The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-04-17
Chief, Out to Smash Ring
at Start of Season,
Pushes Campaign.
ASSAILED AS VICIOUS
Police Head Cites Scores of
Complaints From VIC
TINS Wives.

Police, in a determined attempt 10
throttle baseball pool selling at the
very outset of the league season, will
arrest those who buy pool tickets as
we'll as those who sell, Chief Claude
M. Worley announced today.
The chief declared that the seven
arrests of operators of poolrooms,
cigar stores and dry beer saloon
keepers on opening day Tuesday was
"iust a drop in the bucket" COM
pared to what is to come.
we are going after baseball
pools, the most widespread, vicious
form of gambling in Indianapolis,
from every conceivable angle.
Il am tired of having wives come
in here and tell me that their hus-
bands, usually the fathers OF sew
eral children, are losing as much as
a third or a half Of their meagers
wages through this lousy gambling
racket, a racket in which they hard
ly have one chance in a million to
win"
Tuesday the chief directed his
men to watch for the appearance of
pool tickets in the regular congre-
eating places. Today they were Or
dered to concentrate on the hip
pocket peddler.
First Arrest Made
The chief obtained a list of all
the places in the city with baseball
score tickers and scoreboards and is
sued orders that either the district
patrolman or a plain clothes man
hover near enough to catch the hip
pocket" peddlers.
The first arrest today was that
of Theodore Stevens, 604 West
Maryland street, in whose dry beer
saloon twelve cards of pool tickets
were found by Sergeant L. M. Trout
man and squad.
Fred Okey, 81 South Hamilton
avenue, one of the seven arrested
Tuesday was discharged in munich
pal court today, when Judge Clifton
r. Cameron reviewed the old ruling
that mere possession of the tickets
is no more evidence of gambling
than possession Of playing cards.
Judge JauI c. Wetter took the
case Of William Boughton, 2l5 In
diana avenue, also arrested Tuesday,
under adyiSenent.
Six Are Arrested
Others arrested Tuesday; Ed
Ford, IS, of SIG North Illinois
street; Albert Washington, "a, of $50
Blake street; James Ballenger, SO,
Negro, 816 Indiana avenue; Robert
Woods, %, Negro, 1856 Indiana ave
nue., and Henderson Thomas, "a, OF
730 Torbett street.
All but Thomas were charged with
keeping gaming devices and pool
selling. Thomas was charged with
gaming. More than fifty books were
conflscated.
Harry B. Balch, 304 North Illinois
street, was arrested Tuesday on a
charge Of keeping gaming device,
after police played slot machine
which paid in nickles.
THE fact that the operators OF
poolrooms, dry beer joints, and the
like do not have ticket in their
places when we search doesn't mean
that we do not know they have
agents selling from the hip pocket
to the men who congregate around
the tickers.
Buys to Be Easy
These men sell so promiscuously
that we expect to find it easy to
make buys. The margin Of profit
for the agent is so small that he
has to get reckless to sell enough
tickets to make much money. The
man who makes the real money, Of
course, is the man back Of the
agents. He takes little risk and gets
big returns.
"TheSe agents are the type of fell
low who should be out with pick
and shovel and that's where we ex-
pect to put them, along with some
of the poison booze sellers out in
the west end. We've actually made
some of those fellows go to work"
The chief said his men would
watch for pool sellers around fac
tories during lunch hour and he ex-
pected to have the cooperation Of
manufacturers, who have COM
planned Of the bleeding" of their
men. The pool seller who tours
Office buildings also will
be trailed.
Buyer Is Big Sucker
while we will concentrate on the
pool seller, VIC are going 10 have
no sympathy with the purchaser.
we can catch him. we'll
arrest him on a gambling charge.
That's what he is doing and he
knows it.
what he may not know is that
he's a bigger sucker than any butter
and egg man who ever got touched
500 for a bottle OF ginger ale IN a
New York night club"
The chief said he hoped courts
will cooperate by not throwing a
lot of legal technicalities in the way
Of the drive He said the police were
not going to forget that baci OF the
army of agents there are two or
three manufacturers who print and
assemble the tickets and in most
cases act rs bankers for the small