Evening star., 1932-02-07

EOIlCe
of the unnumbered thousands Of
players in the Capital are in reduced
circumstances. NickelS which they
need for bread are squandered daily
in the forlorn hope that this time
fortune will smile upon them.
Bread or S30-for one small nickel?
The $50 prospect usually triumphs
over better sense and hunger, and the
operator profits.
Many Glasses Represented.
Because of the small amount of the
average investment, a large clientele
is essential to large operating returns.
Investigation has shown that this
clientele is scattered thickly all over
the city and that many classes are
represented.
While the customers are largely COL
ored, a considerable number of white
patrons have been observed entering
establishments known to be district
headquarters" of the operators.
Numbers" is similar to a lottery,
except that no tickets are sold and
the player is permitted to choose any
number he may desire to bet upon,
within certain limits.
The operators only equipment is a
plentiful supply of small scratch pads
and pencils. Instead of drawing slips
from a hat or twirling a wheel, the
players watch the daily newspapers
for the lucky number. The winning
number may be found in the daily
temperature chart of the Weather
Bureau the clearing house figures, the
stock sales report or the race results.
Betting on the weather and the clear
ing house figures appears to have been
discontinued. The Weather Bureau in
the past has received many complaints
about its unwilling connivance with
the gamblers, but the officials do not
believe they would be justified in dis
continuing issuance of the daily tenn
perature bulletin.
Turn to Other Sources.
The Star several years ago tried the
experiment of eliminating from its col
umns the clearing house report. only
to find the gamblers turned to other
sources for numbers.
The operator or banker" conducts
his business through agents, known
popularity as writers" because they write
down on a pad the numbers chosen by
a player Some of the operators are
said to take in several thousand dollars
a day. The agents receive a commits
sion, usually 10 per cent, on the money
they collect from the bettors. Several
of the operators limit to 81 the
bet that can be placed on a single
number, while others are reported to
take maximum of S.. Thus, the win
ner of a dollar bet will receive $500.
This pay-off, deducted with the COM
missions from the money taken in,
leaves the average operator substan-
tial profit
Some days, of course, no one wins
but the banker and other days he may
have to pay two or three winners.
Difficult to Get Evidence.
Because the agent will write num-
berS" only for persons he knows to be
"all right" it is difficult for the police
to obtain f1rst-hand evidence required
by the courts. Strangers expressing a
desire to make a bet are turned down
CURLY, and when they leave they often
are trailed for blocks, the police de-
clare.
To make bet the player simply tells
the writer one or more three-digit
numbers he has chosen and the amount
he wishes to play on each selection. If
he chooses three such numbers, and
wshes to put up 2 cents on each, he
gives the agent 6 cents and receives a
carbon copy of. the small sheet on which
the numbers and amount played have
been written down.
Then he waits for the late editions
of the afternoon newspapers to learn
his fate.
If stock sales are beng used to rule
the selection of a winner, the player
will find the winning number hidden
in the total sales of shares reported for
General Electric General Motors and
North American stock. If the sales of
General Electric total 5000 shares, of
General Motors 124,500 and Of North