Salt Lake Telegram | 1940-03-25 | Page 5 | Officers Wreck Swank Clubs is Hollywood

Officers Wreck Swanlc Clubs in Hollywood 'chamber piled with roulette wheels, chuck -e-luck cages and green-covered tables. Contreas said the equipment waa worth about 110,000. He found ae slot machines. The Clover club catered only to the wealthy. Many acton patronised the establishment for dinner and dancing, but few were prosperous enough for bouts with the Clover's dice. Most of the roulette wheels used 13 chips for starters,, while the dice tables operated on a aky's-the-limit basis. Maay were the stories of producers losing up to $50,000 In one evening's gaming. One studio chieftain was evea reputed re-puted to have entered Into aa agreement with the club whereby none of hit employes could loss more than (10,000 la any one night of play. The Clover dub was a speakeasy In aa old mansion during prohibition. prohibi-tion. Seven year are It moved Into Its magnificent bow headquarters headquar-ters tn the center of Hollywood's gayest district. It had been raided Intermittently since, but a ever closed for more than few weeks at a time. HOLLYWOOD, March 23 (UPfe-Hollywood't (UPfe-Hollywood't big-time movie gamblers gam-blers Monday surveyed the wreckage wreck-age of the famous Clover club, to which Lot Angeles sheriff officer had applied battering rami In lieu of admittance cards, and sought a new location for perhaps America's biggest dice games. Those picture maker Who gamble gam-ble dally with a fickle public la the production of every film they make and then gamble tome more at night with the Clover' croupiers crou-piers found that Sheriff Captain George Contra ras had shown no respect for their plush-lined ren- He had confiscated a list of "members," which he said contained con-tained the names of dosens of movie notables, smashed mirrored doors and secret panels,- carted away roulette wheels and dice tables, ta-bles, shooed formally dressed patrons pa-trons home, and left two deputies In the lobby to see that the wheels dldnt start clicking again. He had mad no arrests, but tald he was Investigating the club's mysterious owners. Then he had moved over to the Sphinx club, also on Sunset boulevard boule-vard and also catering to the movie trade. He confiscated more gambling gam-bling paraphernalia there and ordered or-dered arrest of George (Goldle) Goldenberg; his brother, Maurice; Ray Hallor and two waiters. When the captain pulled up to the massive concrete portals of the Clover club shortly before the dawn of Easter morning, the guard said he had to have a card of admittance ad-mittance and evening clothe. Contreras and his 10 assistants produced a battering ram, and toon found themselves. In ordinary serge suits. In a foyer, where was a huge glass table covered with apring flowers. The room was crowded with picture people, hurrying check girls for their hats. To the left of the raiders waa a dining room, where meals started at S3 each, and a bar, where Scotch highballs retailed for 90 cents. Contreras ignored that side of the establishment and started poking through another door, which led into a many-turned and many-mirrored many-mirrored corridor. The captain claimed most of the mirrors were transparent for one-way vision and that the gambling operators could sse htm earning. At the end of the hall, he demanded de-manded that Maltre d'Hotel John Barrett open the final door. Barrett Bar-rett said he had no key. Contreras Con-treras and helpers brought out crowbars, sledge hammers and their oaken battering ram. They burst Inside In a shower of glass and foand themselves In a eerie of salons, all with ankle-tickling rugs and handsome furnishings, but no customers and gambling equipment The captain, who earned hit spurs when he smashed the wheels and tobies of the B. S. Rex In Santo Monica bay last summer, for two hours led hit men through the mass of doors and corridors within the dub. Inspected the Turkish bath, the barber shop, the kitchens, and finally found a pine-panelled pine-panelled room which looked peculiar. pe-culiar. He rammed a hole la one of the panels and discovered another