A Slot-Machine Row Spills Across the Tracks
Two men working a saloon machine with slugs ended in a street fight, a freight-train escape attempt and $25 fines in Newport's police court.
Friday afternoon Washington Avenue was the scene of the finish of an Old Town affair. Two young fellows had been playing slot machines in an Old Town saloon, and had been using slugs with success to work the machines to give up their contents. They were ejected from the saloon after a row, and in making a hasty exit it is claimed that one of them walked off with the hat of one of the proprietors.
Mike Ring, an employee of the place, pursued the men to this side and caught up with them at the Nelson blacksmith shop. A lively mix-up occurred in front of the shop, in which Ring got the worst of it, being laid out with a blow from a heavy stone, and his face was badly beaten up. The other fellows, thinking they had put Ring to the bad, made their get-away down the street. One of them caught an I. W. N. freight train that was pulling out, but was put off and captured. The other made a desperate attempt to escape, but was finally run down after an exciting chase.
All three of the men were arrested, Ring putting up bond for appearance, but the other two, having no funds, were thrown into the city jail. A hearing was set for Saturday morning, but Ring was unable to put in an appearance and it was postponed until Monday.
On Monday the three were arraigned before Police Judge McDonald and each given a fine of $25 and costs. Ring paid his fine, but the other two are still in jail and an embarrassing charge on the town authorities.
“One of them caught an I. W. N. freight train that was pulling out, but was put off and captured.”
The scrap began over slot machines—an early example of the gambling devices that townsfolk both patronized and policed. Newport's officers chased the men across the tracks and onto a freight train, a reminder that the town's saloons and rail lines were never far apart. Today, debates over gambling and bar-district policing still hinge on the same questions of regulation, profit and public order.
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