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Show i 1EIEITWIE mm (OF KIIUK USIOW i l Article No. 4. Period from 1880 to 1910 A Direct Wire From Police Headquarters, the Life of H. W. Royal; "Bunko Land," "Haz- r ard;" How to Get a Crooked Wheel; "Gambling Money;" Waiting for a Taxi; Kepplinger's Invention; In-vention; a Broken Head; Shooting "Craps" on i the Mississippi; Marie Antoinette and Her Pearl I Counters; an Art Student at Monte Carlo; jj Madame S and the Mysterious Frenchman. II In a con ersat o I on e had w th ( h ef of Police George W Wall dk ke , told me tbat n all h s experience ae lad never met an honest profess o al gambler Walling was an honest pol ce ; officer but not all the men on the pol ce force have been as UDrisht There has always been a sort of free masonry between the pol e pol t cians and gamblers They have d vided profits and protected eacl other I remember n 1890 it vas charged that most of the b e gambl ng ho ses were connected w th pol ce healquar ters by a direct telegraph vire so the gamblers conld ne er be tal n off the r I guard It was sur posed that they were notffied of raids by tho pol o d rectly "Wh le th s charge was ever proved true it is very probable that at th t time n New ork some of tho ga n bl ng houses had a very nt mate con nect on w th the nearest pol ce stat ons Just before that there had been the sensat onal charges aga nst McLa gh lln and Carpenter and there had been I frequent per ods when all ga bl ng was outwardly stopped In 1888 most of the notor ous gan bl ng houses n New ork we e off c ally closed u The r doors remained shut for e ghteen months but many of the smoothest gan biers dodged the 8 t uat on by open ng up pr vate plac s John Da y no ed is Twenty n nth street place to a pr vate house on Forty second street where he rece ved aim st anvbo ly who wante 1 to play a game Other well known places of this diy we e De aeey s Be t Ha nes s and Ph 1 Daly g Long B anch cl b About th s time I met H W Eoyal a Georg an who had spent his 1 fo at gam ng When 0 years old he learned to play cards with federal sold ers He ran away from home w th a c reus at the age of 10 and played tnree-card monte At this he was very successful for the pol ce could not arrest a ch Id and the dupes thought it rather funny to be cheated by a boy in short pants Later he learned the throe shell game and ma le a great deal of money fol lowing c reuses and travel ng on teujn boats Son e vearB afterward I met Royal aga n n Ch cago and he told n e his exper ences dur ng the World s f a r In a place called The Arcade cn S xt th rd street u Ch cao he ran t rty two tables where stra ght gam bl ng co Id be had In the lobby of th s hotel he had s xteen brace game tables where sharp cheats were allowed to pract ce any form of rob bery that would get the victim s money He also had a place called The Sen ver where he operated sixteen otler crooked tables He told me that he actually cleared up $100 000O dur j the fa r but that after d v d ng w tn pol t cians pol cemen and gamblers he had only $'5 000 left for h mself He arranged to start another gam bl ng house in the downtown district of Chicago and offered to pay $2000 a , week for protect on the protect on money to go to the campaign fund of I By the Editor of a New York Daily h a n p "v P I $ aaa thah o in ke he a en -But a he had ua tho hou e a tew weeks h a up b t po p h we do o e h n and h s a an ee mon w on a el ha he a llmpaeopae b the e ent s po an 1 as n e en al wed to e a os on a dea e n a gan b ne house In 1890 New k was gett n a good lea of pub ty f on the many bunko men pate a ong B oalwaj The d s t between Twen th rd street and Th t th 1 st eet was commonly ad b nk0 land There were games n the day t me further down town for bus ness men Ann Fulton and Chambers street each had the r houses There were many frauds 1 ke the gold br ck which were popular then and many gamblers turned the r atten tion to these Fake bucket shops sprung up each place operated by a man n the basement who sent up false returns to the t cker so that the speculator coul 1 be relieved of anv amount of cash in a very short t ma Hazard was st 11 popular and the prof ts were so enormous that many gamblers turned to it It was a fast game A rapid operator could make ten 6hakes nam nute mak ng 25 per cent In an hour s play his percentage of profit became loOO per cent Eoulette if the wheel were honest would only pay a prof t of 5 5 19 per cent But most wheels were not honest A story is told of a New York gambler who endeavored to run an honest game paying $1000 a month for the pr v Ice t the end of four months the men who collected for the pol ce nspecto who was gett ng the graft came to the gam bier and sa d the pol ije would have to have more protect on money But I can t g ve t to you pro tested the gambler who had attempted to be honest. Why notf quer ed the collector There would be nothing left for me if I did I run an honest game and there s not much money in it after I Then don t run an honest game suggested the police representat ve What do you mean put in a crook ed wheelt quer ed the other Why sure we ve got to have more money That s the only thing you can do But where can I get a crool ed wheel 1 Oh I 11 fix that for you, all r ght 1 11 have one sent to you The agent of the graft ng inspector of pol ce sent a few days late a crook ed roulette wheel which had been so zed in a raid on a gambl ng house that had refused to pay protect on money But the honest gambler tho gh he cleaned up a little money lost t all in playing another game h mself lhat is often the experience of gamblers they may make money running a poker game but are pretty sure to turn r ght aro nd and lose the r profit on race horses or the stock exchange Wh ch reminds me aga n of my fr end Eoyal and h s experience with gambling money The first money he made fol lowing the C T Ames c rcas wtli Is three card monte outfit was stolen by his partner A year later he accumulated $20 000 tried to be honest bought a br ck yard and in a few months saw the uninsured yard destroyed by a cyclone Gambl ng money he exela med b tterly During 1889 by paying for pr vileges at small fa rs he managed to get an other $20 000 together That money le put into a c reus The c reus vas mobbed by a crowd of angry farmers one night and again Kid Eoyal was ruined In 1890 Frenzied F nance wh ch was sweeping over the prosperous TJn t ed States made gambling good Pol cy playing became very common again and poker was quite the rage One reason why nobody ever makes money on poker at a gambling house is that even if the player has a streak of luck and- makes a temporary wmn ng he is not allowed to leave the table with his profits Jack Eose in the recent Eosenthal inquiry told of how a man lost $ 000 wa ting for a taxi The player had entered an uptown gambl ng house and won $7000 Con s dering that quite enough he turned to one of the attendants and sa d Order me a taxi please The servant bowed respectfilly and withdrew The gambler played on care lessly while wait ng for his taxi Ten minutes had passed his luck had turned he had dropped $1000 He called to the servant and asked if the taxi wa3 be low Coming sir said the accomplished gambling houBe servitor Another ten minutes another thou sand The servant kept giving expla nat onB to the winner telling h m why the taxi had not arr ved At the end of an hour the player rose from the ta ble without a cent The servant of fered him a drink and a cigar and told him his taxi was wa ting In 18SS a friend of mine a profes sional gambler told me an illuminating story about a man by the name of Kep plinger who was an inventor gambler and cheat on the Pacific coast Th s friend of m ne sat in a game w th 1 ep pi nger and three other p ofess ona s for several weeks Of course the game was supposed to be straight be cause there s no use for d amond to try to cut d an ond and there s Bup o he ho n ong gambler L K p ne n all the monev T g ers cou du t n e au The a alked t o er to h n be wa ch ng the German o e lie p a ed n a perfectly natu a n anne and there was noth ng sus about any of h b movements B t h s run of luck was too phenoni enal to be acc dental The tour los ng gamblers met one n ght and dec ded on a plan to find out how Keppl nger was getting the money The next day when the were play ng the two men s tt nj, at Keppl ng er s s de laj down the r cards qu ckly caught the successful plaver and qu ck ly t ed h m up w th stout cord Then the searched him and as a result found a little device now known as the Keppl nger hold out wh ch took cards from the player s hand or put them nto t w thout anyone see ng the little steel hold out that sld s lently up and down the pla er s Blee e Instead of thrashing h m or k U ng him the thoughtful gamblers were en thusiast c over h s m ent on and let Kepplinger off w th the prom se that he would make each of them one of h s hold outs INeedless to say w th the new dev ces in operat on each gam bier made enough in a week to pay h m a profit on the losses he had made to Keppl nger Dur ng this period I d d a little work for a Ch cago ne vspaper and t fell to my lot to report one of the derby days wh ch were then so pop lar n Ch cago I saw the sport ng men of the west gathered together for the first t me and my descr pt on of them n the newspaper at the t me ga e a good descr pt on of the fratern ty They were all gathered in the betting ring and never in my 1 fe before or s nee have I heard such profan ty seen such vulgar ty or smelled such rank ci gars At a cheap gambl ng house on Clark street dur ng niy short stay n Ch cago I saw two players who were los ng Both showed their despa r In different ways One was mo rnful y silent the other swore loudly and found fault w th every player at the table F nally exasperated by the coolness of the quiet man oppos te him who was los ng the loud fellow cried w th many oaths What s the matter with, youf How can you s t there 1 ke a bump on a log and stand your losses I The other made no answer You must bo hardened to anything f you can stand los ng so systemat cally cr ed the talkat ve one For answer the silent man took off h s hat removed a bandage and showed a deep bloody cut m h s head. As de from tha agony of losing his money he must have been in a terr ble phys cal stra n from the wound but he played on desperately On a trip down south only a few years ago I took a short journey on a Msssspp r e packet I wai greatl surpr sed to find t at the roustabouts were allowed to run an open game of craps on the lower deck On in qu ry I learned that no roustabouts could be procured unless they were promised that they could shoot craps when the d dn t ha e to work. The colored mate of the boat ran the game and he was allowed to take 5 cents o t of every play Most of the men s wages went into the game and the mate got it all Gambl ng s a passion with poor and r ch al ke and men are not its only v ct ms Mane Anto nette of France was one of the first women gamblers She es tab,! shed regular gambl ng rooms to which all people who had money were welcome The sums won and lost at her tables were fabulous and all the courts of Europe w ere astounded by the open v ce she tolerated To avo d the trouble of carrying large sums of money about w th hor the sport ng Queen of France ordered her court art st to prepare an elegant snuff box of wrought gold Th s was filled w th th n plates of mother of pearl each marked w th the figures of a large sum On los ng Mar e had only to take out a p ece of pearl o gn heT name and give t to the w nner The w nner could eichange the jeweled I O TJ for money w th the banker of the game and the banker later rece ved tl e money from the queen s treasurer Ma ne was gu Hot ned and ner naked body thrown nto a d tch full of qu ckl me partly because all France was d sgust ed w th her sport ng pi asu es At Monte Carlo women have always been n ev dence I once knew a reck less young art student n Ne v lo k who later went to Par s to st d She drifted to Monte Carlo du ng one of her acat ons and was fasc nated by the roulette whee as many wo nen 1 ha e been She played the first day and won over $1000 The next day she ' was at the table early and in ha f an ' hour had lost not on y her w nnmgs ot L the prev ous day but also e ery cent she had in the world She then dressel ' m her best clothes arranged hfr room ' w th flowers as though for a party and hung herself from the central chande ' 1 er by a s lken scarf Friends found her dead n the afternoon her fiee black her tongue b tten off on the death agony Probably the most myster ous char acter ever assoe ated w th gambl ng in , New York was Madame 8 As a girl she w as wild and reckless he f am ly could do nothing w th her Her father had mill ons and spent much money in br ng ng up h s own daughter as a spo led child At 18 she eloped with a French valet who served her fash onable family She appeared n the newspapers several t mes as hav ng been a heavy w nner at Monte Carlo and then noth ng as heard of her for se eral ears At about the t me ot her d sap) a ance her husband was shot a 1 0 wh ch resulted from a gan b ng game and though her mill ona re fatler t ed to trace her she seen ed to have en t rely d sappeared from the f ice of the earth Se eral months later the fash onablo gambl ng world of New lorl was uch exc ted o-ver the appearance of a tr m young Frenchman who spoke 1 ngl sh w th a charm ng accent had la ge sor rowful black eyes and made phenome nal winn ngs I saw th s young Frenchman p ay one night at a pr vate club on Torty second street and I was an azed by ihe nerve he d splayed He won in sp te of crooked n ethods and at length was ap proached by a weU known New York gambler who offered h m a half inter est in h s house The joung man accepted and became as popular a gambl ng house manager as there was in Amer ca He vas a heavy dr nker but seen ed to keep 1 s head well and h s luck at cards never deserted hi Hi voce was soft and men were known to seek h s company and lose thousands just to s t at the same table w th this fasc nat ng 1 renchman and 1 sten tolsw tty sal 1 es The aristocrat c family of the young g rl meanwh le had put detect ves on her tra 1 n France They d sco ered a lead wh ch brought them back to Amer J ca and afte much clever a wok fina con ected the J"1' e s w th th s reckless youth"1 he talk ot the gambl ng Wo Tl e ch ef ot the detect v, ff o e te 1 the p rsu t of Mada! f nally went to he father anj . ' that he ha o, i lau"hter and the young caa, one and t e same person iha T atl of er husband f.j o t s pport the advent!1 1 ! ha d sed herel as t Si 1 n no to Amenca to tii t ne o had spnt years kr v nl tie r 1 a . ne' clever operator s soon as i S ' in New lork her an ca an . 1 cited com ent and she had , c me a notor o s character Her father broken hearts tn joun n a qi 1 1 r '5 a Js to c me ba k she jrazM I1 co (ly and den e ever Fa, ner mother -was brought aodT broke dow u Many people wondered n..?, , come of the successful v0u "i 1 renchman he d sappeared W gambl ng world as my8t oti had come and the publ o to r 1 does not know what becamo 7 As a matter of fact thJntS pon by her fam ly f nalf Jl consent to leave the wretch,!, fo nd so fasc nat ng She ik a la ge sum to leave the cou," now and then reports comef o places of a clever FrenchmsT. ) ast w nn ngs at var ous MmV a not but be ve that t u ' S ao-a n mpersonat nt us ng ler knowledge of ml outw t e en the shrewedest n profess on Her father an I Tfi long s nee dead but Madam,, probably 50 now cannot t Ibii her 1 ght under a bushel ' B |