AUCKLAND THUGS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3777, 19 November 1907, Page 3

AUCKLAND THUGS.

Auckland, Nov. 18. The thugs and pugilists who make up the staff of a gambling den finds a fat living. Every hour the manager collects a shilling as gas money from ever}' person on the premises. The lucky players are compelled to hand over a fair percentage of their winnings. These sometimes amount to large sums. Losers do not always take their misfortune quietly, A young man who found at the end of an all-night game that he had been relieved of a large sura, is said to have made such good play with a six-shooter that he was able to leave at six o’clock in the morning with the bulk of his money refunded. Under the heading of “An Auckland Gambling Hell,” the Star publishes startling revelations of the city of a den which, it says, may without exaggeration be compared to the notorions gaffing schools of Sydney and San Francisco. It has been in existence for over three years, and is open at all hours of the day and night. Its patrons include men of every calling and stage of life, men wellknown in business circles consorting with thugs and spielers. It is protected by an ingenious system of electric bells against the intrusion of outsiders, and in the event of the police gaining an entry the place is converted into a gymnasium and a boxing ring, pugilists and gloves being ready for such an emergency. It is understood that more than one police raid has been rendered nugatory by means possessed by the establishment of obtaining information when danger threatens.