The Washington herald., 1906-11-17

confne themselves to little circles. Not
much, Your Benning bookmaker had the
whole field for operations. He was Brit
fish enough to get out In front of the
grandstand. where everybody could see
him and get an idea Of HIS methods. But
there the resemblance ceased.
"BOozie' Not Always There.
Your piker would lay bet at one side
Of the field and. guided by an unerring
instinct always found his way back TO the
same spot to cash in. providing that par
ticular pony went under the wire first
But sometimes the bookie wasn't there.
In fact, the chances were against the
piker Maybe he didn't remember the
bool1ie's name. Maybe he had laid his
last cent on the previous race and was in
a great hurry to draw il down so he
could get in on the next sure thing. Some
times the delay in looking up the book
maker with the red hair or the green tie
was disastrous. often the next sure thing
had raced and had lost. long before yours
truly got around More often the umid
bettOT let the money 20 rather than to
display ignorance or because he did not
know how 10 obtain redress.
Something Unique in Books.
The trotting bo0lxie is unique on Amer
ican race tracks. At Benning yesterday
he had his sheet writer's and his paymas-
tiers, just Ike he has at the nOn-reform
tracks. They trailed him around over the
field The paymaster didn't put his
money in common bag He folded it up
and thrust it into his pockets. He was
perfectly willing to pull IL out again and
TO pay the dues Of he public when he
could be found. but always he was not
available for your unsophisticated bettor
The result was utter chaos. OF course,
it was hardest on the piker playing a
shoestring. but it was hard on the better
class of gamblers as Well II was hard
on the public 1t was hard on the bookies.
A crowd of the bet-laying gentry took
the first train back 10 New York. They
couldn't stand for the uncertainty. It
wasn't worth while. this new form Of
gambling. They were disgusted.
Bets Were Light.
A rather thin opening day crowd found
its way out to Benning yesterday. The
betting was comparatively light. 1t is
estimated that the gambling sheets re-
corded les than half the number Of bets
usually laid by Washington followers OF
the turf. The people were afraid that
they would be arrested If they should so
much as speak to a bookmaker. And
then the uncertainty Of putting up money
with d man who wound his way in and
out Of a crowd, and couldn't be pinned
down to any one location, was an I'M
portant factor. The FISH didn't bite very
well. and those that did were more like
minnows than nice respectable fry.
No: il wasn't very successful, that
first day of reform bookmaking. Even the
reformers are not very proud OF their
work. They are willing TO admit now
that gambling is gambling, and that
trotting bookmaker may not get SO much
business, but lays the odds just the same.
The bookmakers' complaint IS that they
cannot assemble or work together. Or
dinarily a big bet on a horse viii pull
down the odds materially az over the
ring. Now the bookies find IT Is practi-
caly impossible 20 find out what the
other fellow has or is doing. So he
works in the dark. The result is that
while one man is offering % to / on a pony
in one corner OF the field, another viii
be putting it up 70 the public at 5 to on
the opposite side
Bloom Says IL May DO.
Bloom. the famous bookie who is down
from New York. hoping to clean Up his
usual quota Of the peoples coin, said last
night at the Raleigh Hotel that the thing
might work out if it was given time. He
admitted that chaos made successful
boOkmaking almost impossible yesterday.
but thought that both the men of his
calling and the betting public might get
used to it in three or four days.
But some Of the other bookies were not
so optimistic. They were afraid that the
string would break before the people or
they, themselves, for that matter, could
grow accustomed to the new order.
Many persons went out TO the track to
bet and came away without laying a cent,
because OF the unsatisfactory methods.
No Arrests Made.
The police did not make an arrest. The
spectators looked on the
whole thing as variety Of opera bouffe.
4 farce OF the first water. Reformers
and bettors agreed that it was a joke.
either from an an anti or a pro gambling
point Of view Only the riker was hurt.
and the bookmaker dissatisfied
Whether enough of the bookies will re-
main 70 keep the gambling alive, and
whether the public will support unsatis-
factory methods, even after II gets used
to them, are questions that a very few
DAYS viii determine