Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-10-03
LONDON GAMING DENS
The Way the Police Descend Upon
Them In a Raid.
SKILL, CUNNING AND DARING.
Absolute Secrecy Is Maintained by the
Officials, and the Policemen Are
Kept In the Dark Until the Last
demonstrating Into the Club.


some sensational raids on big gaming
clubs. and it may be interesting to
learn how these raids are effected.
Ehis is how it is done in London: As
soon as the detectives suspicious have
been confirmed they apply to the COM
missioner of police for a warrant to
enter The warrant authorizes certain
officers mentioned by name to enter
the club in the name of the king. Or
binary policemen are not permitted to
carry out a raid, but the detectives
can call upon them for assistance at
the critical moment
Absolute secrecy is enforced right
up to the moment of entry. There is
no excitement at the station on that
day, and the men on duty have no sus-
picion Of what is in the wind. Plans
of the house are drawn and carefully
studied by the raiding officers. for the
doorkeeper of the club is prepared at
the slightest alarm to send a warning
to his customers, and every veStige OF
gambling apparatus will mysteriously
disappear and the raid fail. A careful.
" planned ruse. therefore, has to be
evolved which will disarm suspicion.
During the day a body of reserve"
policemen will receive cOmmunica-
ton from the station that they will be
required to parade at certain hour,
and they meet with no idea of what Is
expected of them They are drawn up
in line, ard after names have been
called over they are dismissed from
the station one by one. with the in
junction to be in the immediate neigh
borhood OF a certain street in couple
of hours aud not to get near the spot
before the prearranged moment.
The first officer to appear on the
scene is the one In charge OF the raid.
He is always disguised and usually
Jocks like a well dressed man about
town. He passes the club carelessly,
but it is sufficient for him to learn
from a confederate inside that gaming
has commenced. A policeman then
.saunters to the corner Of the street
and stays there as though he were on
point" duty. Then, not till then. is
the information of the precise club to
he raided secretly conveyed to the at
ftacking force in their hiding places.
while the club. unconscious Of its Inn
pending fate. pursueS it's gambling.
The first difficulty to- surmcunt is to
get past the buriy doorkeeper. II this
is not successfully done the raid will
end I'm failure. Presently the sound Of
a drunken song Is heard In the dis
lance. and two apparently rough look
ing men come staggering along. As
they near the entrance to tho club they
begin disputing and soon come to
blows. The doorkeeper peeps through
the wicket and orders the men away.
One OF the men rushes at the wicket
and challenges the doorkeeper to come
outside like q man" and at the same
time shouts out something about the
character OF the house. The combat
ants continue fighting. and the officer
at the corner comes along and orders
them away The men return. however.
to "have 1t out with the doorkeeper."
The noise increases, attracting home
ward bound gentlemen In evening
dress, who gather round and urge the
men on.
The doorkeeper by this time becomes
alarmed, for the rowdy crowd will
frighten away his clients. Perhaps
Just at this moment a member Of the
club arrives and seeks admission. The
door is opened with the utmost caution
to admit him. Before he has time to
fasten it the two officers hastily secure
the member and rush upstairs. The
two combatantS were disguised police
men and the onlookers detectives.
AS soon as an entrance into the club
has been effected the constable at the
corner sounds his whistle, and before
the sound has died away the whole
neighborhood is alive with police If
the house boasts of Il trapdOor on the
roof, the fash OF lanterns will be seen
uD there. the men having been con-
cealed among the chimney pots since
1t was dark. The front door is secured,
and the police form a guard around
the house, so that escape Is Impossible.
Meantime the scene upstairs is one
of the widest excitement. The gam
bIers. intent on business, had not no
Iticed the sscuff1e I'm the passage. and
the first fntimatiOn they get Oh tae
state OF affairs is when the door is
thrown open and the officer in charge
calls on them to regard themselves as
his prisoners. Then they realize their
position The tables are overturned,
and card counters and money roll all
over the floor as the members endeavor
to escape. They make for the street
door, but. baked in this direction, hur-
~ to all parts of the house TO hide.
The crestfallen members of the club
are conveyed to the station, each in
the custody of two officers. Then the
house is searched for the gaming APP
paratus. Every inch of the place is
examined, for gamblers have remark
able contrivances whereby they can
hide their apparatus in the event OF
Il