The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1917-07-07

A punch board is a board
about the size of a common
checker board with anywhere
from $500 to 5000 holes in it.
You pay a dime. and then nave
the pleasure Of punching a piece
of metal into one of the many
holes. If you punch out lucky
number, you win a piece of
money, some candy, a vanity
case, a pair Of b.; leather
moccasins, a shiny copper souve-
mir Of Duluth or some other
piece Of junk. If you are not
lucky, and most of the punchers
are not, you get only the hilari-
GUS sport of punching a little
hole in the little board The
recreation is very much a gam
BILE and is chiefly profitable to
the punchee.
Now mere mention of punch
boards usually causes Uncle Bob
to become greatly excited and,
in some cases, very angry. They
are rank pizen to him if a big
noise and many words mean
anything.
Read a short page Of ancient
history, dear Rip-saw reader.
Last November, Frank Farrell,
brother of city commissioner
Farrell, loaded up many a small
merchant in Duluth with candy
to be sold by means of a punch
board scheme. His sales amounted
to thousands of dollars and pur-
chasers of the punch boards
and the accompanying candy,
fairly Rugged themselves at
thought Of the holiday killing
they were going to make.
Local candy manufacturers
and dealers got onto this sale of
punchboards and candies put
across by Col. Frank Farrell in
the interests of the Prince Candy
Company of Milwaukee. They
believed that what was good for.
an outside dealer was good for a
local manufacturer and his GUS
toners. Local punch board I'M
dertakings were planned and
candy companies began to can
vas the cigar stores, confection-
cry stores, pool rooms and other
places that take kindly to the
punch board graft.
Tuesday morning, November
%, 1916, the News Tribune had
over half a column of ban on
punch boards and punch board
statesmen. Chief McKercher was
quoted as follows, viz:
"The police department will
not allow the punch board or
any form of gambling during
the holiday season any more
than at any other time. We un-
derstand that statesmen are urg-
ing the purchase Of these punch
boards On the pretense that the
police will relax their vigilance
before and during the holidays.
This is absolutely incorrect.
cit is entirely wrong to have
these boards, to lure small boys
into spending their pennies, at
tracted by the fascination of the
game. We shall prosecute any
violations Of the law vigorous
ly."
The News Tribune then stated
that several arrests already had
been made under the city ordin-
ance which prohibits the punch
board and the chief of police
asserted that several more are
imminent
The only arrest Of which the
Rip-saw has cognizance was the
unlucky chap who was running
the Empress cigar store.
Commissioner Silberstein was
absent at that time and Mayor
Prince was acting commissioner
of safety. He took a stiff
punch at the wicked punch
board business. He was quoted
as saying, on the same day and
date as chief McKercher, as fol-
lows, viz:
eve want to impress upon
agents and retail and wholesale
candy dealers that the Duluth
police force is not conspiring
with any dealer and that we
have not made a secret under
standing with anybody to forego
prosecution.
eve are issuing this warning
now so as to save possible loss to
merchants who may be contem-