The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-05-26
SUNDAY GAMING ON
THE THE POTOMAC POTOMAC FLATS
Crap Shooting All the Rage
Near Long Bridge.
PICKETS FOR EVERY PARTY
Participants, Mostly Negroes, Keep a
Sharp Lookout fer Police OF Detec-
tive SPieS-Fourteen Games in
Operation Yesterday.

The long stretches of Potomac fats
have become a veritable mecca for crap
shooters and other petty gamblers from
this city, and Sunday is the day chosen
for these advertisements Yesterday
certain portions CT the fats. notably
thar section south Of Long Bridge. fair
/ " swarmed with this class Of game
sters.
The tall grasses and dense shru5bery
/ Oh this reclaimed land form covert
places for the vioIators Of the law. and
/ Io0kouts are posted TO warn the play
ers Of the approach Of the police or
( any. persons VINO is suspected Of being
q police spy. A large majority Of the
gamblers INDUCED in craps" which is
so often attended by fatal results, as
/ the records Of the Police Department
show = pilgrimage OF the fats yes
terday revealed sights which caused the
! reflection that jackson City was not in
It with this out-of-dOors gambling re-
sort The players were principally ne
gT0cs. men and boys, with now and then
a white man
Entering The tract near Seventeenth
Street there ) Gn almost inte=H1iHa5Ie
tangle of briers, weeds. and high grass.
4 little further along group OF col
/ ored boys were angling yesterday in an
! Inlet for sHselt and minIOWs. They eyed
/ the reporter sya=PieisHsly and enc Of the
number gave three short. sharp whis-
t ties. remarkinE in an UHdeTtone to his
companions He might Re Ay-''
The whistle brought from an adj1in-
ing thicket short thick-set negro who
was evidently q picket posted to watch
for the approach Of policemen OF detec-
tiyes Walking ont into the path he
saze1 critic lIy at the reporter for a
moment anu then disappeared into the
same thicket from which he had emery
ed A glance in this secluded spot re
veaIed about fifteen young CoIoTed men
sitting and standing around IL a circle,
all OF them wearIng exceedingly inno-
cent expression CT their faces They
soon came 20 he conclusion that the
reporter was not a fly cop" ana one
bury fellow sang out, Play ball: he's
all right
in another instant the bones were
produced and the gamblers went at It
with a vim, the players swapping their
fingers and singing out such phrases as.
/ "Sebbea. leb5Gss eoEEe ont dar-" Roll.
honey roll Bounce IN dar sebben:
Buy my gal & new dress and similar
expressions as requirements for the
dice 10 t1Tn u the winning numbers.
Further along On the fats two ether
/ crap-shooting touTEa Tnents were ~
/ progress, while pair OF Pickets we're
posted On the path 10 give timely warn
ing CT the approach of anyone suspect
cd Of being connected with the Police
Department Each sentry had his own
peculiar signal which when given
caused an instant cessation Of the game
/ The money is always placed on the
ground when the game is IL progress
I The players comprise la5orers. boot
blacks. ueWsb0ys. and others, who find
II safer 20 90 cut on the fats TO shoot
de bones than TO take chances in the
back aIIeys and on the waste places Of
the city, where they are more liable 10
fail into the clutches 81 the law
The reporter counted fourteen crap
games in pro gTess. NfHe OF these were
south of Long Bridge. Besides these
there were several parties engaged in
playing penny ante. seven up and poker
from ] cent TO . cents a corner. Each
game had posted a lookout to watch for
the police. These were paid percent
age Of the winnings for their services
Many Of the players were provided
with bottles Of whisky and several Of
the number we're stretched at full
length in the grass sleeping off the eff
fects Of too much "frewater" Fights
and brawls are Of frequent occurrence.
and number OF the victims are said 20
have received treatment recently at the
Emergency Hospital