The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-09-04

! credit Oh D6lnE even LIE ny On tlle cal
riage wheel. l pay no attention to the
| lucubrations of a sheet of that class
Nothing that 1t has said or can say
could cause me to act otherwise than
in the line of duty as it is presented TIC
me. The raid of Saturday would have
taken place exactly when and as 1T did
! il every scribber of the Waterbury
Herald had never been born Papers
that persistently SANDER an organlza-
ton endorsed by the highest authori-
ties of the state simply classify them
selves, that is all.
Mr. Thrasher, you have been criti-
| cised for waiting till Saturday before
making the arrests. VIII you state
why you did so?"
| with pleasure. 1t was a choice be-
| tween waiting or failing to convict. 1t
| took time, first, for our men to become
able to identify all the principals and
| to accurately describe the specific acts
of each, no two men doing exactly the
same thing. Thus all this evidence of
actual transactions, etc, must have
been obtained before the issuing of any
complaints, in order properly to inform
the informing officer and satisfy the
| court issuing the warrants that offences
had actually taken place, not only gem
orally but specifically as to every in
dividual apprehended. 1t was, there
fore, impossible to begin to get out the
complaints before Wednesday. That
day and the next were consumed in pre-
pairing the complaints and warrants
AS matter Of fact it was impossible
to secure the signatures of the proper
parties till Friday. At first it was
planned to make the raid on Friday,
but delays in getting out the papers for
various reasons prevented, so it had to
go over till Saturday Had the weather
been good Saturday, that would have
been great day The weather is one
OF the things over which l exercise no
control. l had fourteen men under d.
rection of Chief Agent McClair ready to
proceed to the races Saturday, make
the raid and arrest and take into Gus
tody the entire outfit. They were on
the way before 1t was known that the
races We're off When they arrived the
only parties found of the many identi-
fed during the week We're the six taken
into custody"
How large gambling business was
carried on at Charter Oak?" was asked.
THE general public have little idea
how large an amount of money changes
hands at betting ring of this kind,
For instance, we have evidence to show
that on the first day of the race the
money placed at one booth which we
raided was S56574, on the second day
1850, on the third $56, $685. ON the fourth
nj he r
total of $243 SIT for the five days The
chief auctioneer, William Reilly. told
me that they We're doing commission
business, and got 8 per cent. Accepting
his statement as true it would mean
$1,000 profits a day. But / judge from
information which seems reliable that
the real profits were nearer 10 per cent
or $4,000 a day. That is to say nothing
of the private tips and inside infor-
nation these fellows are able to make
available, or of the opportunities for
avoiding payment to actual winners, as
we have proof that they did in some
cases
The first printed Information is that
West Hartford constables did most of
the work. Is this true" said the re-
porter.
mo West Hartford constabes or any
officers in Hartford county knew any
thing about our plans"
Can you give any reason why West
Hartford officers did not intervene to
stop the viola ton of law in their own
town." gS a,
In my opinion the West Hartford
constabulary is entirely inadequate to
deal with organized lawlessness on such
SCALE
Were there not policemen on the
ground?"
Certainly. I have the numbers of
fourteen who were there and who could
not possibly have helped knowing all
that was going on. Not only was gam
bling, participated In by surging crowds,
going on about the booths on the scale
described. but gambling was transact
ed at the very ring side and In the pres
ence of policemen without interfer-
ence. / see by the Hartford Times
that the police arrested a sneak thief
and shell-game man. Here is the ar
ticle 1t closes complacently like this:
Chief Bill has had large details of po-
lice at the races each day, and they
have done good work No thefts have
been reported, The work of the police
proves that local officers have been able
to cope with the crooks without the as
sistance of special detectives
ut is delightful to think that the
police broke up a game of ten-pins.
But not only did gambling go on unre-
buked at prodigious pace, but LIQUOR.
illegally sold. flooded the park. In one
without the faintest attempt
at coneealment two beer bars flourish
ed, served by eight bartenders, while
in an adjoining room hard stuff was
dispensed with all the freedom Of a reg
ularly licensed saloon This was going
on under the very eyes of uniformed
policemen. All this in a park in a mo-
license town which enjoys the special
protection of the Hartford police. o.
yes, there We're policemen there They
were placed about like tin soldiers and
served ornamental purposes"
How many policemen We're on the |
grounds"
Eighteen at least
Can you explain why they did not |
prevent the violations of law referred |
to?"
That is indeed an interesting ques-
ton. But ! must refer you to Chief Bill |
Of the Hartford police force for an
answer. The officers present at Char |