IS THE GAME UP?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1125, 12 May 1911, Page 2

IS THE GAME UP?

> — —^ THE BOOKMAKER. STATEMENT BY A DETECTIVE. (By TeloKrapU.-Snccial Correspondent.! Christchurch, May 10. A "Press" reporter in his wanderings about, the city noticed that the crowds of reputed bookmakers which used to congregate at certain' points had- decreased very largely, in fact, there were very lew of them to be seen about. Perhaps two or three might be seen talking together, but casual watching did not give rise to the idea that they were carrying on their old business. Certainly there wcro no furtive glancing at' race programmes or auy pencilling of wagers, to all outward appearance they were ordinary citizens who seemed to iind . time banning on their hands. Being curious as to whether .these, men still carried on the business of bookuiakmg, and where all the others of the fraternity of. the bag and pencil had gone, the pressman asked the Chief-Detective. The reply he received was most reassuring. , "You may sav definitely,' said ChiefDetective Bishop, "that there has never been so little betting in Unstchuieh as there is at the present lime. Mrcct belting is absolutely a .thing of the past You may walk about town any day, and I do not think you will see any wager made The force as a whole, and my department in particular, keeps a very strict lookout, and tho lact that there have not been any prosecutions shows that we have noticod nothing. Of course, it is possible that: men arc still bookmaking, but if they are they aie doing it privately and wagering only Tilth persons of substance with whom they are well acquainted. This, is . a matter concerning which it is extremely difficult to make any move. Even if wo had suspicions, it would be next to impossible to find anv evidence to justify them. Innpowered by the Gaming Act, we were rcadv to clear tho streets of bookmakers, mid'we have accomplished that result. The bookmakers themselves rctognisod that the game was up." Asked as to what the men who had been bookmakers were doing now, the Chief Detective said that a number of them had set up in business for themselves—some of them as land agents, others as hairdressers, for example. A few had retired on their profits, and anumber had left tho country. • _ Two men who were closely m touch with sporting matters rather dispelled \ the view that things were ' all as they should he They shewed charts setting nut the prices that a bookmaker was willing to give touching the result, of a race at Ashburton, and a species of letter-card sent out by another firm. Such charts, they said, were sent out to their clients by certain bookmakers before the date of almost every meeting of importance. Further than this, the bookmakers had known places of call, where they could be seen by those who wished to do business with them. They had also places where messages relative to gambling transactions could bo left with the certainty that they would be received. It was idle to say' that the letting evil had been scotched. On tho day of a race it would be possible for a known man to make _ * wager respecting the result in Christchurch. He might bet any amount from half a crown to fifty pounds. What could be said safely was that promiscuous street betting and betting on the racecourses themselves had been suppressed. In the face of the charts they showed, and the statements that would bo made by almost any racing man were ha asked, it would be futile to. deny that bookmakers still plied their work, but they now did it furtively, and it probably would be difficult for a stranger to transact business. That was all that could be said regarding the change effected by the Gaming Act.