The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-19
Race rack and
Stable Goss;p

Got tip?' Go into the race pool
rooms and this is about the first thing
that will greet your ears. The person
who asks the question is the one who
thinks more of tip than of $40 won on
the horse on which the tip is given.
The real thing in race sports is the man
who cares no more for tip than he
does for the man who presumes to give
1t. He plays on his judgment and
form" If he loses he blames no one,
unles perchance it is found that crook
ed work on the track caused the loss.
Then he kicks with double force and
energy, because he realizes that his
judgment has been insulted. But the
seeker of tips" is in the majority
around Butte blackboards. To these
timid spectators there is nothing more
fascinating than a tip A tip, like the
atmosphere, is inhaled. digested, and
some men grow fat on tips, not affiu-
emily corpulent, but just simply get fat
on the knowledge that they are getting
something better than bread and meat
A tip fes on fleet wings, and to the
dupe is sweeter than the notes of the
nightingale that sings and brings the
glad tidings of good thing.
The race track bookmaker has trou-
bles of his own. The outside public
that attends the races casually and pro-
vides the money that keeps the racing
ball rolling is apt. in the philosophic
mood which generally characterizes the
journey home, to conclude that the men
who lay the odds have a snap" But
the New York Sun says it's not so.
Many are the contrivances by which
the really knowing ones among the fol-
lowers of the races manage to secure
for themselves a very large slice of the
money gathered in by the bookmakers.
Innumerable are the conspiracies con-
cocted by horse-owners, jockeys and
professional "punters" to outwit the
ring" and not a few of them are sue
cessful. Moreover, such is the nature of
their business that the bookmakers are
to a great extent at the mercy of their
own employees. New means of fraud
are springing up every day that keep
them thinking to circumvent and which
seriously deplete their treasury. One of
the latest swindles seems not to have
received from its victims the attention
it deserves.
When a bet is made with book
maker the fact Is recorded on his sheet
with the number of the bettor's admis-
sion. After the race has been run the
maker of a winning wager has only to
show his badge in order to receive his
winnings. In the hurry and excitement
that precede a race it is almost impos-
sible for the man who takes the bets to
keep an accurate mental record of them
all; he manages to retain rough idea
of the amount of money he risks on
each horse, but of the individual bets,
especially the smaller ones, he cannot
possibly keep track, and it is just here
the opportunity arises for this new
swindle.
For weeks persons wearing admission
badges have been frequently approach
ed toward the end of the day by men
who ask for the badges, managing to
give the impression that they are en-
thusiasts of the kind that collect post
age stamps or theater programmes.
They are generally successful in their
quest. for there are many who go to
the tracks who have no use for the
badge after they enter the gates, or at
most after they have tried their luck
in the ring on one or two races. The
numbered badge secured, the swindler,
for such he is, makes for the betting
ring, and while the race is being run