"RAID THIS GAMBLING HELL."

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 204, 28 August 1926, Page 23

"RAID THIS GAMBLING HELL."

BROKEN-HEARTED WIFE. 130 MEN IN DOCK. "I appeal to you ac gentlemen to raid this gambling' hell in Clyde Street. "My husband is going there and gambling hie parish money and leaving mc and my children wanting. My God! It is terrible, the pounds that are lost! "There are Biz ringleaders, but I dare not, on the peril of my life, give their names." This poignant passage was part of an anonymous letter signed by one of the many sufferers which was read at the Western Police Court, Glasgow, when 130 men, whose ages ranged from Iβ to 65, were charged with having assembled In a back court at three houses In Clyde Street for gambling. One hundred of the men pleaded guilty, and each was fined £2, or 20 days' Imprisonment. Thirty others, who denied the charge, were remanded. Superintendent Grey said gambling on a large and organised scale was carried on in this back court. Certain men managed the place and scouts were placed at the three entries to prevent the entrance of anyone who would not gamble. He handed to the magistrate anonymous letters received by the police, and in one occurred the passage quoted. The magistrate said: "This is from a broken-hearted woman. I cannot understand a man drifting like this to the injury of his children." Addressing the prisoners, he said: "God only knows where you get the money." More than half the total number of; prisoners are on the dole or the parish. The raid was carried out by 40 police, who arrived in a furniture van.