100 years ago in The Record
Monday, July 9, 1917
Public safety commissioner John F. Cahill brings gambling in Troy to a “dead stop” after sending the police to close three downtown establishments today, The Record reports. The city’s action reportedly nips in the bud a plan to “make Troy a relay station for betting information during the Saratoga season.” It follows numerous complaints from “some of the most prominent and influential residents of the city.” “There has been mutterings of disapproval of recent gambling operations in Troy for some weeks,” our reporter writes, “and as the places became bolder in their illegal operations, evidence began to accumulate that neither citizens of Troy nor the administration was satisfied with such conditions. “It was not expected, however, that action would be so prompt and far-reaching.” The police close two gambling dens on River Street, one opposite the Rensselaer Hotel, and another above a Third Street saloon. “Captain Shaughnessy and Officer Driscoll found the door to the Third street establishment locked against their entrance, but that did not prevent the police from ascending a rickety rear stairway. As they neared the top they could hear the men inside say, ‘The cops are coming up the back way.’” No arrests are made, but the men in charge of the alleged gambling dens are ordered to close at once. While the police target “only the largest resorts” today, “eventually all open gambling of even a petty nature will be driven from the city.”
Cahill’s move reportedly shocks gamblers who allegedly took some degree of municipal protection for granted. The shutdown order “sent them scurrying to their political friends for first aid assurances that things were not as dark as they seemed [but] from these exclusive sources the same word emanated: the places are closed to stay closed.”
Our reporter notes that “Ugly rumors connecting the names of city and county officials with weekly bribes of substantial sums have been freely circulated,” but names no names yet.
Cahill makes no accusations, either, but takes a dig at Rensselaer County sheriff William P. Powers in an official statement.
“Complaints have been made to me very recently that pool rooms and other gambling resorts were doing business in this city, although the public had been assured by the county authorities that there was no gambling here,” Cahill says.
In response, Powers says, “If there is such gambling in Troy I think it is up to the city to stop it. I do not think I should be expected to police the city…. Beside, I tried it once and did not get the support I should have had.”