The Washington herald., 1921-04-06
SAYS RUIN Turks IN HORSE
RACE GAMBLING.
o the Editor, The Washington Herald:

To the Editor. The Washington Herald:
Solomon, wisest of men. said. in
the ninth chapter of Proverbs. sixth
verse, "Forsake the foolish. and
live: and go in the way of under
standing"
l make this gem from the great
lawgiver the basis of an appeal TO
the manhood and womanhood,
young and old. of this city 10 avoid
the foolish. losing. crime e-breeding
habit OF squandering their money
with crooked makers of books on
horse races.
have reason to feel strongly on
this menacing subject. The heart
breaking effect of this evil OF evils
has come home 10 me personally. !
know the crushing. humiliating re-
suit of this folly of follies. l was
forced to sacrifice my all to save
one near and dear to me caught in
the meshes of this game of ruin,
and my feelings regarding it are
SO strong that l requested The
Washington Herald to publish this
article which. / hope, may be the
means of rescuing some, at least.
from the wicked octopus that is
blighting the lives of so many peo-
pie, young and old, and breaking
the hearts of thousands of mothers.
fathers, wives. sisters and brothers
in this community.
wish / could stand on the house
tops and proclaim in tones loud
enough to be heard throughout the
land, "Forsake the foolish, and live;
| and go in the way of understand
ing" How l wish I could drive this
text home to every man and woman
cursed with the weakness of gam
bling on the races!
Don't misunderstood me. I am
not posing as a "holier than thou"
person. l am not a saint, l assure
you. am human. and. being hu-
man, have my shortcomings. / am
rot a preacher. l am just a plain
| man of affairs, and do not claim to
be possessed of more than ordinary
knowledge In the fifty years that
have lived, however, I have
| touched elbows with thousands;
| have covered considerable ground,
and learned much of the ways of
the world. have seen the smooth
and the raw sides of life. l have
had much to do with the investiga-
tion of crime, and when 1 make the
assertion that gambling on the
| races is at the bottom of more than
| so per cent Of the crime committed
nthe United States, know whereof
1 speak.
Take forgery. theft. and suicide,
for example. / lay down the propo-
| sition, without fear of successful
contradiction, that gambling on the
races is responsible for at least so
per cent of those crimes.
Listen to Holy Writ! 'Forsake
| the foolish. and live: and go In the
way of understanding.
Men and women, boys and girls.
! please think this over. and see how
| foolish IL is to imagine that you
| can heat the bookmakers. why
| don't yoa know that they are not in
the game to lose? Don't you know
| thew have the cards stacked against
| Won? And don't you know you can
| not play a losing game and live?
The bookmakers call those who
lay bets with them suckers. They
laugh in their sleeves at, the easy
marks who throw their hard-earned
dollars into their Golfers. Don't
think for a moment that II you
keen on making bets you will win
a fortune sooner or later, for you
are lust as sure TO lose and wind
lup in poverty. perhaps in Jail oI
the morgue, as night follows day
You may win a little today, but you
are sure to lose all tomorrow. Don,
Ibe deceived by reports that so and
lSo won a big stake yesterday" II
never happened. 1t Is a lie circu.
Hated by the bookies to rope in tn,
lunwary. Ponder the words Of Sol,
lomon and go in the way of1under.
Istanding," that you may avoid thu
traps set by the unscrupulous rae,
track gentry.
In making Investigations o
freight thefts on railroads undel
II Federal control during the late war
IN found that at least 50 per cen
lof such SHEETS were committed fol