Show t A t r New Y Yorker I 7 o at barge Lare 0 Bv Br GILBERT SWAN SWA J I NEW YORK June 26 26 Reverberations from the recent wave of murder murder murder mur mur- der and lurid crime In New York have w wakened a ken e d this towns town's officialdom I to action against the more sinister night resorts and dance halls At the moment they are talking A about a new commissionership com com- in inthe inthe the police department depart ment which would have Immediate powers to act ad against a most vi vicious vi- vi clous cious breed of so- so I called night club Strangers in Manhattan have been the most frequent frequent frequent fre fre- fre- fre quent victims of such tenderloin spawns where the rules not only never give a sucker a a. break but generally generally generally gen gen- leave the victim beaten in some dark doorway with his pockets inside out Visitors however are arc not the sole role prey out on a a. lark frequently frequently frequently fre fre- fre- fre stumble upon opening eye-opening evidences of what goes on behind locked or barred doors in their own town to New Yorkers who stumble into such traps have only themselves to blame since the warning signals have been displayed time and again So 80 raw is the initiation of or a a. victim that were it not for the beatings and robberies the whole thin thing would be funny and recall the old days of Uncle Josh In the big city For the thc places place now being dragged out of or the dark into the light cf ct day are of the old melodrama variety that we ue met in cheap novels novels' and tent shows in past years e a a Briefly the most common procedure procedure procedure dure of such spots is this They work In league with a type of or taxicab driver er who cruises about the midtown section in search of ot fares Usually the driver has a u gyp cab that is a cab charging the highest rat rates s. s But there arc are any number of other The driver of course is aware that the cra a average e stranger is likely melv to be bea a a. little giddy likely t to want to go and do things U H cly ely to take afew n a few drinks and want to keep going Sometimes the fare asks the driver for a recommendation and and this Is a truly fatal procedure in six out of often often often ten cases and a a. long chance in nine out a of ten For you ou never can tell where you ou u will wW wind up On the other hand the cabby may hint that he lie knows where there is plenty of goings on lots of or music pretty girls to dance with and even evena a 3 drink t to be bought At the very suggestion the stranger would do well to stop the cab and get out for the driver means no good to visiting fire fire- men But if the sucker goes along and along and most of them do the do-the the old old game begins He is deposited at a place the address of which he Is not likely ever to remember again He is turned directly from the cabby to a a. doorman who hustles him inside There is is as was promised some music and some girls There is Is on occasion a drink to be bought bought- yes bought yes es even en bathtub champagne for tor the girls And perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps the very worst straight liquor to be found in New York If the sucker has his own supply theres there's the setup a. a The serious note begins to strike when the time for the payoff comes Chances are that the visitor thought though hed he'd been making pretty good whoopee But suddenly in return for a couple of or bottles of ginger ale and a chair he finds a bill for 2840 2340 If he bought drinks its it's even more He protests Rents gents come up He refuses to pay Within a second second second sec sec- sec sec- ond his arms ore are pinned behind him his pockets packets are arc turned inside out and he wakes up in the street with a black blackeye blackeye blackeye eye and a dazed notion of what it was all about Another game Is the raising check racket The sucker finds he hasn't enough money and offers a check By morning his 50 has been raised to or and the crooks figure 12 1 that the loss will willbe willbe be swallowed rather rath rath- ri E-ri er than b bring r 1 n g shady Into court adventures Furthermore Fur Fur- the r m 0 r e. e the I I crooks crool also know that most victims leave such places I so dizzy Uzzy that they would never be beable beable able to find their Li-i Li way back or tell teU where they had been Even these endings are relatively happy compared with some wh where c men have been all aU but beaten t to death robbed and nd carried out to be dumped in the most convenient gutter Copyright 1931 NEA EA Service Ix lug |