GAMBLERS AND WAMBLING CLUBS.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7342, 21 June 1889, Page 2

GAMBLERS AND WAMBLING CLUBS.

A correspondent, who has recently arrived from England, supplies Qβ with the foil owing interesting information respecting the telegram reporting the raid of the London police on the Field Club in Park-lane. Our correspondent had In London an intimate connection with the sporting fraternity associated with the club, and the information he gives will probably interest turfites and sportsmen in this colony. "The arrest of two Peers of the Realm and a dozen of the most prominent turfites of England at the Field Club may attract comparatively little interest here, but in London and throughout snorting circles in England it will be cbe gossip of the day between now and the Derby. Only five of the fifteen gentlemen arrested are mentioned by name in the telegrams, but I can easily guess at most of the others, thomth in view of the libel law, I will not mention any other names. Lord Lurgan is not only a. leading turfite, but he has the honour of being the sporting adviser of the Prince of Wales,; and in this position he has before now conae intoprominonce before the Jockey Club. The Earl of Dudley is one of the new flats of the jßnglisn turf, and though he had the proverbial luck of new comers last year he may be classed among the rank of 'wasters'- do far as the tarf Iβ concerned. The 'Hon. Henry Poulett,' the third capture in the gang, counts for nothing at all. He has neither money nor braine, and lives on the ;' honourable title' which is so valuable in >all English matters. Mr Merry, another ,of the prisoners, is in all respects a solid ■man; he and his family have. won either ione or two Derbies in their time, and they 'are recognised as leading owners on the fßritish turf, Mr Arthur Merry himself ts ia man who would be reckoned good for £10,000.' on the hod' by any Eaglieh bookmaker. Of Mr Benzon, the fifth delinquent on the list, it is not necessary to say much. He is twenty-five years of age, and his losses, discounting all the exaggerated reports that have been printed, were not less than £90,000 so far as turf transactions were concerned within a period of about 1 fifteen! months, dating from the time he entered the magic ctacle of the turf. " In regard to the Field Club, which has now been suppressed, the facts are very interesting. Under the name of the Park Club this Fnstttation was earned on 'from 1882 till 1885 by a Jew moneylender, who did all his business at the club, meeting the necessities of needy clients. This specula* tion terminated in a great raid <eimilar to that which has now occurred), which resulted in the worthy Hebrewpayingaheavy penalty for Infringement of the law and an .order for the closing of the club. Hereupon • an institution known as the Backdoor .Club was established, but it had a temporary and unprofitable career, and finally the Field Club was-established in the same premises that were occupied , formerly by the Park Club. The proprietors of this concern were in reality Charles Wood (then the leading English jockey, who is reckoned to be worth a couple of hundred thousand) and a gentleman who need not be mentioned, but who is. worth £20,000 a year, and who owned forty-eight racehorses in England at the time when the Jockey Club warned him off the turf for malpractices. . The blub as reconstituted secured the support of all the leading sportsmen and cardplayers in London, and amazing stories nave been published in London society papers concerning the arrionnta lost and won by gentlemen connected with the club. Mr Benzon, to mention a cafe case, certainly lost £15,000 between midnight on Saturday and noon Sunday, when ne gave up the-' game. Lord Dudley was, according to popular report, a loser of £50,000 during about six months' transactions at the club. The profits of the concern were mainly made up by the betting books of the managers, "as for Instance in one case, where an Outsider won a big race the club profited about £4000 on two books. The Field club was a moat hospitable institution; nothing was charged for refreshments, and you could lose your money without any charge in the way of extras. The revolationa in the London Police Courts will, perhaps, give more information than .11 am inclined to write at present. This affair, however, will be the event of the year in sporting circles at home. Taking only the names mentioned, Lord Dudley, Lord Lurgan, Mr. Merry, and Mr. Benzon (with bis new fortune) will be leading men in the present turf season* and-it would be an exciting occurrence if tha7 were locked up (they may be locked up under the law just as easily as Irian M.T.s are incarcerated), bat it Iβ to bo presumed that they will not come under She charge of the gambling law wbicb. prescribes imprisonment to 'frequent affcnd.9ra>' At the same time Badical feeling ii in London at present, and pcasloly a gentleman who bets in hundreds of sovereigns may be punished as severely as the scoundrel who engages In tbajpsstime of pitch or shilling lotteries."