The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-26
GAMBLING FEVER
 HTS SARATOGA;
 TOWN WIDE OPEN
Garfield Days Recalled By Epidemic of Gaming At
 Famous Resort.

Saratoga Springs, N. T., Aug. 26.- The gambling fever Is epidemic in Saratoga Springs this season. The town is wide open. Palaces of chance'' are operating without ap. parent let or hindrance. Not since the days of more than a decade ago when Richard Garfield ran the fla nous Casino 4n what is now the city owned Congress Park has there been so much gambling here.
 Since the annual race meeting be- san here on Aug. l a dozen or more gambling dens have opened up. Little effort mas been made. by the city, county, or state officials to suppress them. From time to time in the last three weeks proprietors of certain places were notified to shut up shop. Two or three were raided and kept closed Others discontinued business for a night or so and then opened again after things had been fixed up" as one proprietor expressed 1t.
 That the places are running with ''protection" is obvious. Who pro- vtdes this protection the writer does not profess to know. That somebody higher up" is cutting the game" goes without saying. It Is said that rhere are two factions in power and each of them furnishes protection
 The mayor of Saratoga Springs, now rated a third-class city, Is Harrv P. Pette: Charles B. Angus. a formess city judge, is district attorney of Saratoga county; w. B. Millerman IS tho commissioner of public safety; Thomas Sullivan is the suparinten- dent of police, and F. J. Reynolds. sheriff of Saratoga county.
 In tho city of Saratoga itself there are six places where those who would woo dame fortune are provided with the necessary equipment. There prob ably are others, but one on gambling bent encounters little difficulty To- eating theso six.
 Some PrctentIous.
 Some are pretentious establish rncutS, others arc nothing more than dives. Some are run with q pretense 10 secrecy and some are operated boldly with apparently little fear of the Flaw horrible" To these admis- sion is denied no one, who does not bear the indelible marks and ap- pearancea of Cooper"
 Near the Delaware and Hudson Railroad depot Is located a place which leads all the others in the mat ter of variety of games.
 On the ground floor are 6 number of bowling alleys and pool and bil- Hard tables, A strictly legitimate business Is done there, It Is on the second floor, oyer the alleys, that th 3 cards are dealt and the wheel whiFied. Entrance is obtained through the alleys and up a covered stairway, At the locked doeF at the feet of the stairway, in the centre of ths ground floor, a man is posted, One has only to Hook all Fight' to get past him, He uniocks the doeF, and as one as cendS the dark staircase the click of the key is heard behind him as the doorman snaps the lock on again,
 Passing through another door at the top of the stairs one finds himself in a room fifty feet square, All manner of games are in operation. On the night of the writer's visit there were about 200 people in the place, all men. It was suffoeatingiy hot
 Like Turkish Bath,
 Tobacco smOke-and everybody was smoking ciouded the room. The lights hung over the various tables appeared hazy. The odor of tobacco and precipitation was overpowsring Around the tables some of the players stood with chips OF money in hand and coats under arm. After a few minutes the visitor was sweating as pFefusely as these who had been IR the place for hours. IL was like the hot room Of a Tukish bath with this difersHce-iR a Fukish bath the at RIOS phers is Rst foul. IL was with diffisUity that one got near enough to the tables to play,