Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-11-05
LONDON GAMING DENS
The Way the Police Descend Upor
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
Moment-Getting Into the Club.

Kept In the Dark Until the Last
Moment-Getting Into the Club.
The police have recently carried out
some sensational raids on big gaming
clubs, and it may be interesting to
learn how these raids are effected
This is HI 4 1t Is done in London: AS
soon as me detectives suspicious have
been confirmed they apply to the com
missioner of police for warrant to
enter. The warrant authorizes certain
officers mentioned by name to enter
the club in the name of the king. Or.
dinary policemen are not permitted TO
carry out n 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 warning
to his customers, and every vestige OF
gambling apparatus will mysteriously
disappear and the raid fail. \ careful
ly planned ruse, therefore, has to he
evolved which will disarm suspicion.
During the day a body of reserve
policemen will receive a communities
tion from the station that they will he
required to parade at certain hour
and they meet with no idea of what Is
expected Of them. They are drawn up
in line. and 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.
horhood of n certain street in Il couple
of hours and not to get rear 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
looks like well dressed man about
town lie passes the club carelessly.
but it is sufficient for him to learn
from 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
be raided secretly conveyed to the at.
tacking force in their hiding places.
while the club, unconscious of its i'm
pending fate, pursues its gambling.
The first difficulty to surmount Is to
get past the burly docrkeeper, If this
is not successfully done the raid will
end in failure. Presently the sound of
a drunken song is heard in the dis
tance. and two apparently rough look,
ing men come staggering along. Az
they near the entrance to the club they
begin dlsputlng 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 a 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 Onloolcrs 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. II
the house boasts of n trapdoor on the
roof. the flash of lanterns will be seen
up there, the men having been con.
cealed among the chimney pots since
1t was dark. The front door is secured,
and the police form guard around
the house, so that escape is impossible
Meantime the scene upstairs Is one
Of the widest excitement The gam
blers, intent on business, had not no
ticed the scuffie in the passage. and
the first intimation they get of the
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, hut. baked in this direction. hur
ry 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 an.
paratus. Every inch of the place is
examined, for gamblers have remark
able contrivances whereby they can
hide their apparatus in the event of
being raided. Tops of tables are knock
ed off. flooring taken up and walls
searched for secret cupboards. Yards
of chalked string are regarded as
nrlzes, and with these and more appar
ent proofs the case Is ready for the
magistrate. The evidence IS laid be
fore him, and the proprietor and mem
hnT pha