The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02
THE. ALLEN HAS QUIT At LAST
J VETERAN GAMBLER MAD FOUGHT
! polio n 10 YEARS.
lie u. Now Past go and Very FeeDIe-HIs
POOIrOOm Has Reen RaIdcd More Than
Hundred Times -IsarrOom ScrRpper
and sport How re came To Surrender.

and sport How he CamctO Surrender.
The. Allen, gambler. rough and tumble
fighter, divekeeper and all around bad
nan, the last surviving relic of the days
vihen the Mercer street precinct was tho
porting section Of New York. has aO last
lowed to the law after n war with the police
inat lasted more than forty years. IL be
ian back in the rs when Allen, who had
,srved his country honorubly in the civil
var, returned to New York and set himself
,p as the king of gamblers, the sport Of
oorts.
Something OF his relations with tine au-
t'Iorities can be- gained from the records.
vhich show that he has been indicted time
nd again; that he has been arraigned
Ia the police courts nearly $50 times, that
ls'has been in the Appellate D6ision of
tire Supreme Court three times, that he
has been in tho Court If Appeals twice and
IT, at he has been in the Federal courts twice.
Now he is old and feeble and the indomi-
tSole spirit tina, enabled him for 40 long a
Isriod TO defy the authorities seems TO be
broken. He is long past 40, and 30 helpless
that he has TO he assisted about by two
todyguards.
Yet il was only the other day that he
rave in and told District Attorney jerome
that he was through with the gambling
la siuess forever. Two years ago lie was
saying that he would keep up the fight
a- long as there was breath in his body.
Il am right. because l have survived all
"a g." he said then. IF | wasn't right l
uuld not be here. No man in the world
.-Ias suffered SO much from injustice and
-leisecution AS l have. The laws are for
% lew. Those who have fought me we're
horn In Easy street, with a mint at one end
an q college at the other. l never went
70 school. l got my education on the docks
AM on the playground of Rocky Bottom.
lad to fight my way along and have had
20 light for the thousands who were caught
in the nets that were spread for me-"
Are you thinking of retiring?'
Yes" was the reply, Il will retire when
yo / write my obituary, but don't think
] IN long for this world"
n this way the aged gambler announced
81 1 he would keep it up until his death.
bd5 the District Attorney has found a way
Trough the Bowling law to make him sur
re der. This law does not permit "A man
~ refuse 70 testify on the ground that
to evidence he gives may have a tendency
O. convict him of a crime. On the other
D.. ID, evidence 50 given cannot be used
-. inst the witness in any future criminal
pr ,ceeding or investigation.
am through" All III told Mr.. Jerome
~ 4 recent inter lew. Il would have quit
hi z ago, az l have made all the money
] i.eed-more than | will ever have need
f:-but / didn't feel like backing down
under fire. | always thought that the
Pc Cy-Gray law was unconstitutional and
tE : to fine or inpris)n me for vi)lItiaS
it. while other gamblers were Violating
j every day under the protection of the
nm horities was the rankost kind of injustice.
That was why Ihung on. My family beg ged
mt for years to give up the business. The
shame and worry of seeing me continually
explcited in the newspapers as the
vic kedest man in New York drove my
wife 10 her grave
They say that I am a lawbreaker, and
] Suppose we will have to let it go at that.
You will never hear ag in of a raid on The.
Allsn's."
Alien became a gambler when he was
IN bis teens through accidentally meeting
e. professional who took an interest in him
and initiated him into the business. Allen
was born in the old Ninth ward and began
- Darn his Ii. ing when he was 10 years old.
He worked in a butcher shop that was owned
Ivy Bill Poole, who was afterward murdered
Ivy Lew Baker. He served in the civil
war and was a lieutenant in the Twenty
fifth New York Volunteers when he was
'lcrorably discharged.
The. had two brothers.. Wesley and Jesse
Al!n, who were better known as Wess and
jess. They, too, were bright stars of the
50 Jrting I've in New York thirty or thirty
five years ago, when The. was known as the
wickedest man in town" Besides being
kn )wn TO the police as a gambler, The. had
the reputation of being one of the most
successful barroom scrappers in New York.
H. -aa Aoarriha1 "a q having tho triply pf
polling a lighted cigar butt into the eyes
CT his opponent before the other fellow
could get, in a blow, and as using glasses,
oh Irs or any other barroom furniture that
vas handy when he was attacked. Once
he got into a fight with an Italian gambler
ncmed Carrera who as they rolled about
Tho floor tried repeatedly to stab Allen with
rn ice pick. Allen managed to get hold Of
n heavy mineral water bottle, and with it
! . gut his opponent to sleep, after the Ital-
ia, had nearly bitten his nose of.
che. was In bed for a long time after
u ut fight. and at one time his life was de-
s1ured of. When he got out he was less
nv gracious than before, and as far as is
Known he had no more barroom fights.
H, Ia a small man and wiry, but all who
krow him agree that he never was a fraid
of ANYTHING that stood in shoe lea Their.
H. never drank and was always cool.
I'd Malloy, The partner, was shot and
II led by a pistol in the hands of Allen on
-saptember s, 1878. The. always said il
WIS an accident and he was never prose-
~ ted for the shooting. He told the story
~ II himself afterward when he was I'm
. Special Sessions Court one day in an
other case.
-Malloy was my lif elong friend, said he.
"For twenty years we lived in the same
Z shouse and ate at the same table; One night
went 10 a meeting at which Peter COOPER
r resided. l heard that there was going
! 20 be trouble, so / borrowed "A gun. The
sxt morning Malloy and | started for our
( flee at 6l5 Broadway and on the way |
found a kitten with a broken back. As l
t5ooped over TO pick mp the kitten the gun
stuck out Of my pocket. Nollov saw the
istol and he wanted to know where | got
Il and what | carried It for. | told him
nd then he wanted 10 have a look at the
un. ] banded il to him and just ~ he
was reaching for it the gun went of and