GREAT GAMBLING RAID

Hokitika Guardian, 26 July 1921, Page 3

GREAT GAMBLING RAID

m will T K .MEN AH RESTED. SYDNEY, July 12 The polico of this city arc? constantly milling gambling deils, but most oi tlicir efforts arc directed agaifist the inoffensive ( liinose. It is (|uite a common tiling to see 20 or 30 stoical Cliinamen lined up in a Police Court, charged with playing fan tan, or pakapoo, or some of the other games dear to the heart of the yellow men. Much indignation has been expressed at this constant persecution of the quiet Chinese community, while big poker games are allowed in every city tilth. Sydney, indeed. is a city of gamblers. Poker in the clubs, poker and bridge in 80 per cent of the private houses, two-up and Crown and Anchor wherever the ‘horny-handed” congregate, a kind ot dominoes among the Greeks and Italians, horse-racing every day, tens of thousands subscribed regularly for the big sweeps—gambling is in the blood of the people. If every gambler were arrested. all the gaols in the country would not hold a tithe ot them. In view of the regular hunting-down ol Chinese, the raid the other day on a well-known resort of white men ‘had its merits. A big hall up on a fourth floor, in a lane off George street, was the scene of operations, ft is the gathering place ol wharf labourers aitd coal lumpers. There has always been a tendency here to illicit gambling, hut waiters have become really had lately. There has been some slackness oil the

rta.erfront and the idle meil have drifted here. Then the two-up and Grown and Anchor experts appeared, the stakes got bigger and bigger and. with- , in recent weeks, the sums won and lost have been astonishing, considering the class of men engaged. Echoes ot the proceedings reached the police, and on Saturday some twenty plain doilies men left No. 2 police station by twos and threes and 'went for a walk.” They gradually (dosed in oil the suspected building and when near it, they 1 made a concerted rush. 4 lwv were half-way up the stairs before the alarm wits given. and they were in the big room before the gamblers could do more than break into a panic. There were some 150 rough-looking men in the room and only 20 police and, for a moment, it looked as it there would be a free light. The police stationed themselves at the door, and the men could not see how many were behind them. The inspector in charge called out "Take things easy. No one will he allowed out and the sooner it is over tin* better for everyone.” The men were then taken out in tons and twelves, put in patrol waggons and conveyed to the nearest police station. This proceeding alone took two hours. The gamblers decided to treat the affair as a joke, and were very humorous at the expense of the polite, the waggons and the great gathering crowd of sigli seers. They were allowed bail, made a most imposing show in Gourt. and were remanded.