Evening star., 1938-08-27
BY JOHN LARDNER,
Special Correspondent OF The Star

IhdHilcI VI IOuTlSL business. Inc DaTS
and the hackers and the rambling old
hotels would perish without it. But,
once they are set up in business, they
need the stimulus Of wide-open gam
bling and free spending to make that
business show profit. Racing alone
will not do it. Not any more.
The people that come here to
gamble at night" says John Muldoon
owner of small fleet of hacks, ARE
the people that come here to spend"
Only Even Break in Racing.
The big racing owners have money
Of course. and some of them will come
to Saratoga as long as horses run here
the Whitneys. the Riddles, the Sloans
and the Vanderbilts But the money
they put IN circulation is barely enough
to get the natives OF the nut-to meet
their investments.
And then. on the other hand. there
are younger owners, with big rich
stables Of their own less welded to the
tradition Of Saratoga, who will move
their horses to Narragansett and other
tracks at the FIRST hint OF weakness
They want to go where the action Is,
where life is, where the purses are
Nothing is farther wrong than the
notion that gambling hurts the small
business men OF q town like Saratoga.
Let the tourist 90 broke at the gam
Ing tables. One night is not going to
ruin him-Or 80 nights. This sort OF
tourist will come back every week with
fresh bank roll. eager to yin. ready
to lose. willing to spend, swelling at
tendance totals at the track. crowding
the taverns, selling out the hotels.
l.. Night Clubs Big Business.
For the last few years the bulk Of
the gambling business in Saratoga has
been done by concessioniares at the
night clubs and road houses by the
lake-Newmans Reilly's, Smiths the
Arrowhead, the Piping Rock
These houses sell fine food-frog-
legs, lobster. steak-and entertainment
by big-name artists from New York
and Hollywood. That is all investment
money. It's the action in the gam
bling rooms that brings it back, and
more with it.
Down in the middle Of town, block
from the railroad station. is-or was
the Chicago Club. This was the
mobsters' joint, dispensing with the
formality OF food and entertainment
and concentrating on dice, roulette,
faro and bird-cage.
The dealers and cashiers you saw
at the Chicago Club were mobmen,
the same you have seen at Miami,
Chicago and Hot Springs. Professional
gamblers and rich recrea tionists staged
their own crap game at the back of
the house every night of the racing
season.
Sheriff Stops Gamblers.
Earlier this summer the gamblers
moved their equipment into the Chi
| cago Club and the lake houses, as
usual. A new district attorney was In
ONCE, Al Simon, reported to be friend
and protege Of New York Citys racket
buster. Thomas E. Dewey. His admin
istration split with the county bosses,
who had already split among them
selves over the matter Of "ice."
ice" is the graft and protection
money annually paid out by the gam
blers to the town and county. The
gamblers were ready to pay it again,
They had their equipment in order
and. while they knew that the new
administration had barred gambling
they sat back confidently, waiting for
some one to pave the way.
When night after night of INC
dice" went by. they grew uneasy. One
evening two weeks ago, they decided
to open just on a chance. The busi-
ness was terrific. The next evening
the sheriff's men came around and
gave them two hours to get their
equipment and themselves out OF
town.
The Lake House people folded
yelling murder, but folding just the
same. They cut their entertainers
pay. They are sticking out the season
this year. but most Of them say. never
again."
Shorter Race Meet Looms.
The Chicago Club mob tried to
move in on the nearby city of Glens
Falls. The mob was hurled out on
its ear.
The county bosses reached an
agreement on "ice," but, when they
approached the district attorneys
Office with it, they were told:
I'VE will open up gambling. If you
want, but We will take the ice and
give 1t to charity"
Which is another way Of saying
no more gambling"-and perhaps
another way Of saying mo more
Saratoga"
Friends and boosters Of the famous
old track point out that this years
income from racing alone has not
fallen of . great deal-maybe $25, 900
But that doesn't begin to tell the
story. The income of the resorts
the bars and the small business men
has been cut clean in two. And
George H. Bull. president Of the track
Saratoga's first racing citizen, de-
clared, with what appeared to be q
fair amount Of candor:
We might run . To-day meeting
next year, but it hardly seems worth
while"
Needs Gambling to Survive.
Big-time competition to the north
and to the south has menaced the
revenue of Saratoga for some years
past. Gambling kept the town alive
This, as you see. II not . sermon
against gambling. It's . problem In