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

N
That usually does the trick. At the first
available opportunity. one of the pas
sengers seats himself beside the crook
and negotiates for the purchase of the
stone. Perhaps this little experience
costs him only SO. it may cost him $40
or SD. Whatever amount he hands over
to the crook. however. he loses. for tie
diamond, of course is but worthless
paste.
1t may not be much consolation to the
victims of these petty swindles to know
that no crook ever gains as result of
his crimes. The money he steals from
YOU he almost invariably loses at rou-
lette or faro bank, for gambling is food
and drink in the underworld.
1t is strange but true that these men
who live by their wits haven't intelligence
enough to know that no one can ever
beat professional gambling house for
long. The law of percentage against the
player makes it Impossible.
Nor does the professional gambler ever
prosper on the ill-gotten gains he wins
from his patrons. This is because every
professional gambler CANDLES himself,
and thus through the operation OF the
very laws of chance which enable him
to win from his patrons. he loses else
it among the gambling fraternity. the
man who deals, bucks. meaning. of
course, that the proprietor of a gambling
house invariably tries his luck at some
other establishment.
Because professional gambling is after
all the biggest bunko game of all, and
year i'm and year out miks the credulous
out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
some of my experiences as gambling
house proprietor may be of value.
xx
Then, too. it must be remembered that
almost every crime that is committed
for the sake of gain either begins or
ends in the gambling house. No story of
the underworld would be complete.
therefore, without a reference to the i'm
portant part which the gambling house
plays in it.
The crime that begins in the gambling
house is that of the trusted bank teller
who steals from his bank, the lawyer
who embeZZleS his clients funds, the
cashier who robs his employer and the
Beginning as law-abiding, respected citi-
zens. and risking only their own funds,
they end up as criminals by appropriating
the money of others.
The crimes which end in the gambling
house comprise every crime on the calen-
dar which is committed for gain.
The "stick-up' man who robs the pedes
trian or holds up "stuss" game. the
bunkOsteerer. who wheedles away the
savings of the credulous by his clever
schemes. the burglar who enters the
house at night. the pickpOcket. who
let; the white SLAYER, who fattens on the
wages of sin: the defaulter. the counter
feiter. the smuggler, the shOpifter, each
becomes. in turn, the victim Of the gam
bling house.
Criminals are attracted to the gam
bling house like the moth to the flame.
1t is their iH-gotten gains upon which
gambling houses principally thrive.
X x
For fifteen years 1 have been interested
in gambling houses Of all kinds, from the
cheap stuss game of the lower East Side
to the elegantly appointed gambling pal
ace of the tenderlOin. 1 know the class
of customers who make it possible for
such places to survive. Ninety per cent
of the money lost in gambling houses
represents the proceeds Of crimes of one
kind or another.
In my long experience I have learned,
too. of the misery and misfortune which
the passion for gambling has brought
about. OF the suicides and deaths it has
caused, Of the homes it has broken up
and the careers it has wrecked
The gambling house is responsible for
more misery than any other single insti-
tuition in modern life.
1 recall the case of young Boland-it is
one OF thousand. Boland was a nephew
OF member of the big Brooklyn brew
cry concern. Earning fair salary this
young fellow wasn't satisfied He thought
he would like to become millionaire
QUICK ana he chose the rOund-tabe route.
Two or three nights week he would
De found at the poker clubs of the
tenderloin. At first he was referred to
only as Mr. B. Gamblers try to keep
the identity of their customers secret
as long as possible: the limelight of
publicity may uncover it soon enough
Later. as he became better known, his
identity leaked out. Soon his weekly
earnings We're not enough to keep him
going along his new path. and he COM
menced borrowing" the funds he col
lected for the brewery with which he
was connected.
His defalcations grew TO be so great
that his firm discovered them and dis
charged him. His family connections
saved him from legal prosecution. At
this stage of his career. although he
was only twenty-five years DID, b.
lands hair turned gray.
For several months the gray-haired
boy frequented the haunts of the ten
derlOin, where his ruin had been
brought about, begging five-spot here
anu tHeTe ITOm MS ola friends and
seeking TO rehabilitate his fortune at
roulette or faro bank.
Somehow. now his need was great
est. his luck was the worst. He drifted
from the white lights of Broadway.
where there is little use for the has
BEEN" and began to hang around the
more humble establishments on the
lower East Side.
One night, as he sat at a table i'm the
Crystal" cafe on I'd avenue near
9Th street, watching the derelicts and
wrecks who wandered into the place
he suddenly realized how low he had
fallen.
Gambling is - he muttered. half
aloud.
Two East Side gamblers drinking at
the bar overheard him, turned around
and laughed.
Boland left the place. walked around
the corner. and on 9Th street, i'm front
of the house in which he occupied a
furnished room, blew out his bra ms.
There was a we'll known broker who
couldn't satisfy his passion for gam
bling in his own business, and used to
patroniZe a race track as soon as the
market closed. When horse racing was
abolished in New York he patrOnized
the poolrooms That was how I came
10 know him.
the Bowery between Broome and Grand
of the last race had come In. he would
wander uptown to the gambling houses
of the tenderloin, and there play the
money he had won In the afternoon on
the roulette wheel or at faro bank