The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-11

les. The men who have the parma
nent interests of the place at heart
would like to pick up the outfit of gam
blers and throw them by the scruff
of their necks into the lake.
1T brings a class, of course, who
spend their money freely and easily
about the hotel. But these same men
and women will sooner or later tire
OF the place and then what will be-
come of it? The quieter sort of tour
lists, and good spenders, too, who do
not anticipate with any pleasure bring
ing their families to a gaming place,
will have left Palm Beach forever.
The gambling houses will strangle the
life out of this place and leave it dead
and dry as they left Long Branch"
There is, in the opinion of all these
enemies of the Beach Club, just one
man who could stop the gambling
there. Henry NJ. Flagler is the
king of this tropical land ALI the
East Coast owes its success to the en-
terprise and foresight of Flagler. For
it was Flagler who first built the 800
miles of railroad from Jacksonville
along the ocean front, equipped as
completely as a Northern trunk line,
even establishing a splendid sleeping
and parlor car service of his own de-
vising, and then built the great ho-
tells along this railroad.
When James and Ed Bradley of
Chicago the reputed owners of the
Beach Club, first opened their place
F'lagler showed fight. For two years
he used every effort to close up the
place. The past winter he has appar-
emily done nothing, although there
are those who stand close at court
that say that Mr. Flagler plans quiet
ly and long way ahead. The man
who would build a new land might
even be willing again to tackle Flor
ida Legislature.
The profits of the Palm Beach place
have been overstated more often than
understaded. 1t is a matter of popular
belief here at this time that they will
exceed $4,000 for the winter. The
Bradleys are reticent about the mat
ter.
1--WE never talk of our earnings or
of the winnings and the losses of our
patrons" said Ed Bradley tonight in
discussing the subject.
There are two other well-known
gambling houses along the Florida
East Coast. The Seminole Club of
Miami, q small affair in the shade of
the hotel there, where roulette is ex-
clusively played, has closed its doors
already for the season. The crowd is
gathering at st. Augustine, and the
Villa Zoravda is being made ready for
it.
This unique gambling house is placed
in a structure of pure Moorish arch1-
lecture, built as a home for himself by
BENJAMIN Smith of New York. Mr..
Smith also built the Pompeiian house
at Saratoga and the Cordova Hotel in
St. Augustine. He tired of the beauti-
full Villa Zorayda and it, remained
empty until a few weeks past, when a
tower proclaiming the structure as the
Villa Zorayda Club, and adding that
visitors were welcome at all times.
This sign swings in the face of the
guests of the Ponce de Leon Hotel
across the street and may be seen
from four other hotels within a radius
of 300 feet. The doors at the place are
always wide open and the passerby
may find the place as free to inspect
as church.
On the ground floor of the Villa 70
rayda is the roulette wheel and back
of it a faro bank. Upstairs is cafe
only slightly inferior to the cuisine OF
the Beach Club here.
"You see nobody bothers us here"
said the manager of the Villa 70
rayda. There goes the chief of po-
lice by our door. He sees our sign,
there isn't even a swinging curtain to
block the entrance, he has heard the
stories of our place and doesn't care.
"Why should we care? We are not
here to rob people, only to make liv-
ing for ourselves. The poolrooms have
killed the gambling houses in New
York, and there never was any good
sporting blood in Chicago.
I'VE mind our own business and
want others to do the same. Mr.. Flag
Ter is bothering us a good deal as we
are getting started, but we will win
out eventually and become fixture
like the Beach Club at the Poinciana. !"