Evening Star Newspaper, December 24, 1934, Page 8

BOOM [N LOTTERY | GAMES IMMENSE Old Theories of Security Take Beating During Long, Lean Years. In the simple form of “two bits 1 roll a five” and the more sophisti- cated games, lotteries and bets by which Americans win ond lose huge sums, gambling has spread rapidly in the last few years. How widely it has spread and what chances of winning the public has are discussed in a series of articles, of which this is the first. BY JOHN LARDNER. EW YORK, December 24.—For some reason or other, the last few years have constituted one of the richest and ripest gambling years in the history of this gambling nation. The figures can be checked only in the roughest sort of way, but the feeling in the air is un- mistakable. The depression had something to do with it. Old theories about eco- nomic securities, savings, investment, hard work—a penny saved is & penny earned—were discarded slowly and bitterly as the lean years continued. People like to make easy money, and, when they couldn't make it in the stock market or in the pursuit of their daily task, they turned to the get-| rich-quick schemes which always have been open to large and small investors in America. Most of the small money flows, as usual, into lotteries—policy games, | foreign sweepstakes, slot machines, | punchboards, pools of every descrip- tion. The increase in lottery play since 1931 and 1932 has been immense. You can measure it by sweepstake re- turns and by the figures which get into the papers now and then when the police raid some unit in the num- ber games conducted by Dutch Schultz or Henry Miro. S tery play (which might be called unskilled gambling), there has been an increase in sports bettings (which might, for want of a better phrase, be called skilled gambling). The biggest increase. naturally, is found in fields where the small bettor can get big returns—in horse racing and, lately, in foot ball. You can trace a slighter but equally steady rise in other sports—boxing, wrestling, base ball, hockey, golf, even tennis. Commissioners like Jim Cof- froth, Jack Doyle, Toin Kearney and Darnell report that the last world series and the last National open golf townament brought them the largest volume of business since 1930. It's evident that, if the volume in 1934 approached the volume in 1930, the number of individual bets was much greater. The smartness of the bettor can be gauged by the sport he bets on and the way he bets® In horse racing, the favorites win about 35 per cent of the time. In prizefighting, the percentage Is about 50, and, in foot ball, it goes as high as 85 or 90. That doesn't mean that the smart bettor is the man who plays foot ball instead of the races. A race track bettor, sticking to form, can strike a far higher average of success than the fellow who throws his dollar or his five-spot into a six or ten game foot ball parlay. With new racing laws everywhere and with pari-mutuel tracks popping up like dandelions around the country horse play was responsible for most of the increase in betting. This is the five-dollar player’s favorite game. But there was big betting, too. The inter- national yacht races, staged for the first time since 1930, attracted more bets from sportsmen than enthusiasm from the public. Sports Betting Grows. IDE by side with this boom in lot- Yacht Wagering Enormous. f SINGLE operator, Darnell, re- | ported that $500,000 in bef passed through his hands before and during the races. Figures like this | likely are to be embroidered a bit by | the time they reach the newspapers, | but the betting was lively just the fame. The odds, as usual, were eock- eyed. Most published reports gave En- | deavour as the favorite. Actually, and quite properly, the English boat was on the short end of the big betting at 6or7to5. Base ball bets gained in size and number from the tightness of the race in the National League and the win- ning spurt of Detroit in the American League. In prize fighting, the com- missioners drew most of their revenue from those two close bouts between Barney Ross and Jimmy McLarnin. The rise of Runyan, Goodman and Wood made this the best betting year in golf since Jones retired. But sports betting didn’t increase simply because the program was at- tractive. There have been other pro- grams just as attractive, or more so, in the past. The betting boom orig- inated with the public itself. Every- body wanted to get something down on something, no matter what it was, and today you will find the public bet- ter informed on odds, form and chances than any self-respecting pub- lic has a right to be. (Copyright. 1634. by North American Y Rewspaer Alltance. Inc.) PRO HOCKEY International League. London, 2; Detroit Olympics, 1. Syracuse, 3; Buffalo, 1 National League. Montreal Canadiens, 4; Blackhawks, 1. Detroit Redwings, 2; Americans, 1. Canadian-American League. New Haven Eagles, 3; Quebec Bea- wvers, 2. | Chicago | | New York | Exhibition. St. Louis, 6; Minneapolis, 2. COURT RESULTS Santa Clara, 35; California, 28. Ohio Wesleyan, 33; Baldwin Wal- lace, 31. of California (Los An- ‘University geles), 35; San Jose State, 25, Oregon, 30; Willamette, 37, ) Che Foening Stad Sporls WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1934 America in Throes of One of Greatest Gambling Epidemics in Its History Sports Events In Local Realm ‘Thursday. Basket Ball. Southern High vs. Tech, at Tech. Tech Alumni vs. Central Alumni, at Tech. Friday. Basket Ball. ‘Wilson Teachers at Gallaudet, 8. Swimming, Central vs. Alumni, Central pool, 8. Saturday. Basket Ball. Maryland vs. Ohio State, at Col- lege Park, 8. STANFORD'S SQUAD GOES TO PASADENA Followers Are Heartened by Contnued Improvement of Crippled Stars. By the Associated Press. TANFORD UNIVERSITY, Calif., December 24.—Stanford’s foot ball squad splits up today, after a final practice here, for the move South to meet Alabama in Pasa- dena’s Rose Bowl New Year day. Seventeen members of the squad, | most of whom live in Southern Cali- fornia, leave tonight, accompanied by Assistant Coaches Ernie Nevers and Murray Cuddeback. The remainder of the squad will depart Wednesday with Head Coach “Tiny” Thornhill. The return of Jack Drown, reserve tackle, from the sick list and favorable reports concerning the three crippled stars, Fullback Bobby Grayson and Ends Jim Moscrip and Keith Topping, brought cheer to Stanford’s followers. Grayson’s injured ribs were showing continued improvement and he was declared ready to throw passes again, though he refrained from doing so on coach’s orders. Moscrip and Top- ping are recovering from wrenched knees. — “SLEEPER” PLAY SCORES | Marions Defeat Palace Eleven in Tight Battle, 7 to 0. Marion foot ballers, hailing from the Southeast, today are receiving congraiulations upon their 7-0 vic- tory yesterday over their old foe from the Southwest, the Palace eleven. Marions scored on the old “sleeper” play. Hikie Licarione, sneaking out to the sidelines in the third period, received a 25-yard pass from Ed Hoff and rushed the remaining 15 yards to score. Palace threatened in the closing minutes, reaching the Marion 10-yard line, where a pass was intercepted by Hoff to end the sortie. GET FIRST PLACE TIE Sun Radio Booters Climb in 5-0 Defeat of Georgetown. Sun radio booters, who downed the Georgetown eleven, 5-0, second-half Recreation Soccer League race with Virginia Avenue and New York Avenue. Occoquan conquered Miller Furni- ture, 2-1, and New York Avenue over- came Sherwood, 1-0, in other league games played. Both results were surprises. S P O R T S The King of Sporting PARADE H retired from active competition in 1877, only 58 years ago. But at the age of 85 he still plays golf and you will see him at championship golf and tennis matches, one of the keenest observers in any crowd. He brought the first goif equipment to the United States over 50 years ago, but no yesterday, | now are tied for first place in the| DUE FOR BEATING Miami Girls’ Meet. World swimming marks are year as e of America’s greatest mermaids seek national Olympic stars aquatic meet. | of Los Angeles, best of the women the Miami Biltmore, the hotel at at the meeting of the Amateur Ath- years, or since the 1932 Olympics at not only won, but set a new national World Records Not Likely to Last Year Out in By the Assoclated Press. IAMI, Fla, December 24.— given little chance to last out ‘he somy new records here December 30 and 31 |lnd January 1 in the third annual Back into competition after a layoff will plunge Mrs. Eleanor Holm Jarrett backstroke swimmers. She picked as the spot of her re-entry the pool of which her defenders spiked charges of professionalism brougit against her letic Union. Only four times in the last two Los Angeles, has Mrs. Jarrett flashed her superlative form. Each time she or world record. She won the 100- meter title in the Olympics. - Rawls Is Versatile. ‘T WILL be the third trial in the Olympic stars meet for Lenore Kight of Homestead, Pa., Amer- ica's leading free style swimmer. On both previous appearances here she tumbled records by twos and threes. Miss Kight now is national cham- pion at every distance from 220 yards to 1 mile. She holds numerous records. From Fort Lauderdale, Fla, will come a 17-year-old girl considered the best all-around mermaid in the world, Katherine Rawls, in search of her marks to add to her already sizable string. Other noted women swimmers com- peting will include Dorothea Dickinson, Janice Lifson, Elsie Ferrill, Elizabeth Kompa and Elizabeth Harrison of the Women’s Swimming Association of New York; Alice Bridges of Whitins- ville, Mass., and Johanna Gorman of Homesated, Pa. Dick Degener of Detroit, national indoor and outdoor champion, and Marshall Wayne of the Biltmore, runner-up for the national title, will feature the diving exhibitions to be held at the meet. 'WEEK'S HARD DRILLS FACE TEMPLE, TULANE New Orleans Squad Stressing De- fense Against Smukler for New Year Day. By the Assoclated Press. EW ORLEANS, December 24.— ‘Tulane and Temple faced a hard week of practice today in preparation for their gridiron battle Year day. secret drills all week, placing emphasis on defense to halt the line-smashing dynamite Dave Smukler and the trick | double wingback thrusts of Coach Pop | Warner’s team. Temple, meanwhile, will go through its drills at Louisiana State Univer- sity at Baton Rouge, 90 miles up river. After a light drill yesterday, Coach ‘Warner let his boys go to a motion picture show. By Grantland Veterans Rice ERE and there you hear of old-timers and real veterans, but you meet here the king of them all—George Wright of Boston. How much of a veteran is Mr. Wright? the star shortstop on the Cincinnati Reds of 1869, the team that never lost a game. That goes back just a matter of 66 years. He Well, for one thing he was to know or care what he was trying to seil. -Breakers Photo. here in the Sugar Bowl game on New | Tulane’s squad will go through hard | THE BEST WISH OF ALL. ° MERRY CHRISTMAS. May your Christmas be as merry As the white and scarlet berry, May your New Year be as happy | As @ robin in the Spring— May you miss the traps that sock you And the cuppy lies that mock you, As you stick along the fairway With @ smooth and winning swing. I the unforgettable man of golf, set a new and amazing record in the final whirl of the Pasadena open. As a result of his West Coast popu- larity 1?nd a gathering of friends the veteranl of 23 campaigns arrived 30 minutes late in his third starting round. A motor car took him to the fourth tee, where he picked up Willie Hunter and Dick Metz, with whom he was hooked up. At the finish of the round Hagen was assigned a scorer to play the first two and then finished with a 72. The sight of a single match weaving its way in and out and around three ball contests attracted one of the largest galleries of the day as Hagen, still smiling and unworried, continued to hit his tee shots down the middle and rap his irons up around the pin. “A cup of coffee,” he said, “wouldn’t have been bad, but I was just too late as it was.” Under the circumstances it was an astonishing exhibition of control over somewhat bumpy nerves and uncanny skill. Golfers will come and go, but it will be a long time before there is another Hagen. He still is the Man o’ War and the Babe Ruth of his sport. In the wake of Walter Hagen's ex- hibition of golf and showmanship it fell to the lot of young Harold McSpa- den of Kansas City to stampede the field and show promise of champion- ship days ahead. He led a strong field by six strokes as he moved into the stretch. McSpaden has a fine swing, a first-class golf temperament, and he should be one of the best of the com- ing stars for 1935. The City of Turmoil. ITH the arrival of Alabama’s Crimson Tide and Tuesday’s big opening at Santa Anita, where an overflow crowd of 60,000 or more is expected, Los Angeles is the city of turmoil on the sporting side. The seat sales for both Santa Anita and the Rose Bowl party have set new records. There is a wild scurrying in all known directions to pick up a tick- et, whether it be to see a race horse or & halfback run. will be packed to the last square foot. They have found on the West Coast what an invasion of the Crimson Tide can mean, but, at the moment, the big race opening, under the shadow of snow-capped mountains, shares public interest with the foot ball talk. Walter Hagen Still Amazes. ASADENA, Calif., December 24. —The remarkable Mr. Hagen, Just a short distance away from the club house there is a concrete Maltese cross. Under this cross are buried Lucky Baldwin’s four famous winners of the American Derby: Volante, 1885; Silver Cloud, 1886; Emperor of Norfolk, 1888; Ray El Santa Anita, 1891. ‘Within still closer range, the crowd will have a chance to get a look at —By JIM BERRYMAN S— THE SPORTLIGHT Pasadena Episode Proves Hagen Still Is the Greatest Fan Magnet on Links BY GRANTLAND RICE films at the finishes, worked by elec- tric devices, ready for public inspec- tion three minutes after each race, and the electric light-wave timing, with a photographic record, geared to & hundredth of a second. Track Notables. THE Santa Anita opening will be a medley of the Whitney and other racing notables, foot ball stars and foot ball coaches, and the motion picture colony, with hardly a single absentee. Between races, one can take a close look at almost every known picture star, male and female, who will add to the rainbow effect. opening sport has ever known, not even barring the Los Angeles Olmpics of 1932. If you can’t pick winners, You can pick oranges at the club house and grandstand portals, or you can pick 10 or 12 varieties of flowers—it the guard isn’t looking, Without reaching too far for any superlatives, the all-around beauty of this track setting leaves one dizzy. Messrs. Strube, Wilson, Roach aend others have turned out an incredible plece of work. Alabama’s Arrival, LABAMA gets its first workout in the Pasadena section Mon- day with an army of unofficial inspectors hoping to get a look at the Southern team. Even those backing Stanford—and most of the West Coast is back of the Cardinal outfit—are nene too sure of the final result. A year ago they had the feeling that Stanford would run hog-wild over Columbia, and the resultant shock was terrific. Among the smarter foot ball followers in this locality there is a general feeling that Ala- bama has at least an even chance, The one weak Alabama spot was & somewhat mediocre schedule, on which Tennessee was the on'y team able to offer any real pressure. ‘The Southern delegation out here is outnumbered badly, but entirely con- fident. A young fellow by the name of Tyrus Raymond Cobb called up from his home at Menlo Park, near Palo Alto, to get a line on Alabama’s strength. “Stanford has a strong line and, fine backfield,” Ty said, “but I under- stand Alabama has the same.” When assured that Alabama had quite a line, two fine ends and a high-class backfield, the old Georgia Peach cheered up considerably. Stanford will begin to gather as a equal | team the day after Christmas. Bobby Grayson's return has boomed the Cardinal outlook by a number of degrees. “You can say for me,” Howard Jones remarked, “that Grayson makes a big difference to that team. Hamil- ton and Alustiza are both fine foot ball players and extremely valuable men, but Grayson’s speed, power and dash make up a dangerous combina- tion that needs the closest sort of watching. For that matter, the run- ning attack on both sides will have hard going. I know it will against this Stanford team.” (Copyright. 1934, Newspa North American per nce, Ine c.) TIGHT SOCCER BATTLE. 'THREE D. C. YOUTHS AFTER NET HONORS Ritzenberg Brothers Join Hunt in National Junior Play in New York. ATHAN and Albert Ritzenberg, well-known young racketers of this city, will join Gilbert Hunt, No. 1 seeded player, and another | Washingtonian, in the national junior | indoor tennis championships, which open Wednesday at the 7th Regiment Armory in New York. | Hunt and the Ritzenbergs have drawn first-round byes. Hunt will meet George Hershman of DeWiit Clinton High School of New York in the second round, Nathan gets the hardest assignment of the District contingent, engaging Russell Ball, | Northwestern University student, and seeded No. 3. Albert has drawn Carle- | Frankie Parker, who won the tour- ney last year, will npt defend, which doesn’t make Nathan mad. Parker trimmed Nathan roundly in the sec- ond round last year. Nathan is the senior playground champ of the Dis- trict and brother Albert holds the Jjunior title. Albert, who reached the fourth round of the national boys' events last year, is considered nearly as good a player as his brother. JANUARY IS ACTIVE MONTH FOR MIDDIES Will Play Eight of Fourteen Basket Ball Games—Plebes Meet District Quints. NNAPOLIS, December 24.—Dur- ing January the Navy will play 8 of its 14 basket ball games and make & start with its boxing and wrestling schedules. Two plebe basket ball games, both with District high school fives, are also on the list of events, In filling a vacant date on the basket ball schedule Western Mary- land has been shifted from January 5, the opening date, to the 23d of the same month, and the University of Baltimore will open against the Navy on the former date. All events during the month except the basket ball game with the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania will take place at the Naval Academy. The schedule for the month follows: Varsity Basket Ball. 5. University of Baltimore: 9, Military lnmtuge: .1'.'. u&ln&hx‘:"’%‘fl‘. rgetown: 19. University of North Caro- University of Maryla: eI Plebe Basket Ball. 19, lnlwlrn High School; 26. McKinley School. High Varsity Boxing. 26, Western Maryland. Varsity Wrestling. 26, University of Pennsylvania. FEDERAL ELEVEN LOSES Washington Pros Bow, 9 to 183, to All-Star Virginia Team. RICHMOND, Va., December 24.— Washington Federals lost a 13-to-9 N < 1 HAD T'GIVE UP FOLKS---- ‘ THERE WERE ToO MANY--~ BUT THIS IS WHAT I'M TRYING OF WEST'S ELEVEN Coach Locey Confident It Will Offset Superior Backfield of East. By the Associated Press. AN FRANCISCO, December 24 —Eastern and Western foot S ball stalwarts took up the training grind in rival camps today for their charity clash here New Year day. The 22 stars picked from Eastern college teams moved across the Bay to Berkeley for practices on the Uni- versity of California gridiron. Their coaches are Andy Kerr of Colgate and Dick Hanley, retiring Northwestern mentor. Percy Locey of Denver and Orin Hollingsbery of Washington State sent | their 22 Western huskies through drills on the Stanford University Field at Palo Alto In the first parade of Eastern strength the coaches limbered up their squad here yesterday at Kezar Sta- dium, where the game will be played. The array of backs, which wi charge the West line, included Lund of Minnesota, Purvis of Purdue, Wein- stock of Pitt, Shepherd of Western Maryland and Nott of Detroit. At Stanford, the West turned out a heavy line, which brought from Locey a statement that: “Our backs may not be so good as those of the Eastern boys, but I believe foot ball games are won and lost in the line.” FROM THE LIFT 70 FOOT BALL GIVEN BY CORNELL Scholarships Presented by Alumni Are Expected to Relieve Siump. By the Associated Press. THACA, N. Y, December 24— The new deal in foot ball that Cor- nell alumni have been seeking for @ half dozen years may be on the Although reaffirming the univer- sity’s “traditional amateur spirit of sport for sport’s sake,” the committee on athletic control announced a lib- eralized policy on scholarships for ath- letes yesterday in a formal statement evoked by publication of an editorial in the Cornell Alumni News. Dismissing the suggestion that Cor- nell “buy” foot ball material as some- thing the university never would do, the committee said, however, that if funds for scholarships became avail- able through the alumni it saw no reason why men of athletic ability should not receive them along witn non-athletes, always providing that “character and brains remain the pri- mary consideration.” Move Already Under Way. ORNELL alumni, agitated over the mediocre showing of Cornell foot ball teams in recent years, have argued that the university h- leaned over backward in its effort t avoid recruiting or subsidizing of athletes. The committee’s statement disclose that steps already have been tak: to bring desirable students, athlet and non-athletes, to Cornell by foste: - ing closer relations with secondary and preparatory schools and with the alumni. Among these steps, the committee said, was the institution of “Cornell day” on the campus. On one 3at- urday each Spring groups of out- standing school boys and girls are to be brought to Ithaca to become ac- | quainted with student life and the educational facilities of the university. The possibility of dropping foot ball—one of the four alternatives pro- posed by the Alumni News—was passed over briefly as undesirable so long as Cornell is able to continue its pleasant relations with traditional rivals and bring home a major victory now and again. HEURICH FLASHES COP Down Army War College, 36-20, for Tenth in Row. Led by Holloran and Dougherty, each of whom scored nine points, the Heurich Flashes yesterday drubbed the Army War College quint, 36-20, to chalk up their tenth straight win. Other scores: Boys' Club Varsity, 30; Company F Regulars, 26. Bladensburg, 44; Company F Re- serves, 15. McLean A, C, 33; Post Exchange, 30 Rockville A. C., 36; Jeffersonian | Club, 25. | Athliso A. C. quint is after games with 145-pound fives having courts Call Manager Rubin at Lincoln 9042 before 6 p.m. T e HEURICH STREAK SNAPS. BALTIMORE, December 24.—Una- ble to stem a determined rally by the | Polish-Americans in the final min- utes, the Heurich Brewers of Wash- ington yesterday lost a 36-to-35 thrill- er in the Baltimore Semi-pro Basket Ball League. The defeat snapped a Heurich winning streak. PRESS BOX Law’s Frown Balks Mayhem as a Sport; Rough Lads Feel Robbed of Pleasure. BY JOHN EW YORK, December 24.—In St. Louis, not long ago, the cops decided to arrest all unruly wrestlers, roughneck hockey players and referee-slugging prizefighters as disturbers of the peace. They got & test case right away. A couple of wrestlers were thrown into the ice box for pulling noses a little more freely than the rules permit. Of course, a wrestler's beak is his own, to do with as he will. The moment he thrusts it into a roped arena he is assuming a certain risk. ‘The other person will attempt to chew it, rub it, and raze it to the general level of his face. He, by the same token, will try to prune and scarify the nostrils of the other person. This treatment is not very good for the human bugle, a sensitive instrument at best, but the wrestlers know that without being told by the cops. The Law Is Forehanded. 'HY, then, you may ask (and a shrewd question, too), does the law undertake to penalize the athlete for professional and legit- imate self-abuse? The law answers more or less as follows: “We don’t mind if the boys chastise each other to a pulp in line of duty, but if some one gets killed or illegally maimed, we save time and money by having the parties of the first and second part at our disposal, instead of roving around the countryside.” The law says a mouthful there, but you feel sorry for the athlete. His freedom of action is pretty well limited as it js. Man Mountain Deal, the wrestler, was pinched the other day for com- mitting a little homework, or over- time mayhem, upon a private citizen. Now it seems that the man mountain can't even do his work in the ring without risking a jail sentence. In fact, he may be driven to shave off his beard and settle down to a life TARDNE | himself at liberty to change the mind of the referee with a surgical opera- | tion. I put this problem to some of the hockey players in our town the other day. They were puzzied. “You mean,” said a Canadian gen- tleman who is well known for his uninhibited conduct on the ice, “that I get 30 days or a fine or something just for getting mad? What am I going to do when I get mad? I have to do something.” See Life Robbed of Joy. HE boys seemed to feel that the I cop ruling, if it extends east and west of St. Louis, will rob life of all joy for players like Nels Stewart, Lionel Conacher, Red Dut- ton, Red Horner, Irving Frew, Young. Goodfellow and Shore. If a cop skatcs out on the ice when the going is rough and slaps a pair of handcuffs or a summons upon one or more of the contestants, then things will have come to a pretty pass in our great national Winter pastime. Some of the athletes are employed just to get mad. Red Horner of Toronto, for instance, is what they call a professional redhead. Mr. Horner is instructed to go out there and get sore at somebody, if he has to poke himself in the ribs to do it. The public appreciates his temper and his employers pay off on it. The history of the game is studded with the names of scamps who made a living this way. Two of the roughest were Billy Coutu and Sprague Cleg- horn of Boston. “The cops could never have got away with pinching Billy for rough- ness,” I was told. “He would of taken the case through every court in the country until he found something, the Constitution or something, that proved he could be as rough as he wanted to.” Maybe there is a line somewhere in the Constitution which protects the borrowed my copy, so but I think it would ‘while of Man Mountain Dean or Horner to look it up. (Copyright. 1034, Newspaper