VISIT TO A LOW CLASS BETTING CLUB.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6094, 9 November 1887, Page 6

VISIT TO A LOW CLASS BETTING CLUB.

The police in England have been making a raid on gambling dens, and a correspondent of a London paper, who has visited one of these places, gives the following description of what he saw: — Before taking oar place curiosity ureed mc to inspect the club premises, which were situated on the first floor, so we mounted a flight of steps and found ourselves in a room furnished with a table covered with green baize, with a carefully drawn chalk circle in the centre. What this game could be I do not know, for the room was empty. It had two windows, one looking into the passage at which we entered, and the other half open, from which you could have escaped on to the roofs which stretched on both sides, if the occasion arose. There was nothing more to be seen upstairs, and we were followed by one or two of our fellow members, who were perhaps a little suspicious of our movements. The room on the ground floor was the scene of our afternoon's dissipation, but I was tpld that baccarat and dice were in full swing when the day's racing was over. As I have said, the billiard table occupied the centre of the room, which was lined with stained wood, into which seedy leather couches were let in. Some sporting prints hung on the walls, and here and there was a match-box for the use of the smokers. The seats were occupied by a curious assemblage, forty or fifty strong, chiefly of loafers and seedy working men out of a job—men with greasy coats, no collars, with chins unshaven and hair uncombed. Mingled with them was a good sprinkling of men and boys, with faces such as you see at the theatre doors, at police courts, in street rows, and on the Embankment, only they were a little better dressed. Then came another stratum of men in better circumstances—if you could judge by their apparel. Then there was the betting element, consisting chiefly of touts and runners. Then you mount a little higher in the social scale, and find a few pallid and hungry-looking clerks, a low Dookmaker or two, and some brawny bullies. In the corner, on a little raised platform, stood the bookmaker, a man of fifty, with a heavy beard and moustache, in a suit of loud checks, itwo diamond rings on his flabby fingers, and further adorned by a diamond pin and a heavy gold chain. He was supported by a diminutive clerk, who sat at a substantial desk, with his ledgers before him. Behind the " bookie " vras the " tape" with which every one is familiar, as it is to be seen in every club and hotel, enclosed in its glass case, and at present covered o% r er with a black cap. When the master of the ceremonies mounts his rostrum, every one knows that the business of the day has begun. The billiard table is covered over with boards, and is converted into seatingroom, and every one is bending over his paper, and discussing the first event of the day.

Resolving to punt, I selected a horse which was given as the favorite by the Echo, if I remember rightly, another halfpenny sheet which is much patronised by the wretched tag-rag and bobtail who frequent these dens of iniquity. I then walked up to the bookmaker and put 5s on Fortunatus, let us say. Many other gentlemen went up and deposited sums varying from half a sovereign to the humble shilling in the master's hands, and returned to their seats to await the result. As the time draws near for the race to be run the black cap is drawn over the globe which protects the tape, and the betting still proceeds, the room being now quite full. The air is thick with the fumes of rank tobacco ; but there is little drinking. A postman in bis uniform is making some calculations; others are discussing the chances of the favorite, others are looking moodily on, having no interest in the result, and others, again, listen attentively for the magic click of the veiled automaton. It works at last, the. sound muffled by the cap. The master cries, " The tape is working, gentlemen, I think the result is here. Any more bets?" A pause, the cap is lifted, and the winner is announced, with the second and third horses. The news is received with acclamations, for the majority of the punters have backed the winner. In about five minutes more the tape begins to work again, the starting prices arrive, and are announced amid breathless interest. By these quotations the odds are fixed, or I ought to say they were, at the Cock and Chickens. At many of the clubs the '< starting prices are determined by one of the professedly sporting papers. , Having won, I "received 5s and my stake, which was not very satisfactory. In most of these establishments where the tape is used the bookmaker refuses to give more than 10 to 1 odds whatever the starting price of the horse may chance to be. : "-This' is obviously very much to the advantage of the bookmaker, though the punter receives back his stakes if the horse he has . backed is a non-starter. After the victory; of Fortunatus there was a pause of a few minutes, and then the betting began on the next race, and so on <ia capo. In an hour I stood neither a winner nor a loser, and being saturated with tobacco fumes, and satisfied with my diversion, I made my way through the crowd and departed with my mentor, wondering how the master of the ceremonies contrived to evade the vigilance of the police.