The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-08-20
BASEBALL POOLS
MENACE TO GAME
Baseball Magazine Tells Public How
Il 10 "stuns" by Fake Methods
Employed In
Lottery.
RECENT WIDE GROWTH
rbousands Of Tickets Were sod Be
fore Authorities and ssseba'i
Men Took Hand In the
Matter.
RECENT WIDE GROWTH

pools WIN do well to read how they
are estung.'' The September Base
ball Magazine has an article exposing
the crooked work. Following Is part
OF the magazine article:
"A gambling spirit seems to have
seized upon the national game ~
MANY parts OF the country colossal
crooked syndicates, lotteries or pools
have sprung up, attained mushroom
growth. sucked D tainted fortune out
Of the likelihood of the game. ana
wfthered away In the fierce glare OF
legal retribution, only to be succeed
ed by other syndicates elsewhere 80
widespread Is the evil, so menacing
In its scope, that the concerted effort
Of baseball, aligned with the authors
ties OF law and order. Is imperative
" required to preserve the game from
that same malignant influence which
has blighted so many other fayorite
sports.
Honest baseball pools are no new
thing. They exist in a small and anna
teur scale in almost every office
building In every hamlet in the coun-
try. II has become habit with
young men to set apart 50 cents or II
a week OF their savings to place In
pool with their associates, the whole
sum going at the end Of the week, to
the fortunate individual who selected
the team scoring the greatest num-
Der OF runs. This custom Is rather
mild symptom, OF q general love OF
risk and chance which reaches q
far more sinister form In the patron
age OF public pools.
Fake Pools Menace.
But fake public pools. the open.
law-defying swindles of the profess
sional gamblers, merit no such pass
i've indifference. These pools, like
poisonous growths. have no proper
place in the sphere Of the game. but
rather fatten upon its public popular
ity and confidence, and In the end
tend to break down and destroy the
solid structure OF the sport itself.
Such pools ara a real menace.
LAS typical Of the methods pur-
sued BY these parasites may be taken
the case Of pool operated In Penn
sylvania, but 1t had ramdfcations all
over the eastern United States and
the middle west A list OF its prize
winners for one week shows names
scattered over no less than six states.
some revelations OF the size and
scope Of the company were brought to
light in the trial which exposed the
working OF the colossal swindle.
1--WE quote from the sworn evi-
dence as produced in that trial, whom
the superintendent OF the printing
concern which did all OF the printing
for the syndicate was undergoing
cross-examination:
What was the average number
Of lottery slips and tickets printed
for the company?
"It ranged from $4,000 to 75.00s
three times a week
"'How many tickets did you print
weekly for the pool?'
well. the highest for week
was 100000
"'Well. what was tho average
weeks quantity?
"'They started at about 10000 a
week and kept increasing every
week.
I'm passing, It is well to mention
that the gross receipts from these
tickets at 80 cents apiece was, for
the highest week, $4,000.
Dreyfuss Gives Opinion.
President Dreyfuss OF the Pitts
burgh club said, In the Baseball Maya
zine:
1--WE Investigated and found that
the pools were getting more money
out OF Pittsburgh than the Pittsburgh
ball club. In ono week we estimated
as nearly as we could on the actual
figures that they absorbed $4,000 from
that city. We also investigated and
found that considerable number
OF alleged prize winners did not live
ut the addresses that appeared or
were missing from the city directory
Or hadn't received any prize money.
One Of the worst features OF all these
pools IL that even with the heavy
odds against him that are the nature
of q lottery, the purchaser OF one Of
the lying tickets doesn't get a fair
chance to win. He has members Of
the concern to compete against and
all kinds of crooked work to contend
with, so that the prizes which are
T..