GREAT GAMBLING RAID

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 17, 22 July 1921, Page 7

GREAT GAMBLING RAID

144 WHITE MEN ARRESTED.

(PP.OII OUR OWM CORRESPONDENT.)

SYDNEY, 12th July.

The police of this city arc constantly raiding gambling dens; but most of their efforts are- directed against the Chinese. It is quite a common tiling to see 20 or 30 stoical Chinamen lined up in a Police Court, charged with playing fantan, or pakapob, or some of the other games dear to the heart of tho yellow man. Much indignation has been expressed at this constant persecution of tho quiet Chinese community, while big poker games are allowed' in every city club., Sydney, indeed, is a city of gamblers. Poker in the clubs, poker and bridge in 80 per cent, of the private houses, two-u^ and crown and anchor wherever the "hornyhanded" congregate, a kind of dominoes among the Greeks and Italians, horse-racing every' day, tens of thousands subscribed regularly for the big sweeps —gambling is in the blood of the people. If every gambler were ai'rested, all the gaols in the country, would not hold a tithe of them.

In view of the regular hunting-down of Chinese, the raid the other day on a well-known resort of white men had its merits. A big hall up on a fourth floor, in a lane off George-street, was the scene of operations. It is the gathering place of wharf labourers and coal lumpers. There-- has always been a tendency here to illicit gambling, but matters have become really bad lately. There has been some slackness on the waterfront and the idle men have drifted here. Then the two-up and 'crown and auchor experts appeared, the stakes got bigger and bigger, and, within recent weeks, the sums won and lost have been astonishing, considering ■ the class of men engaged. Echoes of the proceedings reached the police, and on Saturday some twenty plain-clothes men loft No. 2 police station Cy twos and threes and "went for a walk." They gradually closed in on the suspected building, and, when near it, they made a concerted rush. They were half-way up the stairs before the alarm was given, and they were in the big room before the gamblers could do more than break into a panic.

There were some 150 rough-looking men in the room and only 20 police, and, for a moment, it looked as if there would bo a free fight. The police stationed themselves at the door, and the men could not see how many were behind them. The inspector in charge called out, "Take things easy. No one will be allowed out and the sooner it is over the better for everyone." ' The men were then taken out in tens and twelves, put in patrol wagons, and conveyed to the nearest police station. This proceeding alone took two hours. The gamblers decided to treat the affair as a joke, and were very humorous at the expense of the police, the wagons, and the great and gathering crowd of sightseers. .They were allowed bail, made a most imposing show in Court, and were remanded.