Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-22
Handbooks.

The discovery of a handbook combina-
ton at the navy yard should stimulate
the police to further activities which
would in all likelihood yield results.
There is no question, whatever. that
gambling on horse races. which vas In
greater part suppressed in lbs eSctrict
n few years ago as consequence OF the
discovery that eh official of police head
quarters was playing the races" has
been INDUCED in freely of late here 1t
can always be set down as probable, al
most certain, that the race gambling in
dustry is never quite ended. Those who
make books on the races know that there
are always people ready and willing to
risk their dollar for the sake of making
more dollars. 1t is apparently an easy
way to make money without working
and the temptation when offered is
usually too strong to be resisted. The
handbook men and the poolroom man
ayers know this frailty of humanity
and play upon it. Then again there are
i.yeterate gamblers who. if they are not
.--dy approached. will devise methods
of risking their means in the hope of
winning. 1t will probably be surprising
to employers of large numbers of men to
lCdiH lIidl HdHupOUhS dlt OdiIy Ihdoc III
their establishments. and vet this is a
safe assertion and could be demonstrated
by shrewd investigation.
Between the handbook fraternity and
the loan shark crew there is a close con-
nection. Patrons of the bookmakers
think to gain in that way money that
they owe to the usurers and thus in most
cases get in deeper. Or again, the re-
lationshp is reversed men who lose
money on the races seeking the loan
sharks to extricate themselves from their
difficulties Thus the vicious circle is
established. If the handbook traffic
could be entirely suppressed the loan
brokers would be seriously affected.
The denoralizing effect of betting on
horse races has been seen in many cases
that have appeared in the local courts,
young men who have thought to make
rich winnings on the ponies coming to
the most serious grief In a large per-
centage of forgery and embezZement
cases the initial cause of the criminal
impulse lies in patronage of the seduc-
tive handbook system of gambling. The
proposition that the handbook man lays
before the bettor is alluring. Risk a
dollar and you may win one hundred! A
dollar seems a trife when reckoned in
such terms and from "a financial point of
view the risk would be slight enough if
the transaction occurred only once a
week. But herein lies the evil of the
handbook game. that the weekly wager
soon becomes a daily bet and the re-
turns from these risks are few and far
between. In the course Of six months
the handbook player is almost invariably
considerably out of pocket. His &C.
casional winnings lead him to extrava-
gances of expenditure, while his steady
losses come out of his wages. If he is a
married man his family suffers. If he is
single man his habit of thrift is de-
stroyed and he acquires in it's stead the
demoralizing habit of looking to chance
for his means of getting ahead" There
is something destructive and degenerate
ing about the whole game and the COM
munity in which this evil exists is being
sapped at the roots of its integrity and
prosperity.
The navy yard cases may lead to fur
Their disclosures The police are urged
10 continue their researches in the hope
that other centers of this moral infec-
ton may be uncovered for cure.