The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-04-02
in
New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York-One question is con-
stantly on the lips Of Harlem.
Thousands are asking it today, will
ask 1t tomorrow, and next month
and next year. They eagerly query
the iceman, the cop on the beat,
the urchin on the curb:
"Wha's de NUMBER today"
The answer almost always is dis
appointing, and means only that
another bet has been lost to the
number game" racketeers who
annually mulct millions from
chance-ioving Harlem. Every day
collectors scatter through the ten
ements and stores and cafes, reap
ing an amazing harvest of pen
MES, nickels and dimes from people
who hope to guess the lucky num-
be for the day-a number deter
mined by pari-mutuel betting ma
chine totals at various race tracks.
Many of the guesses come out OF
special number dream books" or
from fortune-tellers.
And every now and then some
Negro is permitted to win an en-
couraging sum. But it is necessary
only to scan the records of investi-
cations to learn where most of the
money goes:aWilford S. Blunder, a
black Midas, of the policy racket,
was known to have banked $1,-
753,342 in six years. He wasFoust-
ed by Henry Miro, a, Puerto Rican,
who in three@.yearS deposited pro-
fits of $1,251, 446.
White racketeers, among
them Dutch Schultz, tic Bronx
beer king. tried to seize the
lottery business when their II
bOotlcgging empires began to- 1
crumblc. But they have failed
in spite OF n series Of savage i,
killings, simply because the h
sepia suckers who buy the
tickets prefer TO patronixc /
swindlers of their own race.
Nobody seems certain of the
identity of the present numbers
king. &
Gambling and Politics. a
Gambling flourishes openly in
Harlem clubs. Only the big shots
-bookmakers. policy men, chief
tains and prosperous business men
sdIncE dI IIOlotClu
Smaller fry railroad porters,
ers and such-find poker and
Dixie Democratic club, or Mushy
Anderson's Musical knights club.
The Andrea Musical and Symphony
clubs are conducted by Lonnie
Hicks, onetime piano player who
I,na ~ - G,.,t tfov mr. ~ M, y
der Ferdinand A. Morton, political
overload of Harlem. The overthrow
of Tammany Hall meant little to
black belt, which always has prov
en- remarkably self-sufficient iE
Matching it's own political mischief
and protecting its own vice. dope
and gambling dens, it's queer
joints" and its rackets. T
. . -
They Get the Dope.
Thousands of Harlemites. know
of the existence Of notorious mar
cotic dives. Yet these places are
so cunningIy situated and carefully
guarded that they exist almost
without interference. For example,
to enter one of them a patron must
go to a private apartment on the
second floor of a dingy tenement
on One hundred and Thirty sixth
street, pass from there into another
apartment, this one vacant, and
descend a narrow flight of secret
stairs to a basement room. From
this there is q twisting PASSAGE
way-whether above or below
ground nobody seems to know
leading to a cellar room in another
building. Here Is the dope den, a
drab, foul cubic of the real under
world -. Whites and blacks, men
and women. mingle there, some to
buy packets Of vicious white pow
ders and leave at once, some to
linger to hit the pipe or needle. A
Greek, gaunt and apparently tuber-
cular. conducts the place. He Is
aided by a young, light-yellow Me-
gress who, they say used to dance
In Broadway night clubs.
For every dope addict, however,
there are scores OF REFER"
smokers. A REFER Is a .cigaret
made of mArihuana, and mari
huana cigarets around the hot
duced from Mexico to palliate the
jittery nerves or hi-der no. Harlem
Yites--especially, 1t seems, the
nerves of bandsmen. Many OF
those fearful dissonances OF black
belt jazz orchestras are requierns
to reason and mad hymns to the
"reefer man" who peddles MARI
huana cigirets around the hot
spots. There's even q song about
him: Smokes one. make you
lazy; smokes two, makes you
haxy; smoke three, you so clean
crazy crazy for dat REFER
man.