The Midnight Raid at the Butler Cafe
Police break up an impromptu faro game, but the dealer’s quick bail payment ensures the 'flyer' will soon resume.
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.
Eugene Way's faro game in the Butler Cafe was interrupted at midnight last night by Detective Roberts, who dropped in unannounced. There were about fifteen men gathered around what is termed a 'flyer,' or impromptu faro game. The game was stopped and the dealer, L. J. West, alias John Smith or Brown, went to police headquarters and deposited $75 bail. He left the dealing box and case, but of course they will get it back in a day or so and the 'flyer' will fly again. The so-called 'flyer' has been running regularly for some time.
“Of course they will get it back in a day or so and the 'flyer' will fly again.”
This snippet illustrates the 'wink-and-a-nod' enforcement of vice laws in Seattle at the time, where raids were often just a cost of doing business rather than an end to the activity.
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