is in a position
to know that IL often happened that the
man at the Canadian office fixed up the
drawings after being informed by tele-
phone what plays were on the books. On
stormy days, end on other days, 1t not
uncommonly happened that there was
nobody at the Fort Erie office but Kohl
and his small boy. There was, there
fore, nothing to hinder Kohl from max
ing the drawings whatever he saw fit. 1t
is claimed that some days he did not
even go through the formality of turn
ing the wheel, having received enough
information from the Buffalo headquar-
ters to fake up drawing that could not
result In penny's loss to the sharks.
All communications of drawings were
sent in cipher over the phone. That Is
to say the managers had a code of rs
words, to correspond with the rs num-
bers in a drawing. This protected them
from designing or accidental listeners to
their messages, who only heard SEEM
ingly meaningless jumple OF words, slow
ly communicated, such as cats, dogs,
elephants, horses, names of horses, cows
and other animals-which the schemers
possibly deemed consistent with their
pretense of running museum.
AT the afternoon drawing on January
81, man stood in the room ut Fort Erie
and took notes of the drawings. He COM
pared them with the numbers on the slips
Issued in this city for that drawing aud
found that five of the numbers actually
drawn were changed in the published
drawing. This is just thrown out to show
Buffalo people who have been playing
the Red and Green game what they have
been bucking against And there is re-
the population of the East side have been
playing the game. Gigs, saddles, cross
saddles, day numbers and the various
other kinds Of plays have been received
daily for months and months in saloons,
groceries, tarber-shops and bakeries, on
the East Side and In the number of places
on the West Side. The poor class, in
cludiug women and children, have been
the victims.
Complaints reached the cars of Chief
Young OF the Ontario police, stationed at
Niagara Falls, Ont, about month ago
about the running of this place. Tie knew
OF the difficulty of getting proof, and he
laid his wires carefully. An abundance
of proof % the existence and operation OF
the game on Dominion territory was gath
cred and on Wednesday at 1890 o'clock,
when William Kohl was turning the
wheel and the small boy was waiting,
blindfoldcd, TO meke the draw ings, IN
came Chief Young and arrested Kohl on q
warrant charging him with being COM
mon gambler.
The case was called for n hearing before
Magistrate Logan OF Fort Erie tor yester-
day morning, but IL was put over TIL =
o'clock in the afternoon. At that hour
he prisoner was brour ht before him. lie
did not submit TO a trial lest too much Of
the business OF his company might be ex-
posed by the prosecution. tie considered
that the test thirg TO do wns TO Jlead
guilty and throw himself on tie mercr Of
the court. lie did &c. Magistratc Logan
gave him n lecture, which witnesses say
was a very serious and forcible one.
I'VE won't tolerate this gambling In