RAIDING A SMART GAMBLING HELL. THREE NOBLE LORDS AND "JUBILEE" BENZON ARRESTED. Satisfaction of the Police. (From Our Special Correspondent.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 383, 10 July 1889, Page 3

RAIDING A SMART GAMBLING HELL. THREE NOBLE LORDS AND "JUBILEE" BENZON ARRESTED. Satisfaction of the Police. (From Our Special Correspondent.)

.London, May 17. ■ It will be bitter for Sir Charles Warren, in his distant banishment, to read of ChiefCommissioner Munro'p successful raid last Sunday morning on that smartestand mdst notorious of West End gambling "Jiells," Seaton's, or (as outsiders call it) the Field Club. , For two years Sir Charles and Scotland Yard concentrated soine 1 of their severest energies on "raiding" Seaton's. Again and again, Sir Charles planned sudden raids —us he thought — but Seaton had always " the office, " and the detectives could do nothing on anival but look foolish and apologise. Munro wisely- began his regime by disarming suspicion. It was allowed to leak out as if accidentally that the authorities found they couldn't interfere with' 'places like the Field Club in the present, state of the law. Seaton foolishly- believed -tihis- to be fact. Forgetful of the Park raid "(the Field was the Park revived), the' proprietors grew careless, and on Saturday night, or, rather, Sunday moaning, Neinisis . descended upon them. The police 1 wei-ewoll-in fanned' as to events. They leai)nt there had b.een a " heavy " night" at Seaton's on JTri'day; lJtird JDifftlcy Md M^' Metfry 'losing "'large' sums, 1 arid «fcnat plas ''was 'to'beu'osumed on Sattmday about ,ceU>von. Their -tnodufx operandi^ vvas a^foljknvs :—: — About 1.30 ,a^m. t Superintendent riume," who had his* uniform i cbncoaldd by his cloak, accompanied by Mr Stroud, r who was • ' v .In Evening Dress, presented themselves at the doorway -of the club and asked for Mr Ernest Benzon. Fortunately, thoy found tho outor pontcullis door, which runs in a slide, and can be bolted in an instant, had been loft open, or they would not have succeeded in making their entrance. Tho club commissionaire was pu&hed on one sido before he could roalise the situation, a burly constable knocked him promptly to the ground, and fifty to sixty police swarmed into the place. It does not seem that the noise of this scuttle had reached the upper floor, where the cardri room is placed. The officers first entored the supper-room, a most luxurious apartment, and thence Inspector Sbroud rapidly passed into the middle of a company of gentlemen, who in another room —the first iloor back, were seated around a long table, which was covered with green cloth, and marked with gold divisions for baccarat playing. At the moment tho croupier had apparently stepped on one side, whilst the clerk was counting up the bank, the players having, it is supposed,. Just Finished a Coup. One and all were astonished. Mr Benzon, who was the first to realise" the situation, rose from his seat, and, addressing Inspec- ' tor Stroud, said: "-Hero, what's all this about?" Mr Sfcroud, throwing aside his coat, and appearing in evening dress, exclaimed : "Gentlemen,! am a police officer, and you must consider yourselves in custody, as \re have entered under a, warrant." Superintendent Hume had in the meantime ( come into the room and stated who he* was, and' the gentlemen prepent were dufy apprehended. Among them I were l . ll The Earl' of Dudley, Lord Lurgan, Lprcl ''Henry Paulet, Mr Samuel Lewis (the Well-known financial agent);" Mr Benzq>n-'(who Has been already mentioned), Mr Merry, Baron Ferard, and Mr C. Seaton. The arrests were mado without the slightest tirouble or disturbance. At tho time of the arrest. one gentleman held in his h'aVid counters representing the value of £2,000. It is' estimated that the police have in. their possession documents, cash and securities worth upwards of £18,000. Paper securities to the amount of £12,000 were discovered, and on an ex arnination pf the rooms it was seen that the stock of. counters, "w.ould in hard coin be equivalent to Thousands of Pounds Sterling. They are generally of circular shape, bu^ some are oblong, and they bear their value s in plain figures, from £1 to £500. A £1 counter is white, and a £500 counter has the figures in white on a black ground, whereas £100 counter is printed black on white. Reds denote tho value of £5. Besides these articles there vere found 500 packs of cards, > some of them for e*cartd, and most of them never having been used, and there were also impounded a number of ebony-handled rakes for collecting the cards, and a couple of scoops, or broad palm-leaf shaped utensils, for gathering in the counters. The 15 delinquents were taken to Vine-street Police Station. Here | they were duly Incarcerated in Cells with strict impartiality, but in a very short .time messengers were being sent in all directions to find bail. Unlike the rigid rule at Bow-street, where the prisoner's had not such'uncloubted names and positions in the aristocratic world, bail was readily granted at Vine-street, and before church time the members of the E'ield Club were liberated, with sufficient ( opportunity to attend their religious functions if they should so desire. The proprietor, aMr Seaton, and a man who, it is alleged, was "banker" in the game which was in progress, were kept in the cells. , A popular baronet had the good for tune r to have left the place for a few minutes in t order to get some cigars at another club, and "when he returned, "finding the premises in the 'possession of the police,, ho had the prudence to' refrain froni entering., On the other hand, |! ane"' i b!f' the"' ri'dble 'lords (the' ybiing 'Eafl of DudleyJ- : ar£esfced- had riot been in the house for' 1 the last six months', 'and had- no intention of .entering ifagain 1 , bub, unluckily 'lor himself, v waa. pver-peiv suaded to do so.arJ&owplo^oiMghts before. «. At. the Police ' Court. Marlborough-street Police Court on Mon- • day morning was like Pall-mall, and the entrance to the police station like one of the fashionable clubs. A crowd of aristo-* cratic-looking young men in elegant morning costume were smoking cigarettes on the doorstep. There was Lord Dudley's dark, and rather good-looking face ; there was Jubilee Benzon, to 'look -at whom is to know why he got the 'worst of the struggle with the bookmakers, >with a gay gardenia, in his buttonhole.' There . was Sam Lewis, too. >Vhat was he doing there on settling^ day, just when the^e' would bG the greatest call for his kindly assistance ? There wer& a dozen others in the crowd, and they all seemed to take a very easy view of their situation. .•Charles - Seaton The, Elegant , waa -not amongst the gay crowd for a very, eood reason !' He was at the back in th 8 cells, bail having been refused in his case« This is the list of the defendants as they ■appeared' in Court , Charles Seaton, 3, Arlington-street, no occupation. Lord Dudley, Dudley House, Park-lane.

[ Lord Lurgain,T3o, Sb. James's-place. , Ernest ßenzon, BrunswickHoteljJermynstreeb. Baron Tarina, Ferard, Grand Hotel. Lord Henry Paul^eb, 286,, Albemarlestreet. /; , Samuel Lewis, 23, Grosvenor - square, financial agent. Mount Charles Williams, Sb. Jaines'splace. These were the principals. Then there woreseveralother gentlemen who were in the club, including George Berkley, Paul gelding, Henry Roland, and Charles Berry. Besides these there were the club servants. George Leban, of 11, Gascony-avenue, " bacdarat attendant and croupier ;" Paul Curonico, William Beal, and John Thudds, waiters ; George Henniman, of 18, Half M^oon-sbreeb, the cashier ; Henry Davis, the house steward ; and Walter Roes, the commissionaire. ■ They were all charged together with keeping and using tho Field Club as a gaming house. The proceedings were only formal. Superintendent Hume, of the West End division, gave eviclenco as to the raid, and the arrest of all the persons in the club. The Superintendent stepped Wrni Conscious Pride into the box to 1 give his evidence. The Commibsioner issued his warrant at a quarter past 'two a.m. yesterday. He found in the first floor back room 13 gentlemen, the defendants, assembled around a baccarat table equipped for play; iMr Georgo Lowis, who appeared for the three noblomen, • sharply interrupted : — ' What do you mean when you say a game had apparently just finished ? Did. you see any same going on ? — The Superintendent was obliged to confess, that he did not. . Mr Forrest Fulton, who represented Mr Beaton and Leban, pointed 'oub to Mr Hannay that tho statement ought -not to bo ' taken down on the dspositionsin that form, and Mr Hannay Admitted the Force of the Objection. Then tho witness went on to say that he saw Mr Merry totalling his counters, which came to £1,770. The clerk was counting tho pool, which amounted to over £3,500. This piece of supposition provoked another remonstrance, and the witnoss's statempnt was reduce..! to the simple fact that he saw tho clerk counting the counters. He would bring furthor evidence to show that a game of baccarat had just concluded, he &aid t Mr Sidney, who appeared for tho Jubilee BenzoVi, alpo had a question to a&k as to the alleged valuo of tho counters. " Had they any money significance ?" he asked. " Oh, yes," replied the superintendent, •' marked on them." " What, the letters L.S.D. ?" The Superintendent was obliged to admit that the figures only were marked on the' counters. , "Just state the facts, and not any of your own suppositions," Mr Lewis again sternly eaid. The witness went on to say he produced tho warrant and arrested them, 20 in all, including seven servants. They were jointly charged with keeping and using a common gaming house. Mr Lowis then cross-examined the witness, who admitted that tor three or four years He Had Known the Character of the Club. He could not cay why he had not take" action before. "Did he not know," Ml'M 1 ' Lewis askod, that baccarat was only played there once a week. Then the policeman popped out again. He knew that the place was nob carried on as a legitimate club, he said. As he did not of his own knowledge know any such thing, ho got into trouble again. The warrant charged all the defendants with " keeping and using," and Mr Lewis asked if the witness suggested that Lords Dudley, Lurgan, and Pauleb kept the place or did anything but use it " very occasionally " for a game of baccarat. Mr, Hume did nob suggest anything of the sort.So the superintendent found again in' a hole when % aslced~ by*" what right he 1 arrested the other defendants for " Keeping " the Place Mr Lewis said hp would \ cry gladly have had the case disposed of. But as it was to be remanded, he wished it to be understood that there was no suggestion that his clients were anything to do with the place or proprietors. Then Mr Fulton gave tho superintendent a bad five minutss on the question of bail for Mr Seaton and Leban. Ho did not know, said the witness, that the club was owned by a limited liability company. It was from common report that he understood Mr Seaton to be the proprietor. It was true that he refused bail in any amount for Mr Seaton. Mr Fulton said he applied now for bail for Mr Seaton. Mr Hannay (to the witness) : I don*t know. - Why You Refused Bail. > Mr Fulton : In spite of the repeated statements of judges these two have been refused bail when bail in any amount was forthcoming. Mr Hannay, in remanding the cases, accepted bail in £500 for Mr Sealon and in £200 for Leban. All the other defendants .were released 1 on their own recognisances to appear at the adjourned heating next Monday. Nearly all the flaneurs agree that, the Field Club raid was inspired by Lady Dudley, who has oponly stated she should leave no stone unturned to upset Seaton and his set. The " Telegraph " says :—: — "In all the clubs yesterday the one topic of conversation was the raid on the Field and Adelphi, bettor known as the ' Spoof eries.' In both instances the present proprietors have been singularly unlucky. Mr Charles Seaton, of the Park Place- establishment, recently bought out his partner, 'while Mr Samuel Cohen, owner of the Adelphi, purchased the premises •arid' goodwill only a few weeks back from Mi? Joseph P ( heill, a bookmaker. At Marlb.orough- street there was a great crowd present t'6 listen to the evidence. Many ladies put in an appearance, despite the early hour, ' half-past ten, and it wa3 tolerably amusing to spe certain frequenters of the Field gravely looking upon their felhow delinquents with a satisfied air'indicabing "They didn't i ' catch me.'' ' At Bow - street somewhat stricter discipline prevailed, bub the detectives were certainly of opinion that [some of the names and descriptions of the prisoners were dubious. Ib is a curious fact that there, are- certain public-houses in London where members of the force make their little bets on current events withoub le'b or hindrance. If necessary the names of -bh'ese esbablishments could be given. 'Meantime Mr Forresb Fulton, Mr George Lewis, Mr Besley, and Mr H. Lewis are doing the best for their clients."

On the 18th of April the fast cruiser Australia covered 102 knots in six hours. The thing that a woman always knows best is .how some other woman ought to dress. 1 During a temperance mission at Tenterfield, ,Mr M. Burnett enrolled 1,250 persons in the ranks of total abstainers, and gave the blue ribbon to 1,500. The girl to mix a julep— Araminta.