Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-06
MADE A BIG WINNING

THAT big rake-down which was recently
made by scientific wire tappers on the VIC
tory Of the horse Jack Ratln at Latonia
reminds me of similar sort of dodge
which was put through for big money in
the most high-fiying pool room in the state
of California last winter" said traveller
from the Pacific coast. 1.-THE pool room
was located in Sausalito. the picturesque
little town at the far end of San Francisco
bay and opposite Angel Island. 1t was run
by eastern men, and was only for the
plungers who didn't care for the rush and
hurry and elbowing attending visits to the
tracks where the races were being run.
Track odds or better were given in this
pool room, and no bet Of less than 800
was taken, the limit being put that way
to keep out the pikers and small fry. Bets
of 5000 on the outcome Of a race weren't
unusual in that room, and small fortunes
were won and lost there every day by the
mob of skyscraping horse players.
A gang of eastern race followers or the
scheming variety concluded that that was
just about the sort of a pool room that
would probably stand for big tapping,
and they spent weeks in framing up plan
to get the money. They rented a small
house near the Oakland track that COM
manded a first-rate view of the whole Oak
land course, and in his house they had in
stalled a private telephone. This all fixed,
they rented another house directly across
the street from the plungers pool room in
Sausalito. They had the telephone COM
pany put another private telephone in this
house and connect the wire with the tele-
phone in the little house that they had
rented near the Oakland track
THE member of the outfit of schemers
who knew all of the various racing colors
from long experience as well as he knew
his alphabet was stationed at the Oakland
cottage to watch the finishes. The scheme
was that the money should only be put
down on horses that had such big lead
at the head of the stretch that they would
have to fall down to lose their races. This
was to gain time on the regular telegraph
operators of the track who sent the results
to the Western Union Office, whence they
were communicated to the pool rooms all
over the coast. When the man in the front
window Of the Oakland cottage saw horse
leading his field by big margin-he used
field glasses, of course, so as to guard
against making mistakes in the colors-he
would simply call off the name of that
horse to his pal at the telephone in the
same room with him, and even before the
horse with the big winning lead had won.
the man at the telephone would phone the
name of the front horse to the man at the
phone in the Sausalito cottage. Then the
man with the dough would hustle across
the street to the pungers' pool room and
put down a big bet on the horse that had
the unbeatable lead in the stretch.
THE scheme of only playing the horses
that had the big winning leads enabled the
crafty ones to beat the telegraphers who,
OF course, never wired to the central office
in San Francisco the name of the winning
horse until the winner had actually got
under the wire. Moreover, they had often
another time margin to rely upon, for the
track operators had to send the results
straight to the San Francisco Office, and
general thing these results weren't COM
municated to the pool rooms for from three
to six minutes after the races were over.
1T was the most profitable rig-up that
was ever fixed by racing schemers in this
country, and the gang worked the Sausa-
Tito pool room for tens of thousands of dol
lars
"At length, however. the pool room peo-
pie began to notice that this Individual
who always got his money down lust a
minute or two before the races was a pref
ty consistent winner. and SO they engaged
well-known San Francisco detective to
watch proceedings for them for a few days
The pool room folks suspected out-and-out
wire tapping, but ii didn't take the de-
tective more than three days to tumble to
the way the dodge was being worked. BY
this time the crafty ones were making bets
of from $1,000 to $1,000 a clip on horses
that gained the big winning margins at the
Oakland track, and even the plungers' pool
room was severely feeling the effect of that
kind of play.
THE detective suggested to the head man
OF the pool room that 1t would be good
scheme for him to accept the next bet of
the man in the gang who did the wagering
and just keep that little wad toward re-
1mburs1ng himself for his losses after
which the betting man of the swindling
gang could be told why the money had
been kept. But the boss man of the pool
room was a notably square man for that
sort OF business, and he said that he wasn't
doing business in that way. All that he
wanted to do was to get shut of the swim
dlers, and they were entitled to what they
had already got out of him, he said
If they're clever enough to goupe us
was his way of putting the matter, they're
entitled to the winnings the horse business
being game of dog eat dog all the way
through. any way 1 don't want the money
back, but they don't play in this yard any
more, that's ALL
ION the day following the detectives
discovery of the way the game was being
Worked-the gang being quite unconscious
that their little dodge was under investiga-
tion-the man at the window of the Oak
land cottage saw that the noted jumpine
horse Lord Chesterfield, who was the ia
vorite in his steeplechase race at to /,
was in the van of his field before reaching
the final obstacle by a margin of nearly a
quarter OF a mile. So he took a chance on
sending the name Of that horse alone-it
looked as certain as anything ever could
look that LORD Chesterfield would come
home all by himself
about minute later the betting man
at the Sausalito end Of the line stroIIed
up to the counter of the plungers' pooI
room and laid down five 81, 900 bills.
Lord Chesterfield straight he said
Not today. PAL said the boss man OF
the pool room. appearing at the counter
himself then. You don't want to try to
hog the works. you know. You and your
bunch have got about enough, and we're
next. l could nail that 49, COO and keen il
ana you wouldn't have a squeak Coming.
but I'm not taking money that I don't win
In square play. You know-I've had a
ny cop on your trafl-that Lord Chesterfield
has already COPIED his race and
Crest wins over the jumps-Lord Ches-
terf1eld fell down! sung out the pool room
operator just at that moment.
The betting man Of the gang slipned tbe
$1,000 into his vest pocket. and the boss
man of the pool room looked as If he would
have enjoyed throwing about ton of nav
ing blocks at himself. He was ont inst
$1,000 of squarely won money that he might
have taken in and tucked into his cash
drawer had his detective not tumbIed to the
schemers' dodge just one day too soon.
The man with the field glasses at the Oak
land cottage had been little too previous
with his announcement, and Lord Chester
field, with his lead of a quarter of a mile.
I~>A