The Crap Game Hidden Behind a Punching Bag
Police raid a basement gambling den run by Pop Daly that attempted to masquerade as an athletic gym.
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.
The crap game that runs in the basement of the People’s-Standard theater on Washington street, under direction of 'Pop' Daly, was raided last evening by Detective Cudihee and Lieut. Osborn. The door was closed before officers could enter, but after the gambling paraphernalia had been hidden and a punching bag and other athletic apparatus put in its stead, they were let in. 'Pop' Daly claimed nothing was going on but gym work, but he changed his tune when the dealer, J. Burns, was taken into custody. The officers walked out bearing a sign that read: 'CRAP GAME OPENS AT 1 P. M. EACH AFTERNOON.'
“It’s a mean trick, he said, as the truth of how he had been duped by a stool dawned on his mind.”
This raid showcases the 'vice' cat-and-mouse games of the 1890s, where gambling halls operated in plain sight under thin covers. It captures the persistent struggle to enforce morals ordinances in early Seattle.
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