Evening star., 1922-01-26
To Be Found Every.
where Looking for
easy Money"
RECENT s'FAKE TR''
CLEARS THOUSANDS
Arrests Bring Smile-Co
Right Back to Busi.
ness Again.

Handbook making is as common al
- colds in Washington today. despite
the activities Of the police depart
ment's flying squadron" 1t is easy
as rolling off slippery log to put a
bet on the ponies and get away with it
Every time a handbook man IL
caught red-handed and hailed to cour,
he winks at the policeman who ar
rests him and puts up his bond anc
walks out of court and down the
street to get busy before all the bets
are closed for that day. He takes II
as a matter of course-just commor
risk in the misunderstanding his ar.
rest in the same manner an automo'
bilist looks on a blown-out tire. II
means a little expense and inconven'
ience. perhaps. but that's about all.
Bookies Abound Everywhere.
Bookmaking is going on every.
where. A man can't get away from
it. On the street corners. in the
1unchrooms. in the cigar stores and
barber shops. he hears the tips going
"Bucking Baby" or some other little
horse that's down to run that day
And little money is all that's neces-
sary to place bet.
If you are among the initiated, You
can pick up a telephone and call one
of several parties" who are on the
inside and place a thousand dollar bet
on a horse, and, win or lose. no money
will pass hands for several days
maybe weeks, after the race is run
If you are Just q plain, ordinary fell
low with no overcoat, and a few dot
lars in your pocket you are willing
to risk on the speed of a horse, you
can take post on one of several cor
ners or in one of several cigar stores
barber shops or restaurants in Wash
ington and pretty soon pass over your
last cent to the man with fur coat
and smoking an expensive cigar.
Maybe you lose, maybe you win-lts
all In the game.
Families Made Destttpts. .
It's the latter class-the small fry
that suffer from the handbooking in
Washington. IT'S the man with no
overcoat, who may have q wife ana
baby at home or an old mother to
support. He's the "big mans" game.
And he is the man for whom q cam
paign against bookmakine should be
directed, according to tho police.
There, are scores Of cases brought to
the attention of the police where
families are made destitute by the
love of gambling Of the breadwinner:
book men. Letters, many of them un-
signed. are sent to the dying squad
ron." asking that the police do some
thing to stop an evil that means loss
and ruination.
Those who haven't this money.
said the other day. "B6t you might as
we'll try to change human nature as
to argue that way. What's needed is
cleaning out of the handbook men
putting them in Jail and keeping
them there until the temptation is put
out Of the way of the goats" =,
Clean Up ON Fake TIP.
These men-the little men, the men
who have five dollars but no over
coat-are made the victims Of a big
'clean up" once or twice a year. "A
case Is remembered here of a partic-
ular cleanup that took the salaries
of scores. maybe hundreds, of govern
ment clerks and store employees. The
thing was worked from the inside
Of a ring here in Washington. A
prPtins P staGfss In the f, 9Ss,
that such and such horse was sure
to win and bets could be placed on
him at the limits to 1. 1t doesn't
take tip long to get started in
Washington. 1t spreads like Wild
fire through an underground channel
inf -
the city. Within two hours after the
tip had gotten its start money began
to pour into the hands of local book
makers. Let's call the horse Shrink
ing Violet
Everybody at noon hour was talk
ing about shrinking Violet" and
though the money placed on that
horse mounted into the thousands
the odds failed to decrease. To make
a long story short. Shrinking Vio-
bookmaker alone was known to have
cleaned up something like $35.000.
He was the one, by the way, who
started the tip.
Regarded sDishonest" by Pullman.
Handbook makers are known to
be the most dishonest kind of gam
blers," the late Maj. Raymond Pull
man, superintendent Of police. said in
one Of his annual reports.
Commenting on the same thing,
MAJ. Harry Gessford. retired superin-
tendent. said: Very satisfactory
progress resulted in the matter of se-
curing evidence and q great many
arrests were made for violation of
this law. Out of a very large number
of arrests, however, only few cases
were brought to trial, most of the de-
PENDANTS being released on bond
pending trial. during which time
: some were rearrested on the same
charge.
while it is realized that the dock
cts in our courts are much congested,
1t Is suggested that II there could be
brought about a more prompt dispo-
sitfon Of these cases the police would
be materially assisted in the eventual
elimination Of this insidious form Of
gambling. It would also. have a de-
terrent effect upon prospective hand =
book makers If they knew absolutely
that once caught in the act of violat-
ing the law speedy prosecution would
follow"
Not Any Go to Jail.
Where is the remedy?
In some quarters it Is pointed out
that Maj. Gessford's statement that
"only q few cases were brought to
trial" has q meaning full Of sig
nihcance. Prompt trial and the i'm
position OF prison sentences officials
-Ifg01{f1ne]i an BaCe 10IiiTan & -