The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-04-12
WIRE TAPPING JOB
STARTS INQUIRY
Coup Pulled Off on Redeem in
EmeryViIe Race the Talk
of TurfdOn1

Much interest was aroused in local
sporting circles by the report from
Philadelphia to the effect that the pool
rooms there as well as in other large
cities were hit hard through the me-
dun, of a successful wire tapping
scheme operated Saturday. 1t was par
ticularly interesting in view of the fact
that Redeem, which finished third in
the fourth race at Emeryville, was sent
as the winner at odds of IL to 1. Bishop
w, a heavily played faVorite, won the
event
1t is claimed that 100000 was taken
out of the Philadelphia rooms, and that
the losses throughout the country may
have reached 100000. In some quar-
tiers it is felt that there is considerable
eXaggeration as to the amount, but
Frank Daroux, who operated a pool
room at Sausalito for many years, said
last night that it is likely that the re-
port about the losses at Philadelphia is
correct. Someof the eastern poolroomS
handle large commissions. Two rooms
in Chicago paid out $4,000 on a race
run on one of the Florida tracks this
season.
There is much speculation as to
where the wires were tapped Saturday,
especially owing to the report that sew
eral cities figured in the operations of
the crooks. The information from
Emeryville goes over Western Union
wires, but is handled by private indi-
viduals who established the race news
service. They use a leased wire for
the service. BY some 1t is felt that the
wire out of some important point like
Chicago was tapped in order to with
hold the correct information and send
Redeem as the winner.
1t was said yesterday that a number
of men known as wire tapperS frequent
well known resort in a prominent
section of New York. About once a
year they leave town and are generally
successful in making at least one haul
from the poolrooms of various cities
man thoroughly familiar with the
poolroom business says the rooms are
likely to be at the mercy of advance
information schemers, no matter what
safeguards are placed around the mat
ter of securing correct information. The
changing of post time is used at times
in the operations.
The Sausalito poolrooms were hit oc-
casionally by men who were enabled to
secure advance information. but the
scheme of wrong winner was never
tried there.
During the last year the rooms were
operated at Sausalito a gang of men
rented house in the neighborhood Of
Meiggs wharf and made connections
with the telephone cable running to
Marin county. The telegraph infor-
nation was sent over one of these
wires. About the time the schemers
were ready to intercept messages and
hold information long enough to have
their confederates place the wagers IN
the rooms, complaints were made of
poor telephone service to Marin county.
1t appears that in tapping the wires
the work was done in such a manner
that it interfered with telephone mes
sages. AS is the custom, the telephone
company sent out trouble searchers,"
and they intercepted the wire tappers
before they could begin operations in
earnest.
Members OF the gang later attempted
to beat a San Jose poolroom by tapping
the wires at Mayfield. and one of them
is serving a sentence at San Quentin
for the offense.
One of the boldest schemes to win
money from the Sausalito rooms was
tried with success on several occasions
by a frequenter of the resorts. The late
Joseph Harvey, one of the proprietors,
would start across the bay from this
city late, and before he arrived at the
Marin town the first race on the New
York tracks would have been decided.
The schemer made it habit to ride on
the car with Harvey to the ferry and
sit inside on the lower deck of the boat
crossing the bay. He would offer to bet
Harvey on the first race at the New
York track, and Harvey, feeling he was
not in possession of any information,
accepted several wagers. 1t later de-
veloped that the result of the race was
telephoned to a pier close to the Sausa-
Tito ferry and then flashed to Harvey's
patron.
While advance information operators
did not fare so we'll at Sausalito, 1t was
recalled last night that the rooms lost
$4,000 the day Mcnamara ran The
Fiddler at Morris park, New York.
In cases where racetracks sought to
confine the giving of information only
to those who paid for it much trouble
was caused by wire tappers. Gangs
were intercepted several times in the
vicinity of Cincinnati after they had
grounded the wires over which mes
sages were flashed from Latonia.
In selecting Redeem as the medium
for the coup the wire tappers were, ia
vored by the fact that Redeem was in
front when the stretch was reached.
A thorough investigation is being
made by telegraph officials in the east