Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-26

that his client was gambler and could
be seen only at night at the 43d street
house. An appointment was accordingly
made for that place.
At 9 o'clock Calowitz and the ''steerer''
appeared at the door and sent the door
man upstairs to find out whether the man
they wanted was around yet. message
came back that they were to go right up
While waiting in the room for the
'steerer's' client to appear Salowitz was
drawn to the roulette wheel. The
'steerer' tried to draw him away.
Just couple of plays" he persuaded.
I'm be with you in a minute.
Once or twice the steerer' would
nudge Salowitz and tell him that his
client was now ready to close.
Just minute. I'll be right there"
Salowitz would reply. Two or three
hours later, when he was ready to quit,
5000 or $1,000 to the bad, he would find
the ''steerer'' gone.
The next day the 'steerer' would be
after him again, protesting at the way he
had been treated.
Il couldn't wait all night, you know. L
had to get uptown. Another appoint
ment made for that night at the
same place, with the same result.
The plan worked SO successfully that
Salowitz was soon gambling harder than
ever before. One by one his houses and
lots were foreclosed, because he was
unable to meet the mortgages on them.
Liens We're filed against houses he was
putting up because he didn't pay the con-
tractors, and he was soon so heavily in
debt that there was no way out.
He raised all the money he could. made
one last stab at roulette and lost He
was hOpelessly bankrupt. He then took
to the gamblers solace-drink-and within
two years from the time he had first set
foot in gambling house he was found
dead in furnished room house on Sd
street. He had taken the gas pipe route.
A note which he left on the bureau told
the story:
Everything 1 had L lost through gam
bling. This is the result.
l could give a thousand cases of the
same kind. / could tell of Pete Hill,
good player, but bad loser. who had a
spell of some kind in an East Side gam
bling house, was taken away unconscious.
became an imbecile and last year died
in the Montefiore Home for Incurables.
could tell Of Markle Golden, who, having
associated with the pickpockets and other
denizens of the underworld who frequent
gambling houses accompanied them to
the opium layOutS) which they patrOniZed
and got the habit himself He developed
pares.s and died in an institution.
Among those whom the gambling house
keeper regards as his best customers are
those who, with fairly good income,
play for the excitement of the game
rather than because they need to win.
In fact. they very seldom quit winners.
no matter how big run of luck they
have. They play too long and their luck
changes.
Such player is a prominent actor. We
will call him Johnson. He earned 81, 800
a week when at his best. Today he gets
probably $50. But for his losses over the
gambling table Johnson would undoubt-
eddy be millionaire today. AS 1t is, his
salary for several weeks to come is al
ready mortgaged up to the hilt and he is
consequently in debt all the time.
| have dealt for Johnson for fOrty-fve
hours at a stretch.
He came into my place on a Saturday
night when his show closed and he sat
at the faro bank box until it was time for
the curtain to go up at his theater for
Monday night, and even then he didn't
quit until the stage manager. in despera-
ton. sent two stage hands to drag him
away forcibly.
During those forty-five hours he was
thousands of dollars ahead at times, and,