The San Francisco call., 1904-12-04

ing the fantan houses must have re-
ceived.
do you know of any gambling games
being conducted upstairs in China
town." asked Chairman Reagan.
From hearsay 1 do,'' Hutton an
swered Il have heard considerable
about that the last three months. Last
month 1 was told that gambling
was carried on upstairs in the day.
time and downstairs at night In the
latter part of November 1 was informed
the games were compelled to move
downstairs altogether"
CHINESE WE'RE WARNED.
What reasons have you for believing
that the Chinese were notified of your
presence in Chinatown last Monday
night, when you sent the note to Ser
geant Ellis to meet you?"
They must have been notified. 1 have
often been in Chinatown before, but
never before did l see such crowds of
Cinnamon out on the street looking at
me. Every gambling was closed,
which was also an unusual circum-
stance. There must have been some un-
usual excitement to bring so many
Commissioner Hutton then gave way
to Sergeant Jesse B. Cook, who had
been transferred from the harbor dis
trict to Chinatown to take Ellis place
in command of the squad detailed to
suppress gambling. Cook said that he
was on similar duty in Chinatown for
four months in the latter part of 1902
and in the early part of 1903. Since his
return few days ago he has canvassed
the quarter thoroughly and the places
where gambling has been going on un-
til the present investigation, but he
found that the number of houses de-
voted to fantan was about the same as
that Of the games in operation two
years ago. According to his statement
there has virtually been no increase in
gambling in Chinatown since 1902. He
stamped 1t out the four months he was
in charge of the squad there, but only
by hard work, that finally wore him out
and compelled him to ask to be trans
ferred to an easier station.
do you think gambling can be sup
pressed in Chinatown" queried Com
missioner Hutton.
The witness slowly shook his head,
smiled and then said, 1T would be
terrible job to do it; can't say"
Hutton, apparently more hopeful that
the vice could be removed, pressed the
witness, but Sergeant Cook, speaking
from experience Of many years during
which he had been stationed in the Chi
nese quarter off and on, did not give
strong encouragement.
Did the Chief of Police or any one
else ever ask you to protect gambling
in Chinatown" asked Ruef.
mo, SIR" was the answer of Ser
geant Cook.
TALK OF POLICE VISITS.
Lee Sing, member of the so-called
Educational Society," testified that
he had been employed as doorkeeper
for the fantan game conducted at S26
Washington street and was on duty
when the telephone message came
Monday evening from a Chinese
named Wong Yu to "Close up because
sergeants and detectives were coming
up" Wong Yu was telephoning from
another gambling house on Ross alley
and he asked that other places in the
vicinity of the Washington-street re-
sort be notified at once. The witness
knew nothing, however, of how the
alarm came to be spread.
do you know of any money being
paid for protection from the police ?"
II only heard other people say so."
did you ever see any policemen in
the gambling houses"
IT have seen them come up and go
away"
Did you see any policemen at $50
Washington street last Saturday or
Sunday?"
IT saw them come up to the second
door. The inside door was closed
when they appeared, shutting them
from the fantan room. They soon left.
On Saturday I was gambling in
house on Spofford alley and the officers
came to the door and kicked it. The
interpreter was called and when he
arrived the policemen were allowed in
side. He took them off to a side and
had a talk with them. after which he
told US all to go out. He ordered us to
leave slowly by twos and threes, be-
cause a rush would attract too much
attention. There were two policemen,
but they were not in uniform"
The witness was not asked IL he
could identify the officers.
Through DR.. Gardner, acting as in
terpreter, Chin Fay testified that he
was interested in a gambling house
III Ross alley, where fantan games
have been running for years. The
place was closed for a time and re-
opened a few months ago.
did you ever have talk with any
body about contributing $5 to a
fund? ?" was asked.
'It was not I. 1t was the banker of
the house. He talked with a man
through an interpreter. We were told
there would be trouble with the po-
lice
Tell what you know of any such
trouble"
MONEY STOPS RAIDING.
Three or four days after the house
was opened the police began to bother
us. We were raided every day and
sometimes several times during
day, the raids often be-
ing not more than half an
hour apart. We sent for Chin Book