New Britain herald., 1924-04-19

O oAhs 4sot cfCI HIS IdAl6
 was to be found in connection with
 the Long Investment Company. All
 letters, remittances, and transfers
 from branch offices were addressed
 10 James Long. but the man who
 opened them was Thomas J. Kirtin,
 whose business, according to the
 modest lettering on the door of the
 back room. which opened upon an
 entirely different corridor from that
 upon which the Long Investment
 Company fronted, was Invest
 ments."
 Kirtin's brain had evolved the
 idea of applying the all Tontine
 game to betting upon horse-races,
 and he had organized the Long In-
 vestment Company. In addition to
 the promise Of certain dividends.
 the company added the appeal to
 the gambling instinct in human be-
 ings. It claimed that the reason
 persons who bet upon horse-races
 fail to beat the bookmakers is that the bookmakers have the preponder- ance of capital. The small, bettor could not withstand a run of losses and the gamblers could. It proposed
 to turn the tables: all bettors were to pool their capital with the Long Investment Company. which. with
 it's elaborate system of doping horse-races. its exclusive sources of information from owners and jockeys who were interested" and its perfect system of laying bets which would assure investors of the best odds on each race, would beat the game. Further, it was not as if a bettor wagered all on one race;
 the company would bet on three,
 four, possibly six. races a day on different tracks, betting only on in- side information. and the winnings would be pooled and divided. One hundred per cent was guaranteed. and more if the winnings were larger.
 The public had shied at the prop osition at first. Then those who had been lured by golden promises commenced to draw ten. fifteen even twenty-five, per cent a month on their investments. On one oc- casion a dividend" of seventy per cent was declared. The first in- vestors had their money back and still were credited with the original investment. The news was received with incredulity. but as more and greater dividends were declared hundreds and then thousands had t1ocked to invest. Branch offices of the company, lavishly furnished and equipped with telegraph and tele- phone communications with all tracks, were established in a score Of cities. Money poured into the Long Investment Company bv tens of thousands, then almost by mill Hons. Each month tho investors" re- ceived astonishing dividends. Some perhaps knew or suspected that the dividends were being paid out of the fresh capital, but. being gam. blers, they threw their money into the gamble. betting that they would draw out their principal and more before the bubble burst.
 In New York. Kirtin waited, watching the expansion of the buh- ble and timing almost to the hour when inc crash must come. In his safe nearly fifty per cent of the money received, changed into bills of large denominations, was packed in cases. and in his desk were reser- vations of staterooms on every yes- sel departing for Europe in the next fortnight. Tho bubble had endured longer than he expected. There was more than g million dollars packed in the cases, and more than that already had been transfer red md deposited in various Eu- ropean banks. He hesitated, unde- cided as to whether to risk another week Of delay--and decided that the time had come 10 reap the last har- vest and permit the gleanings to re. main.
 On the race-tracks Big Jim Long swasgered and continued his role as head of the company spending thousands and talking millions. He was huge man. with a huge laugh, a round, ruddy facs pink from much massage. He wore clothing Of strik- ing cut and colors. and his dia- monds dazzled the eyes of jockeys and touts. He maintained an air Of condescending familiarity with some and patronizing good fellowship with others, and h, treated money as dross. Judges stewards. and club officials watched Long closely and with some disappointment. Ru- mors that he faC bribed jockeys. had influenced owners, that he had fixed races and engineered great killings, were whispered around the tracks, yet the officials could not discover any evidences Of his guilt. Big Jim made no denials of the accusations. but blatantly defied the oficials 10 ''get anything on him" Moreover, the bookmak- CTS. who watched his movements even more closely than the racing officials did, knew that he never had bet any large sums at the track. and Big Jim had sarcastically inquired if they thought him a fool to make bets for the company at the tracks where the odds were made. when Inc comnaux. system was fo scatter