The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-19
Night Clerk Caught Off
 His Guard.
DOORS BATTERED DOWN
Police Did Not Catch Proprietor
 Alexander.
Bonds Were Fixed at $500 Each and
 Three EmPl0yes of Place Were ; Locked in CeIls-Omcer Car. rigan Did the Work.

At g o'clock last night, Gardner, the clerk of the Merchants Hotel on Blob Street yawned and stuck his hands in his pockets. He strolled out from be- hind the counter and sat down in a rocking chair near the big stove. Fifteen feet of space were between him and the little white electric button that communicated with the gambling hell of Robert L. Alexander on the third floor of the hotel building. Alexander is proprietor of the hotel.
 A tall man. wearing a brown hat and . civilians oyercoat opened the door of the hotel ofice and leaving it wide open, walked swiftly to the end of the counter between the clerk and the lat tie white button.
 The watchful clerk. for the once caught of his guard, attempted to rush around the counter but the tall man stopped him with an outstretched hand. Wait a minute; don't go any further" said the mysterious stranger who stood revealed as Special oficer P. L. Carrigan. of the Montgomery Police Department.
 At the same moment Police Captain w. H. Taylor, rushed in at the head of a special detail composed of Patrol men Ragland, Potter Smith, Avant Canty, Mitchell, Williamson. Downs and Partin. Several of the patrolmen were armed with wooden handled iron shod rammers that are used in packing pavements firmly down.
 The long delayed raid on the Alexan- der gambling hell was on. ,s,
 The hotel clerk saw the patrolmen rush upstairs to the third floor. Car rigan still guarding the push button, and then he cooiiy resumed his seat by the stove. It was all up, so far as the clerk was concerned.
 Alexander Not Arrested.
 The raid was successfully made with the single exception that Alexander the proprietor of the place was not among the eight men who were arrest ed
 Five separate doors were battered down with the iron shod rammerss be- fore the last gambling apartment was reached. Eight men were arrested. four of them attaches of the place. and nearly $500 in money. supposed to be- long to Alexander and his confederates was found. The men within the gam bling rooms made no attempt to re- sist or harm the raiding party.
 The men arrested within the rooms and who were said by the police to be attaches of the place were Tom Naftel. LA. Fully, Joe Perry and Ike Abraham. Perry was said to have been banking the "crap game" that was in progress when the police broke in
 The other men arrested and who were said to have been visitors to the place were J. Engler, s. B. Strauss. G. c. DeBardeIeben. and Fletcher Cren- shaw.
 The police also found a double hand full of different colored dice and tin box with a slot in 1t and they found in a drawer in one of the rooms s123.45 in addition to the money they took of the persons of the men arrested.
 Advertiser Cartoon Found.
 In hurriedly searching the room one of the patrolmen made an interesting find It was The Advertisers first cartoon on the gambling situation, carefully cut out and preserved. The cartoon represented Chief Gerald shak- ing his fist at Alexander and saying Come down." while Alexander from the third floor of the Merchants Hotel replied tauntingly, Come up."
 The patrolman said. Look at this; Alexander"
 But Alexander was not found. He is said to have been out of the hotel all evening.
 The raid was the result of an anl- davit sworn out by Bradford Hardie, a we'll known wholesale merchant of Montgomery. This affidavit was sworn out before Recorder A. H. Arrin gton
 The affidavit was made out under Section 1i71 of the City Code which reads as follows: When affidavit is made before the Recorder or the Act ing Recorder by any reputable citizen that he has good cause to believe. and he does believe, that any house Cor any part of a house). in the city, or police jurisdiction. is kept for the purpose of carrying on gambling therein. the Chief of Police. or other officer and patrol men of police. may. and 1t shall be their duty. to break into and enter such house. or part thereof. upon the refusal Of the occupant, or owner thereof. to open the same, and to seize all gamb- ling instruments and to arrest all per- sons found therein"
 The afidavit. after having been made out and signed by Mir. Hardie. was placed in the hands of the Chief of Police for action under the section named.
 Section 1172, which immediately fol- lows. provides that any person found