The Washington herald., 1906-11-18
MNNING NO BETTER
BOOkieS Almost as Numerous
as in Days Gone BY.
lBETTING IS UNREsTRAINED
Tr0ttiRg Odd-Iayer of Friday Be-
came stroller, and BettOrs Had No
Trouble In Getting Their Money
DOwR-Layers of Odds Always in
Plain View of the Crowd.
The bookie will win. after all.

The bOokie viii win. after all.
OF course, he usually does. but in Wash
ington he had to buck great odds-at least
they looked great on the face of the
ssticlet.
But leave it 10 the wise ones to devise
ways and means to separate the dear
public from It's money.
The trctting bockmaker of the opening
day at Benning became the strolling
bookmaker yesterday. As some of the
bigger fry predicted Friday afternoon,
when the bets were all in. the new scheme
neeessitated by the anti-gambling crusade
of the District attorneys Office will ad-
just itself. The racegoers, in time, will
become accustomed to it, and odd laying
awin flourish as of yore.
And the reformer-that is. the real ar
! ticle-is sad. Far from mailing the lid
down, as he had hoped ne has only sue
ceeded in cumming the cards bit. Gam
bling hourishes, and If there Is any advan-
tage 1t is on the side OF immortality.
For now your bookmaker does not hide
himself behind the grandstand in a pa
vilion- Nc, sir, he's right out IN front
where everybody can see him. If any un-
sophisticated lambs should wander out TO
Benning and ind seats in the spectators
row. they would have wisdom and conse-
/, quent decentralization thrust upon them.
II the sight of money changing hands is 4
temptation, and the most eminent of
psychologists have said it is. then the
new scheme IS all to the bad from the re-
form point OF view. Even d child might
3, learn how it is done, and the disinterested
sightseer has thrust unOn him. first the
betting feature and. second, the noble
sport Of horse racing.
Dubbed Farce.
Some Of the fair-minded attendants at
yesterdays races dubbed the whole thing
farce, and they were very near to the
truth. The drastic methods Of the Dis
trict attorneys ONCE and the stringent
orders handed down to the police have re-
suited, and from every indication viii re-
suit only in slight temporary incon-
venience TO the bookies. and in a few
sad moments for the pikers, who, under
) the new system. can't cash in fast enough
or are compelled TO leave the field, uncer-
tain which bOOkmaker has their savings
Tie bookies who had the farsightedness /
10 stay over the second day and give the
English odd-laying methods chance are
lubilanL It'll all come cut in the wash,
they say, and soon their short pocket
sheets viii record as many winnings as
old the long, wide sheets Of the good old
days The betting public Will learn TO ad-
Just itself. and IN time viii be able 20
stroll about the field at its leisure. spot
ting the boCkmaker with the odds and the
dough quite as easily as il he sat on q
stool under a long shed.
Betting still Light.
The betting was rather light yesterday. /
Uncertainty made a good many night shy /
but growing confidence was evident, and
81 the end OF next week conditions un- /
doubtedly viii have assumed their normal /
phase.
The bookies were not nearly so active /
as on Friday. In fact, most OF them stuck /
pretty consistently 10 one small circle !
Occasionally they shifted from one foot /
10 another or described a diminutive are /
but the bluecOats didn't interfere. and 7
they didn't try TO float around any more 7
than any man naturally would if called /
upon TO remain on his feet for several /
hours.
Nobody with q dollar or more to risk /
, had any trouble in getting his money up .
Z In fact, ne would have had a very hard 4
4 time escaping from the clutches Of these /
ShylOcks Of the turf Sometimes he expe-
rienced slight difficulty in finding the 4
right fellow after the race had been run 1
and the Official scorer declared him in the 1
money.
BOOkies Shifted Occasionally.
II was at that crucial moment that the /
bookies did the most shifting In justice /
10 the ''prOfesA" it must be said that they |
were not trying 10 avoid just payments. /
Even q bOokmaker is human and wants .
to be at a point Of vantage when the /
ponies go by the post. Then. too. this
was their only opportunity TO get together
in laying the odds for the next race.
Il was a fair Saturday crowd and a
goOd-natured one. There was plenty Of
perpleXity, but the chaos and annoyance
Of the previous day. had, TO great ex-
tent disappeared. Just give EN- another
four days and your Washington bettors
won't care whether the bOokie trots,
strOlls. sits, or stands still. They all know
how 10 get up their bets now and very
soon the most uusophisticated Of the
bunch viii know how TO pull down when
they win.
Same Old Game.
Very little has been accomplished bv
all this furry. Betting will go on and on i
as long as there are suckers and horse
races. The campaign for reform has
caused the bookie to change his methods
slightly. He has 10 work harder. and
can't be quite SO urbanely Indifferent 10
his victim as before It's the same old
game in a different col0red dress. Even
the spots are unchanged.
Baker Was There.
Among the interesting spectators at
yesterdays races was District Attorney
Baker. who says he loves horsehesh and
likes to see the ponies run. He was about
the field and is said 10 have been periIous-
~ near to some OF the bOokmakeTs.
Mr.. Baker had retired when a reporter
called at his home to ask about it, He
granted an interview, however. and
denied that he had placed d bet or had
anything 10 do with the bookies. He said
he just liked 20 see them run, that was all
lie deplored the rumOr that had been
bTuited about that he had won money at
the track. He admitted that members Of