The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-23
AT A TAMMANY OUTING.
NOW THE BRAyES ARE OPENLY
PLRECED ny N 0AuBLERS.
Occasions when Police. Judges and Other
city Omcials Not Only Fail 60 Interfere
with the sharpcrs but Are Themselves
Among Their Most Eager Customers.

with the sharpers but Are Themselves
Among Their Most Eager Customers.
II has long been the custom In this city for
the Tammany Hall leaders In the lower part
Of the city TO give their constituents an an
nual outing nj some point on the Sound within
striking distance Of New York. In almost
every Assembly district there is n Tammany
club where the braves gather nightly for po-
litical and social intercourse. In the lower
part Of the town these clubs are named after
the district leader. In the Sixth district there
Is the Patrick Diver Association. in tn" Third
district the Timothy y. Sullivan Association
and I'm the Eighth district the Martin EnRel
Association. I'm the upper part Of the city the
Tammany clubs are for the most part named
after Indian chiefs whose memories were
much honored in the early days Of the Colum-
bian order. The uptown Tammnny clubs
have outings too. but a. their membership ~
made up OF q more conservative class of Citi-
zens their picnics do not partake 70 much OF
the lawlcssness which characterizes the an
nual affairs of the Sullivans. the DIVERS and
the Engels.
Iawlessness is the only word that ftly de-
| scribes the annual outing Of the powerful Sui
I van Associations, and it FITS the picnic Of the
DIVERS equally well. On these occasions the
law Is openly violated, gamblers Of the shoe
string" tyne. sneak thieves, pick pockets and
prlZenghters taking charge Of things as soon
rs the boat carrying the eSCursiOnists has left
the pier and never letting go until the last cent
has been squeezed from the last sucker. III
some Of New York's more staid citizens could
attend a sullivan or a Diver picnic they would
see things going on inside the corporate limits
! Of the city that would nStoniSh them.
They would see erected in open ground, with
, ont so much "a "A tent to screen them from
the view of the casual pedestrian, a hundred
gambling games going on without interference.
They would see policemen, not only not in
t%erfering but actually playing the games.
Lined up with them they would see city Off
Gals by the score, holding office by the grace
Of Tammany Hall. hazarding their money
without the slightest hesitation on wheels Of
fortune and other catch-penny games, Al the
sullivan picnic recently one Of the many spec
tacles 10 be seen was a Judge playing faro
bank, surrounded by a group Of friends.
The power of n leader like Sullivan or Diver
to have the police countenance this open Viola
ton OF the law is not 80 remarkable as the
apparent willingness Of these lHdlN lduals To
let the gambler run their games to the detri-
ment Of the pockets of the Tammany men,
II is also hard TO understand why pickpoCkcts
are allowed to rob right and left, without mo-
l~estation, despite the fact that they are well
| known ana tnclr victims are loyal lOIONFTS
Of the district leader. senator sullivan was
asked to explain the protection Afforded to
the gamblers who robbed his followers at
the last outing of the association which bears
his name. and here ia what he said: These
games don't do anybody any harm. No man
who comes on my picnic needs TO play them
unless he wants 10. Any man who wants
to play can. There Amt no suckers In the
sullivan Association, and IL the boys 60 up
/ against the games they do II with their eyes
open. Most OF the men who run the games
are from my district and they've got a right
to do a little business il they want To-"
senator sullivan could not be- induced TO
talk about the pickpockets All he would
say on that subject was that he didn't belle We
there were any pick pockets AZ his picnic. Al
that time something more than a hundred
watches had been reported stolen.
The method Of holding a Inmmany picnic
j. interesting in itself, The district leader
l. popularity supposed 10 lose money on these
AFFAIR, but If there wasn't ti,Ooo cleared on
the sullivan picnic, and almost rs much on lie
/ Diver outing, II Wa because there VA mis-
management here. when the time APP
proache~ for a sullivan or q Diver outing
a great many thousand tickets for the afalr
are printed. On each one OF theS" tickets
are two coupons, one for breakfast on arTiy-
! ing NJ the grove ana me tNlleI lI uln0PT llsI
before eaving. These tickets cort S apiece
and all the purchaser gets for his money be-
sides the two meal mentioned j. a I7de on
an overcrowded steamboat, n cheap hat for
the parade which always precede1 and winds
up one OF these outings, and the privilege of
can. Certain trusted lieutpnants or the dis
trict leader. take charge Of the distribution
OF these tickets. The. word distribution Is
used instead Of sale. because they ARE left,
40 many to each saloon keeper, 80 many 10
each dive keeper and 80 many 10 each ind
H menu f TM0 t tSe di.t TfA p leader and 3' when rsh'r a
! collector come. around he pays up without
a luurmur. The individual man docs not
say hoy many tickets be vii take for the out
ing, He has no word In the matter at all.
and the man who objects TO contributing COM
mit- political suicide. II he Is a saloon Keeper.
or conducts any business In which there is
a loophole for attack by the police. the sooner
he ggiis that business and the district the bet
Thi. is the way in which the Thousands of
tickets tor these opunsr are sold. It is I'm;
and The purchaser has his zip, what to do with
the rest. one OF the most Interesting revela-
tion- before the Icxow committee, was this
custom Of making saloon keepers, gambling
house ,proprielors and the keeper Of disor-
derry houses buy hundreds Of dollar worth
bulk Of the tickets sold in this way. the Young
men Of the district are helped next, BY the
graoious1e%' Of the district leader they are
Nobody gets a ticke, for nothing. Now nj
the sullivan picnic there were between 7,cO
| anu S.WD persons present, AlO me lBlNNeTl'eS
mustered fully 800. Each individual repre-
scented a IS note. and fully 2,Hn tickets sold
but not used bring the gross receipts M TO n
very tidy sum. The grove and the grounds
the picniCkers get free. The two meals cost
81 so a head. The only other expense ia the
steamboat and one or two bras, bands. 4 few
hundreds are spent on fireworks to celebrate
the return 20 town Of the association. and there
Ia a little OUTLAY for hats and canes,
One Of these Tammany outings is very much
like another; The boats are always over
crowded and hundreds who have purchased
tickets are Obliged to 20 20 the Croye 10y train.
because the captain will not allow any more
passengers on his boat. The gamblers
get to work a. soon aS the people
begin To pile on the boat They have every
conceivable device to lure n man on to take n
chance with his money. and q small army Of
cnppers throng the decks and win money from
their associates in order 10 let the suckers"
see how easy the game is to beat, The ma
hobs Of the district start mp poker games.
There are always from ten to twenty Of these
poker games going. aud they are kept up NJ
the grove. Senator Sullivan is an inveterate
poker player, and NJ his outing n couple Of
weeks aCO. he did nothing else from the fine
the steamer left the city until II returned ~
the evening. " j. n mystery why these men
20 on an outing for the sake Of playing poker,
when they could have their game with so much
more comfort AZ home, II has been the GUS
tom for years nj all the 1nmmany picnics.
however. and probably always will be. To
plnV poker openly on n steamboat IN the bnrhOr