Police Raid the Delcho Gambling Den
Police raided the Delcho gambling rooms, seized a deal box and cards, and arrested two men who were released on bail.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Chief of Police Jackson and Detective Cudihee, armed with a search warrant, raided the gambling rooms at the Delcho, a place exposed by the Post-Intelligencer, and secured a silver deal box along with a number of packs of cards. When the officers entered through the several doors of the place, there were four other men sitting around the room, but no one was gambling. The sideboard was forced open and the tools were found inside. L. Woyd, the proprietor, and C. Beebe, the doorkeeper, were arrested but released on bail. They gave the names of Beckwith and Childs. At police headquarters, the deal box was examined, and to everyone's surprise, three cards slid out easily.
“At police headquarters the deal box was closely examined, and to the surprise of everybody three cards slid out easily.”
Raids on underground gambling dens and the cat-and-mouse game between police and proprietors highlight the Victorian-era tension over vice. The 'exposed by the press' detail shows the newspaper's role in driving civic cleanup campaigns, a precursor to modern investigative journalism.
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