The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-06
JUST LIES, SAT- ZEE PoIIoE
wire Tapperu. Feast, Ars Presahiy ~
s.o-ene-,

Charles Moran and II. NJ. Summerield, who
were arrested in Denver on Friday for wire tap
ping, and aftev being released made . big talk
TO Denver reporters about their great success in
defrauding poo rooms all over the world. are
known to the New York police and to
poolroom keepers here. They are believed
to be tho men who made $500 about
two months ago by tinkering with the wires
into Little Monte Carlo at weehawken. At
that time they tapped the wires on weehawken
Heights. stopped the returns Of one Of the most
important races, and substituted the name Of
Emotional. a horse on which their confederates
had bet heavily. for the real winner. Tho
confederates cashed their bets Immediate
ly, and when the fraud was detected,
an hour or so afterward. the tnppers
had vanished. The principal operator in this
trick is believed to have been Summerield. be
cause the game was played with all the neat
ness, precision. and CELEBRITY that Is character
istic Of the man. It Is said OF him that he Is able
to initiate the manner of sending Of other
telegraphers so well as to deceive men who have
been accustomed TO one another's ways for years
A gang. presumably managed by Summer
Geld, has been winning small amounts from
pool rooms that have existed In the neiEhbor-
hood Of Columbus avenue and Fifty.ninth
street within n year or two. Their inter
ference in the returns was so persts-
tent that tho keepers OF the resorts
would refuse to pay bets made at heavy odds
until the result received over the wire had been
confirmed by a telephone message TO some point
outside Of the wiretapper range. As tho Den
yer boosters said. the last thing the pool-room
owners could do was to appeal to the police, for
that involved a confession OF pool selling.
The last police record Of Summerield In this
city. Detective Sergeant Sheridan said yester-
day. Is that OF his arrest on Aug. IL, 1891,
under the name Of Lawrence Somers; With an
other man, he was accused OF buncoing a
Guitenburg 10 pay them $500 for an
ssSlusiT9 t tip On The the nl ln:t ,5 ssSo ,,o Of .r the
summerield boosted of this arrest in Denver.
He also said that he was arrested in 1890. but
1t was said at Detective Headquarters that a
great part OF the work Of these men Ii pure
One Of Summerfeld's greatest schemes was TO
lead his gull, after an impressive display OF
secrecy. into The washroom OF a downt9wn once
dow. the voice of a confederate could be heard
reading of the returns Of the races. which Sum
ceived ten minutes in advance Of the pool room
returns, The victim would &c, forth after being
explanation. and would find thai, the horses
named actually had won. He would hurry back
to summerfeld and pay heavily for a tip on the
breathless haste TO make his bet, he would ind
that the result OF the race had been
fore he had bought tho tip from Summarized.
Very seldom would such a dupe complain to tho
police, and oven then the police could do moth
Ing for him.
spmmerheld is described at Headquarters as
q tall, dark, rather handsome, alert-faced fellow,
always full of general information. He could
pass almost anywhere. the detectives say, as a
college graduate. They admit that he has
made a great deal of money at this
business. but they laugh at his saying that
he has made $500, 600 in dive years. Tho police
believe that this boast is In the nature Of a snare
for suckers. There must be some scheme on
hand, they say, that demands capital" which
Summarized and Moran will use strictly to
their own advantage.
The Western Union people decline to take
Summerfeld seriously. His talk OF operating
an X-ray studio in East Thirteenth street as a
blind, they say. shows him to be a liar. because
Of fleeing in that neighborhood since tho dis
covery OF the Y ray. Summerfield was not a
member of the gang OF three men who were
caught tapping wires on the roofs at Ann street
and RroadXaY in Sentemher. 1896.