The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-12-01
CALIFORNIA CLUB KEEPS
EAGLE EYE ON THE BOYS
WITH SYRINGE AND BULB
President Williams Determined to Guard Against the
Dope Afsts-Guy Burns Worthy Successor TO
Famous Brother-New Plungers Turn Up.
By ]. A. S. MACDONALD.

lAOOONs%AOs
the Rialto. Along it promenade the
actor. the student, the sport, and mil
lionaire
The people who get up at 3 in the aft
ernoon and retire at daybreak make this
street tneir lounging place, All is &C
tvity. Huge arches of light soften the
hard glare of the arc and severity of the
electric glow is mellowed Here II IS
that the plungers and the pikers rub
elbows and discuss the merits OF the
nexs days card. and incidentally tell
why Il was that they did not break the
books in the almost forgotten past. 1t
is a mighty busy thoroughfare this new
street in the newer San Francisco.
II Is at Thompson's restauran that
bon wants gather TO sup, wneIe the
millionaires congregate TO do justice to
spread worthy OF king. and wLe ere
the layers rest after their hard day of
activity. Jack" Thompson, an old New
Yorker, is the host. Several years ago
the Goddess of Fortune frowned upon
him in Gotham, and he nit the trail TO
the Golden West He was lucky in the
/ outset, inasmuch as he ran a shoestring
into a tannery. Then he shot the bank
roll into a rositerri in the old Frisco.
Along game the quake and fire and
wiped Thompson OF the map. but the
Gotham Kid was game He jumped into
the Rue de Fillmore and secured lease.
He sent his entrance into O'Farrell
street and made no mistake He cor
nered the trade OF the big bugs from
the beginning ard by his geniality holds
them.
On Opeaing day he had a "s%eIler'' on
Jack Nunnally. the nag that won the
Inaugural Handicap. and with the win
nings he intends 70 build a new Peruvian
Grotto for the express purpose Of &C
cOmmOdating horsemen. Jack Thomp-
son Is almost the real thing. He plays
I the ponies like a real "Pittsburg Phil
and so he feels justified IN doing any
1 thing that might tend 10 make any OF
the clOse-mOuthed horsemen loosen up.
They will all swear by his table, how
ever. Fillmore street is Market streets
successor.
This meeting has developed some new
plungers, even II II is only a few weeks
old, and among the most prOmin6ut are
| DIT. Max ROthschild, Bob McKeever. and
Bertram LytelL The former Is a physi
/ clan with a fashionable practice, whose
only recreation Is a day now and then
at the track When he thinks he Is
right he will bet as much as $500, and
so far this season he has had but few
losing days. He knows the dangers Of
the game, however. and although he
f, can now count his winnings In the neigh
bOrhoOd Of $500, he Is confident that
the boOdes will get IL all back II ne
doesn't play 'possum- Its my only
pleasure" he says. "zLd ! can afford
to lose now, so what does It matter, eh2''
Bob" McKeever came out here with
Il - ha
cutting a wide swath on outside horses,
for his own stable IS hardly ready TO
give a real good account Of itself When
he unOeIts there is always something
doing In the rubbing line, and, what
I is more, he rarely makes an error. In
fact ne has a fielding average like
unto that of Willie Keller.
Bertram Lytell is an actor. the hand
some leading man Of the New Alcazar
stock company, one Of the oldest organi-
cations in the United States. He draws
down salary Of many thousands CG
dollars a year from Fred Belasco, broth
er Of the famous David. but he could
We'll enough work for nothing all mex.
year if he would hang on 10 his wiz
nings in the early pOrl on of the meet
ing He Is reputed TO be nearly $4,000
winner since opening day, and that is
going a heap.
the new year, and as he likes the game
he may go East and make q bid to
I become Met" next summer At New
Orleans two years ago Lyteu figured as
one OF the big plungers of the winter
meeting.
The New York contingent is pretty
well settled into stride; in fact, the ring
at Oakland takes on the atmosphere Of
Sheepshead Bay at times. On opening
day there were twenty-eight books in
line, but since the close down OF New
York racing the complement has reached
as high as Jhirty-One. This means a
stiH game. Just now Charlie" Bow
man is the real Big Store Of the
bOurse. Last winter he handled as
much as $4,000 in an afternoon, and
before Christmas he expects TO see Just
such play again. California Is "A lucKy-
I spot for BOwmen- He losses OF q for
tune in the East 10 come back here for
a winter cleanup, which eveEs up past
scores and sends him out into the lead.
Sam" Shaen and George Rose are rIak-
ing strong book; in fact. so good is
the game this winter that Rose will
keep on two books through the entire
Oakland meeting, despite the fact of
Roses presence being demanded ut his
new course at Arcadia, Los Angeles. OF
the Arcadia course many experienced
turfmen say they cannot see how IL will
3 ever run smoothly much before the first
Of the year. Just now the spot resem-
Dies lu.uDer mill IN course OF con-
structiOn. John ie'' Coleman, John
hie" Lyons, Billy Engstrom. Joe
Harlan, and English BIZ" Jackman en-
jOyed a golden harvest when Meelick
was beaten in the Oakland Handicap Of
ten days ago. This two-year-old son Of
Planudes' induced a wonderful money
splurge
The Hildreth commission showed right
early and soon everybody unbelted.
These players. knowing so well the
whimsical temper OF the eX-Madden colt
from his performances at Saratoga last
August, took a lot Of the money on
offer. Meellck was almost left. and
failed to race up to a position OF con-
tention. True Wing, mare which had
raced well at Latonia, and Johnny
Lyons a horse which had done good
work in the Seattle bushes. fought it
out to the end, where the latter won on
the post This was one Of the real big
financial turns OF the meeting TO date.
Expected at the next cut-in are Bob"
Lloyd Ivy Hamm. the noted New
York pricemarker; Henry Hanf, A. Fon-
tilieu, and Leo Mayer.