Evening star., 1908-06-13
Confusion Among Bookmakers.


John Cavanagh. mapaSer Of the betting
ring, under instructtons from the track
officials, refused to assign the bookmakers
to places in the ring. and the only feature
of the old betting operations that was con-
tinued was the furnishing of advance In
formation of starters and jockeys to those
betting men who were willing to subscribe
| for the usual news. The rings In conse-
ouence were bare of the usual long lines
of bookmakers. but the crowds or oetting
men. collected there nevertheless. ana
waited, wondering what was to happen
| In that there was no change through tne
afternoon, though at comparatively early
hour some of the more venturesome DOCK
makers selected sheltered and inconspicu-
Gus places for themselves and accepted
furtive bets from bettors with whom they
were personally acquainted. II was rule
among even these that all wagers mace
were on a credit basis, many OF the layers
and hackers assuming that in such cases
there was no evidence OF bef, ana tnere-
| fore they were immune from arrest. ms
was precisely what the managers OF the
Gravesend track had issued strictest orders
against. but what little betting went on
was conducted quietly that even the
detectives who made the arrests were
doubtful about their evidence.
| One of the curious incidents OF the Gay
that was commented on regretfully Oy
would-be bettors was that all six races
were won by favorites.
| About thirty members of the Metropoli-
tan Turf Association were scattered at
ring receiving bets from those persons
known to them. There was little or no
attempt to pass money. the risk OF detec-
ton being too great for the prospective
take up their positions behind the iron
posts which support that portion OF the
grandstand and receive two or three
bets. depending upon their memories to
register the amounts. the ODDS. ana the
names of the horses. After making a
note of the transaction the bookmakers
would return to their points OF vantage,
ready to repeat the operation. Many
patrons Of the track vainiy tried TO pet
as did a number of plain clothes police
men. who were sent to the track to arrest
all violators of the new law.
The First Arrest. 4.
The first arrest was made just before
the horses went to the post for the first
race. commotion in the betting ring
announced an event Of unusual interest
and general rush was made for the
scene. Detectives Carr and Miller of the
Coney Island station were leading John
| r. Weldon of 1876 Willoughby street,
Brooklyn. He was arrested for violating
| the gambling section Of the penal code
an unknown man on Preceptor, "A horse
which ran in the hrst race.
Weldon denied the charge and said the
$40 was paid him by q man who bor-
rowed 1t from him some days ago. He
1 also denied that he vas q bookmaker. In
the latter statement he Is supported by
John Cavanagh. the manager Of the bet
| ting ring, who said that Weldon had never
made book At any Of the tracks and was
| not known to him as q bookmaker.
| The arrest brought about q fight be.
tween the police OF Manhattan and Brook.
lyn. When Weldon was grabbed by Lieut..
Carr several Brooklyn plain-clothes men
ran up. pushing their way through the
crowd A Manhattan detective being
| pushed struck out and hit Brooklyn
| policeman on the Jaw. AS the Brooklyn
| man Strengthened out to return the blow
a Manhattan policeman struck him on the
side Of the head with blackjacA. Other
Manhattan policemen were ready to
pounce on him. believing all the time that
he was an outsider. when he pulled his
coat aside and showed his shield.
Meanwhile the melee became general,