Evening star., 1901-05-13
ALL IN FULL BLAST
New York's Gambling Places Are
Running Wide Open.
SHOCKING CONDITION OF AFFAIRS
A Man Who Made a Fortune in
Fake Antiques.
SONG BIRDS IN GOTH A M

| community. The town is gambling
! mad. There never was a time in the
history of New York when the town was
so possessed with the mania. Down in
| Wall street it is called Speculation" but
| the word does not deceive even those who
| employ it. There many ways of
| gambling over here as there are smells In
| Naples. And the populace. according to
| their condition, avail themselves of all of
| the methods.
The conservative element of this popula-
| ton has been amazed over the disclosures
resulting from the gambling raids Of that
determined young man, Judge Jerome; yet
| there is no particular reason why there
| should be any amazement. The conditions
| have prevailed for a long time. But they
| have been regarded by the authorities as
| more or less matters of course. The COM
| mittee of fifteen and young Mr.. Jerome
| decline to view them as matters of course.
| They dig up the iniquities and hold them
nakedIy before the virtuous portion of the
citizenry. and means of holy horror are
| heard on every hand. The conservatives,
| for example, find it almost impossible to
| believe that there are something like 600
| policy shops in New York, and that these
| joints handle about 100000 day in pen
| MES and nickels and dimes.
| The stubborn young Judge Jerome is re-
| sponsible for the wide publicity given to
| this fact. And yet not more than two or
! policy writer's in New York, and when the
| policy writer Is convicted his dose is
! mild one. Even in little Old Washington
the policy writer Is prodded with such a
] sharp stick that he has been all but oblit
! Grated; yet in the great city of New York
! this lowest and meanest and paltriest form
of gambling has climbed into the proper
tions Of a trust. The whole business Is
| managed by a syndicate Of three men,
| and their profits must be little short Of CO.
| lossal. One of these men has held an cleo
| tive office and he is an exceedingly puis-
| SAINT parsonage at the Sign of the Tiger in
| 18th street
No Fear of the Law.
| There is a very high-sounding and stern
statute on the books Of New York state
| against bucket shops, and yet the whole
town is honeycombed with these plants.
Convictions under the statute occur rarely
or never. An elaborately carried out arrest
| is made once in while as sort of sop to
the public conscience, but one who watches
| these matters closely has observed that the
| proprietors of these raided bucket shops are
| only brought to trial in about the ratio Of
one to ten arrests.
AS for the pool rooms. they go right on
| taking their chances on being raided by
| Judge Jerome and his people. The New
! York papers frequently state with great
| complaisancy that the pool rooms are actu-
! ally closed all of them, but the statement
| is always utterly inexact. The pool rooms
| closed for fourteen years. Judge Jerome
raided one of them in a building in 23d
street the other afternoon. The plant was
| running on the second floor Of the building.
The astute young man was not aware. how
| ever, that there was another pool room in
full blast the third floor of the same
building. The audacious spirit Of the pro-
prietors of these pool rooms clearly enough
betokens the fact that they know precisely
where they stand with the constituted au-
| thority-with the powers at the sign of the
| Bengal, that is to say.
Large and Small Fry.
The greatest gambling institution on this
| continent-the palace with a private en-
trance from the main dining hall of one Of
the most famous of American restaurants.
is wide open, notwithstanding all reports
to the contrary. 1t was wide open to it's
clientele last night, and 1t will be wide
| open tonight. Something like $500. 600 is
put into action at this place every night.
| The game Is one Of the sort known as
| Square" yet the receipts of the house are
| fabulous, as they must indeed be to enable
the proprietor of it to keep 1t going in the
| teeth of the organized campaign now for
| ward against the gambling business: Judge
Jerome has been asked why he doesn't be-
| siege this place. His replies have been
| evasive but it is likely that he is reservng
his attack upon this notorious institution
| as a sort of final tableau to his really ad-
| mirable performances.
Meanwhile the small fry of gambling
joints continue to do business despite the
! crusade. The writer hapens to know that
| there at least three dozen wide-open
! faro banks in the district bounded by 23d
and 42d streets and Sd and 9Th avenues
of 121a cents apiece. The moderateness in
| the cost Of the celluloid disks appeals
| strongly to the soul OF the $10-a-week clerk,
and 1t is from this class that the patronage
| of these crooked institutions Is drawn.
Books on the Races.
Perhaps three-fifths of the saloons in
1 Broadway are headquarters for shrewd-
eyed chaps who make handbooks on the
races. The police make pretense Of keep
| ing eye on these fellows, but 1t is a
strictly fair assertion to make that the po-
! licemen more often look them up for bet
| ting purposes than with any punitive ideas
In mind
| Another most resonant law on the New
York state statute books Is one forbidding
| saloons to set up gambling contrivances of
any sort whatever. Yet hundreds of the
New York saloons are provided with slot
machines that offer inducements Of cigars
drinks and money to successful players,
and the commonness of these so-called
,'klondike" shuffieboard machines is well
law in this matter by the saloonkeepers is
little short Of bland.
| On Saturday afternoon last there were
about 10000 men and women at the opening
| of the Morris Park race track The t1,rf
reporters call racing the sport of kings.
The sport of kings it may have been, and
may well be yet. but it Is not in that light
that 1t Is viewed by it's New York votaries.
Racing Is the purest and simplest gambling
over here. as. In fact, it really is through
out the United States. There Is sonnet hing
too much Of this sport of kings talk
| Only Go to Bet.
What sentiment inspired the bosoms Of
those 10000 men and women at the Morris
Park track on Saturday other than the
gambling sentiment? What did they care
how Banaster was bred. so long as Banaster
won? There is sentiment in racing for the
millionaire who owns a fine horse, and
mayhap has owned the fine horses sire
and dam. but the mass Of racegoers can
not, as matter of course, share In a sen.
timent OF this character They visit the
race track to gamble and for no othe.
reason The women seemed even more
far-plunged in the gambling maelstrom
than the men at Morris Park on Saturday
There Is something humiliating in the
spectacle of a hoarse, screaming. wild
| eyed woman aroused to a sort Of element al
frenzy by the running of pack of beasts
The chagrin and shock of losing wagers
greater than they could afford to lose
caused about half q dozen of the eambIins
| fo fai MT n nd