New-York tribune., 1902-08-03
NOT THE SAME "BRANCH. y
,.r THE SUPPRESSION OF GAMBLING
MAS DONE FOR THE JERSEY RESORT.


r,ev are still talking in Long Branch about
~ preat tidal wave OF July 22. which swept out
:. sea 100000 worth of property, half dozen
s,,res and nearly half thousand men. The
=, drivers l,artenders, bootblacks porters,
a;.srs and even some Of the hotel proprietors
,aIe their heads disconsolately at the mere
,nantion Of July %, for they say perhaps the
.aeafh list" will never be known. And when a
stranger curiously asks for still further details
- the great disaster, about which the cab driv-
ors bartenders, bootblacks, porters. walters and
zen some Of the hotel keepers seem so broken
hoarted he is likely 10 be surprised, if not
s;eanpointed 10 learn that July - simply marks
x,e ernpression of the Long Branch gambling
houses.
.eThe town was hit pretty gol darn hard by
chat ere reform wave. said one cab driver, who
had been sitting all day in front of the gorgeous
Aower beds OF the Casino. rs been right here
an day, and not a blame fare, and it's all cuz the
clubs is shut The town is the blink tn
never be wat il wuz when Phil DAILY and 'Davy'
Johnson and Colonel Kirby and all those other
gents was runnin' the tables. By and by, only
tbe beachu be left and they won't allow the
cbildruns even 10 play on it,"
Inst then three men came out Of the Casino
and walked briskly down to the street. They
nodded TO the cab driver and disappeared
around the corner
There goes Ernest Witte, 'Davy' Johnson and
Emery They run the place up to when the re-
form struck the town I've got TO meet 'em
shortly And so saying the cabby whipped his
horse out Of his slumber and drove drearily
down the street
Whether or not the lamentations of the hack
man are in accord with the anti gambling laws
of the State of New-Jersey the opinions of
the leading moralsts Of the century, il is never
theless a fact that the closing OF the gambling
houses Of Long Branch has had striking effect
upon the life of this watering place. The
cubs" the gambling houses are politely
called, attracted TO them host OF rapid specu-
lators' from New York, including many leading
captains Of finance in Wall Street, not a few
lawyers and actors, together with several big
Tammany politicians, who have not Yet lost all
they made before the election of Mayor LOW.
The money that they put into circulation in the
West End Saturday night aggregated enough
millions il is said, TO build several miles of the
East Side subway.
Along with these 'fnanciers' came host OF
walters subalterns and understrappers, who
crowded the sidewalks, filled the adjacent bar
rooms and gave the seaside = stir and hustle
which could fairly be called metropolitan The
big gamblers held high court, rolled around in
carriages met their friends at the hotels and
amazed their less dashing associates by Wanton
extraVa Sances. The regulars stayed at the
Branch as they termed il, week ia and week
out played roulette, faro and poker as Z pro
fessiUn, disported their winnings, Dragged Of
their losses, wore their diamonds-as long as
they were out Of pawn-where every one could
see them. and changed their clothes 10 suit the
hour Of the day. The ''occasionals'' played Sat
urlay and Sunday, coming down from New York
in the interval between business days and as
a general thing, their return to their Of
fees leaving their rolls behind them
The 'clubhOuseS" were furnished in complete
accord with the flash and glitter OF their patrons
Long Branch was shut UP tight last
year by reform, the big gamblers had believed
the coast was clear this summer. They said that
they had always had their way before. that
until 1901 gambling was unrestricted as
thing, that the local police would not inter
rere and thai, in fact, the people OF Long Branch
wanted gambling, and were glad 10 have them
there.
Accordingly. with the beginning Of this sum-
n.er, the gambling houses opened UP on such
scale Of grandeur and rnagnifcence as 10 sur
prise even the Oldest ilhabitant. Gardeners had
uilt flower beds Of roses, tulips and poppies.
painters had frightened the walls. so TO make
the structures look like new, and within sculp
tors, artists, decorators and carpenters had
transformed the gloomy rookeries Of 1901 into
yer5table palaces.
The competition was keen. Each clubhouse