The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-20

ID unoer nre LOT NOT takinB tRHresslNo totioh'
As q matter Of fact In the absence Of August
Belmont. who is summering In Europe. the
Jockey Club In itself has made nj move
one way or another since the Asnew-Hart
bill passed. All Of the legal proceeding s that
have been instituted have been at the instance
Of the racetracks individually. The Graves
end meetlng was moro than half over when
the new law went into effect, but p. j. Dryer.
president Of the Brooklyn Jockey Club. al
lowed the law to take Its course. Needless OF
the actions Of the police In dispersins groups
Of spectators on tho lawn and apparently
proof against the fact that the attendance
fell of to such an extent that the Gravesend
track lost Sc, 900 before the meeting ended.
When Shespshead Bay opened. however.
the Coney Island Jockey Club got busy at
once, obtaining q temporary Injunction
restraining the police from interfering with
the grouping OF patrons on the lawn and In
other places. 1t was through counsel for
the Sheepshead Bay track too that the Col
Inns case was taken before Justice Bisohof.
who held that oral bets we're legal provided
NO records were made. and that IL was also
within the law to make cash settlements
after each race. Unde these points OF law
racing and speculation went on ct the Bay.
but with such restrictions that the former
great crowds did not appear, while the Coney
Island Jockey Club lost Sl5o. 600 on the meet
ing.
With the opening OF Brighton came q new
phase OF the situation. The District Attor-
ney's office In Brooklyn and the Police De-
partment clashed over the enforcement Of
the law, with the result that for one day. last
Thursday. the police were withdrawn while
thirty plain clothes sleuths were placed at
the disposal Of Assistant District Attorney
Elder. The disorderiy scenes which followed
this shift Of authority caused much indigna-
ton on the part Of raoegoers. with the result
that for the first time the racetraok interests
showed real fght. Two detectives who made
arrests on Thursday were themselves ar
rested charged with assault. while Charles
Il. Hyde, attorney for the Brighton Beach
Racing Association. began taking testimony
to be used in numerous civil suits for damages,
Mr.. Hyde's aggressive methods also resulted
In new tactics, which II successful to-day
will force Magistrate Tighe to bold an i'm
mediate examination OF prisoners charged
with violating the law.
The raoetrack lawyers say that so far II
has been impossible to get any Of the cases to
trial and that Il is believed the Assistant Dis
trict Attorney intends TO have all prisoners
indicted prior to an examination. a. was the
case with the twenty-five alleged bookmakers
were indicted q week ago under similar
circumstances,
BY getting an immediate examination In
the police courts the racetrank lawyers say
they can prove beyond reasonable doubt
that there Is no legal evidence against their
clients. that arrests have been made on trivial
charges and without warrant and that the
detectives making such arrests actually do
not know what 10 and what 10 not q violation
OF the betting law. The racetrack lawyers.
therefore. say that II they can bring about
the discharge Of their clients because Of In
sufficient evidence 1t will not be long before
the authorities will decide that the provisions
OF the new law cannot be enforced.
"The most vital point which must be shown
In the cases Of these men who are held for
examination. " said one Of the raoetrack at
torneys yesterday, is whether they COM
mitted q crime when marked programmes
were found In their possession by the police.
In making these arrests the detectives worked
In threes. One watched an alleged book
maker as he accepted oral wasers. a second
watched the outside man as he received
some whispered instructions from his alleged
employer. while the third sleuth kept his
eye on the alleged recorder when the out
side man came to him with words uttered
in an undertone. The moment the recorder
made a few marks on his pro gramme In view
OF Sleuth No. 3 the whole crew that Is. the
alleged %bookmaker. outside man and re-
c~order-wsre arrested In nearly every in
stance the marks on the programme were
either authorizations or cipher.
ITO make out q case and secure a con-
viction the prosecutor must prove absolutely
that. first. there are bets recorded on the
pro gramme: second. that these bets are
identical with the oral wagers made with
the alleged bookmaking, and. third. that
there Ia q direct legal connection between
the alleged bookmaker and the recorder. 1t
will be a knotty point to prove that the out
side man carries bets In his mind which are
jotted down In hieroglyphics. h Is the
situation In a nutshell. When all Of these
cases come to trial you'll find that there Is
not sufficient evidence to convict and that
practically all Of the accused will be dis
charged. The law as It stands prevents
public bookmaking and sheet writing because
evidence OF that kind could be easily So
cured. but 1t can never prevent private trans
actions between individu ais,
We are going to fight against further
delay In getting decisions on these points
at issue, and we understand that regardless
Of the Jockey Club the racetrack associations
themselves will In turn proceed on the most
aggressive lines. II will be shown In due time
that persons who made oral wagers under the
Bischof decision have been arrested just
the same. which to me looks like a clear case
OF contempt"
There may be some interesting develop
ments before the Grand Jury this morning
when Bookmakers Sol Lichtenstein. Orlando
Jones. Abe levy. Joe yendig and others are
called on to tell what they know, 1t Is ap-
parent that Assistant District Attorney Elder
has not given up his attempt TO prove that
the racing associations are receiving some
sort OF a revenue from the bookmakers.
When Mr.. Elder visited the track on Satur-
day he could not very well say that he saw
bookmaking. recording Of waecrs or even
oral betting going Of >openly. He stood In
the middle Of a crowd Of memory" and
whisper" brokers in front 81 the grand stand
for perhaps fifteen minutes. but 40 far as
he could see there was no open violation Of
the law.
MIR. Elder Admitted to several friends that
the conditions were not 40 bad as he had
been led to believe. which might be taken
to mean that some OF the rubber shoe sleuths
who have been keeping Mr.. Elder informed
have drawn slightly upon their imagination.
There will be nine day. more OF racing at
Brighton Beach. then a shift TO Saratoga
for a fifteen days session. After that there
will be more and better racing at the Beach
under the auspices OF the Empire City Rae
ing Association. The attendance at Brighton
last week was uniformly good. although
there was a slump on Friday, probably due
70 the violence OF the police on Thursday.