The sun., 1902-11-10
CLOSE SEASON FOR GAMBLERS,
BIGGEST NEW YORK HOUSES NOT
OPEN FOR PLAY.
House OF the syndicate IL Taking Chances
Occasionally. but Canfeld's and Reeds
WOnt-PrOtecti0n That Il for Sale
Doesn't Protect Under jerome.

According to those who should know
New York is fraer of open gambling houses
now than IL has been at any time since
Theodore Roosevelt was the czar Of Mul-
berry street II may be now. 10 some
folks, but il IL fact, that hardly one Of tie
so-callcd higher class gambling houses l.,
doint any business. Those which pretend
To be open offer play only occasionally,
and II Is the general statement that a gamb-
ling house run under such conditions runs
at n considerable loss,
In proof of the statement that New
Yori's soldiers of fortune have been practi-
cally put out of business. it may be stated
positively that the follow ing houses are
not open for play: Richard A. Canfield's,
Westcott 4 Jollys John Daly's. Dave John
sons. John Kelly's the House oi the Syndi-
c3te. Charles Reeds, the one in Central Park
south, over which Dave Gideon used 10
be the presiding genus. and two or three
others whose c'ientele Is made up almost
alt together uf wealthy men.
Ii shouldn't be inferred from ell this that
there are no gambling houses open in New
York, As a matter of fact, there are mahy
which are doing business but they are not of
the so-called fashionable variety. They
chance for the sake If winning n stake
and who care little whether their patrons
are caught in a raid or not, Gamblers
of the character of Mr. Garfield and John
DAILY and Charles Rec d are as jealous of
their business reputat ions as any bank
president in town For all the money they
could win in one long winter they wouldn't
have one solitary patron caught in a raid
,l.... . l.g.,s i
experience and they don't want it. They
do not like the situation which confronts
them at present, and, therefore. they prefer
TO do no business.
According TO the best informed gamblers
the man who Is responsible for the situ-
alton now existing is "A person of the name
of Jerome They say that il it were not
for New York's strenuous District Attorney
there would be no trouble With Jerome
in the District Attorneys office. however.
it IL said that the proprietors of gambling
houses cannot protect themselves. and
in consequence they can give no protection
to their patrons
One Of the oldest and best known gamblers
in the country said Yesterday
AS things are now a protection which
does not protect = offered To us. In some
precincts the police captains art carving
on n little crusade of their own for .uCh
newspaper profit a. there may b. in il.
Schmittberger il one of these captains.
He is making il uncomfortable for some,
at least. Of the gambling houses in his pre-
| cInct by stationing a policeman every
night before the doors Il houses that he sus-
pects contain gambling paraphernalia. OF
course, the Result OF such tactiCs II To drive
patrons away. Few Respectable men want
10 gamble badly enough to take chances
of being nabbrd III raid
There are other precincts in which SINH
lar tactics prevail To. greater or less ex-
| tent, but the situation AZ regards the " hole
| city has been created 10y jerome and by
| nobody else. In the first place. his force
| OF county detectives know that they cant
| monkey with him. They know perfectly
| we'll that II would te a sorry day for any
| one Of them II he undertook a contract ,
! Ia protect any gambling house There
/ ioI,. /. uUcSI. , n~.,,,i "ntthtr the police
are colnpiacent or not. The county de-
| teCtlvoe can't be
| -Of cours" there are some gambling
| hou~" proprietors who are willing 10 take
| chauCcs and their houses are, In a way.
| open. ] mean by this that they W II y"
| open for one night and closed three Then
| th"v viii he open for three nights and closed
| for week The opening and closing Is
| governed 10y what they are abl. to learn
| of what Is going on III the District Attorneys
| part Of the Criminal Courts Building.
Bu, there i hardly more lnuuey in this
occasional business than In keeping closed
| all the time There il. Of course a diff
! ference between closed gambling house
and gambling house which isn't doing
| any business. In the sense that nobody
| can get into the so-callcd high-cla9s houses.
not one Of them l. closed. The cooks and
| house servants ara under pay. the gas
| and electric light bil, are going on and
| all the other EXPENSE, have to tie met The
| houses are open just as your home il open
to your irierds. The tables, however,
have all been taken down and the twin
| brother Of Garfield or John DAILY couldn't
| make play In any Of these houses To save
| hi- life
How long it will continue have no means
| Of knowing Nobody believes for mo
| mont that any of the houses | have men
| toned will refrain from doing business
| all winter. II il assumed that, after a
| while, they will let their patrons know
| that the tables have been set up again.
II such announcement Is not made, how
| ever, within reasonable length OF time,
| you may AXE it for granted that the houses
| will lie closed in the most literal sense
| Every one of the houses that | have men
TONED is under heavy expense now. with
| no returns.
Men like Garfield, for instance, can
stand the expense, l suppose, Indefinitely.
He can ahOrd to maintain his establish
ment, on IA gambling house scale, for his
own private residence if he wants to, But
| don't suppose he wants To and | don't
suppose - will. Of this. though, | am
sure: Unless something changes the sit ua-
tion within a reasonably short time, not a
gambling house where patrons may re-
gard themselves as perfectly safe at their
play, will be open on Manhattan Island.
| The situation is not one which pleases
the gamblers. They want to know Just
where they are at. II they cant do bust
ness they want to know II. and If they can
they want to know IL. Judging from the
vote Coler got at the last election the un-
certainty Will be- dispcllcd when the people
get "A chance to vote Tor Mayor next fall
| Now take the Syndicate'- house in
| Thirty-third street, lor instance. They've
spent several barrels of mo. y in fitting
that up and they cant do en- gh business
To meet the payroll. They're not closed
Ia the sense that Garfield and some of the
rest are closed. because they cant afford
to he. They've got 80 much money in
their plant that thcy must take chances.
But If they're open Tonight. il is more
than likely that they will be closed to-
morrow night They'd he better of II
they discharged their servants and closed
up for good
| The man above quoted is one Of the
shreW dest men in the business, but he was
| evidently reckoning without his host
District Attorney Jerome was elected for
four years and w'n have two yeas more