Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-18

with check rack, casekeeper's rack. law
out and everything necessary to furnish
the sport full opportunity of 'buckin.,
the tiger
Smokecraft Appears
In an adjoining room were L "c,.n
table, stud poker table, blackjack ta1i.
ana one or two smaller tables fol. drdt tv
poker. In a rear room were ta bIes FOR
draw poker well stocked sideboard.
the chief articles Of which were whisky
ana ana Bones OF PERFECTO SIZE Or
'SMOKECRAFT'' CIGARS.
When the police descended on the
place Sunday morning the stud poker
game and the blackjack game were
going in full blast, and the crap IA bic
with a bank roll of $175 was uncovered
and ready for business. In the stud
poker game $3.50 was found to be the
bank roll, and in a desk used by George
Bently, the house manager. was s675
TO supply the faro game in case anyone
wished to play at that seductive pas
time.
There have been many efforts. it is
SAID, on the part Of the police to eatr
an entrance to this club and secure evi-
dence OF gambling going on there.
Heretofore it is said that this has been
found impossible because Of the fact
that every man allowed in the place
had first to be properly introduced'
There is something strange about this
assertion, however because a Herald
reporter, who had not been properly
introduced in fact had not been in
troduced at all, was in the gambling
rooms and witnessed the play Saturday
night, four hours before the raid began.
Herald representatives have been in the
Apex club and have reported what was
going on there. There was little diff
Guilty in making this investigation. In
experienced men, who looked like Come
ons with money!" never failed to gain
entrance. In fact the 'surethingers'
in Mr.. Morris employ seemed eager to
get strangers in the city into their
place.
Sunday morning two men who were
recently put to work on the police force
gained an easy entrance to the place,
and after they were inside a signal was
given to PatrOlmen Oker and Berchtold
outside, and they, at the head of a
squad of officers, rushed the place and
arrested Bently, Cotton and Kennedy
and I. G. Butch" Tilley and eleven
players.
Panic Follows
There was CONSERVATION when the
officers descended on the place, for it
has long been boasted that because
Eddie Morris was the head and front
of the concern the police would keen
their hands off. 1--WE are police proof'
the managers of the house have told
timid players. Eddie Morris stands
between us and the police. Why. we
have been running nearly two years,
and you never heard of any policeman
bOthering u.s.
1t required three trips of the patrol
wagon to take the prisoners and the
gambling outfits to the central station.
When the players were arrested each
man had stack of chips in front of
him, which the officers ordered tlem to
put in their pockets so that the evil
dence would be found on each man
when searched at the station
The first wagOnload of prisoners had
not arrived at the station house before
Eddie Morris was there protesting at
the raid, and at locking any of the men
up. He stated that he would at once
provide bail for all Of them. and while
the name of each man was taken none
Of them was searched. and by direction
Of Lieut.. George Williams. who was in
charge the men were allowed to sit in
the hallway until bail was provided for
them.
Norris then asked one of the raiding
officers to call up Mayor Harper about
the raid, saying: Here is his tele-
phone number; call up A. c." The Of
ficer refused to call the mayor in refer
ence to the matter, and Morris disap-
peared- went to the nearest telephone
and called up some mysterious person.
age, telling of the raid
few minutes later "some mysteri-
Gus person" called up Lieutenant WI.
Continued Page Three)