New-York tribune., 1906-05-04
THE LOTTERY ROUNDUP
Biggest SeiSure on Record, Chief
WdBic SAYS.
FFrom me tribune Bureau.I

TFrom The Tribune Bureaul
washington. Nay s.-The seizure OF lottery siek-
80 st wilmington and New York and the arrest cf
- managers of the enterprise by Secret service
,scers marks the third big case OF the kind
honded by the United States Bureau within the
I,st year. More developments are expected in the
sssnt case. and Il il altogether likely that NUM-
ber Of prominent men in various parts Of the coun-
~ who acted as agents for the lottery company
vl be arrested. There is said TO be a New Orleans
8d 10 the affair which win prove interesting as
.,o wilmington phase, but for obvious reasons
rFief wnkie Is not prepared 70 show his hand until
sster al the arrests are made and the defendants
rave been brought before the courts.
The present lottery ticket seizure said Chief
vrilIe IS probably the largest in the record OF
ne department. Although hope TO make
,sffv fair cleanup OF the men and the machinery
Win which they worked before we get through
With the case. we do not expect to put a stop 20
ne lottery business The profits so large and
me penalties small that Il Is quite probable
others VII take up the work when they think they
rave found favorable opening. We viii try, how
svsr. 70 keep them fairly busy lodging US as long
rs they engage IN interstate traffic make use OF
The mails. All the returns are not yet in from the
wilmington case. but It is safe 70 say that several
hundred thousand tickets were gathered in. These
slezets were for the June and July drawings. The
tickets for May had already been distributed.
Usually they got rid OF their tickets about three
UOlLlG n aQFAuCGs DAI LnS I1lS lueg were n LLue
Isse owing the printers strike and other circum-
Etances over which they had control
L !s understood that the managers OF the Hon
GuTas Lottery Company, the concern just nabbed
by the Secret Service detectives netted more than
eeoe0 a month from the business OF course this
amount had 10 be divided among a large number
Of agents ticket sellers and distributors but the
CHEF profits went 10 half a dozen men who fur
nshed The capital and the brains for the enterprise
The entire country was divided into districts and
Eubdistcts; travelling and local agents had their
allotted territory 10 cover. and complete system
OF bookkeeping was conducted at headquarters to
keep close account OF all the ramihcations OF the
concern. Not since the days OF the old Louisiana
Lottery Company, IT is said, have the enterprising
Tenders OF chances had such complete and well
oiled system n operation as the one just broken up
By the Secret Service officials. It Is believed that
the machinery OF the Honduras company was
modelled after the old Louisiana concern. This may
account for its eminent success business vent.
ure. With profit Of more than 100000 year
70 reward its hackers they well afford to give
it considerable attention. and. IL need be- employ
first class accountants and bookkeepers to conduct
affairs on z good business basis.
The drawings Of the lottery were. Of course, not
held IN Honduras or IN any other out Of the way
corner Of the globe. The prizes were drawn on
steamboat, not far from Of the large seacoast
cities and. It IS asserted by those who know were
not 'on the square" The managers so manipulated
fortunes wheel that certain tickets which had been
placed where they would do the most good would
draw prizes. These had been distributed sold in
advance TO politicians with pulls petty county
ard municipal officers or persons whose influence
would be helpful the lottery company in the
future. All the facts will probably come to the
surface at the trial Of the men charged with print
ing and distributing the tickets
Less than q year ago the Secret Service unearthed
Ra extensive lottery ticket factory in San Fran
cisco. Tickets FOR the Mexican the Panama and the
Little Honduras Lottery companies we're handled
By this outfit. which composed of Henry and
Mark Morris A c. Karski and a man named Rob-
srts They had an effective organization in almost
every state IN the Union. and distributed several
hundred thousand tickets monthly. Their fall
dated from the time they wrote to certain man
n Cincinnati, asking him to act as their local
Hgent The man approached happened to be the
Cincinnati agent OF the Society for the Suppression
Of Vice, and in order TO make case against them
be ostensbly fell in with their scheme. After sew
eal weeks Of tireless pursuit the Secret Service
- 40 - ai1S 1. Deen paced on tne case at the re-
eI Of the men. Mark Morris was arrested at Ho-
Roberts was taken AT Chicago after a chase which
eo from san Francisco TO New York. from New
from Providence West, and the others were not so
aaro 70 catch All were heavily fined, but escaped
soon after the San Francisco case was cleaned
lBd Elects OF The Montana MiEire Loan and fn
.essSent Company. with headquarters at Butte
eno It's principal Eastern branch at Reading. Penn
man named Smith was the Reading manager
eno his operations led TO the discovery of the
suite fountain head Although not called q lot
- company. i was lottery scheme in the eyes
W the Law. the plan followed being the sale of
snares u stock Certain shares drew premiums"
saeh month. and those which were not lucky were
flt out Of circulation by the next months issue
great many victims contributed regularly to the
scnernes and when the detectives sWooped down on
nf Reading and Butte Offices simultaneously rooms
il4 Of tickets and account books were captured
n lSlt the Secret Service ended the business
career of the Louisiana Lottery and Investment
,onpany which had Offices IN Chicago and New
YTiesns- T. A Gourdain was at the head OF the
company. and he sold TO each investor deed to a
oi N 4 swamp near Lake Pontchartrain. He had
iuly secured title 70 several thousand acres Of
fEslnp land there. and, had test case ever been
laaoe by Of the LOT owners. he could have de-
lFered him the actual land. Monthly sales Of
ne oollpSuy's property held. IN lieu Of the
monthly drawings OF the ordinary lottery company
s1d those lots which We're sold netted the in
1estors handsome profits OF course, il was only
new name for lottery. and n new method Of
Procedure 1Cr ascertaining the lucky ticket hold
= oHt II so successful that Mr.. GouFdain
Us no yet been made 10 suffer for his infraction
q ibe lottery laws. A clever feature OF Gourdan s
fIaelafe The manner in which he printed his
seeds or tickets At the top OF the pasteboard was
10 inscription. Louisiana lot, and on the next
ne iu smaller type, were the words. and in
eslnent company" showing that the hnancier
saa made his ticket resemble as much as possible
se tickets Of the Louisiana Lottery Company
Solrcsins Is still pending In the courts.