Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 305, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1913 — RACE TRACK CASE NEARING FINISH [ARTICLE]

RACE TRACK CASE NEARING FINISH

Court Overruled Defendant’s Motion ,to Dismiss—Hyams and Sheetz Get Out of Case. »

The race track ease which was again resumed Monday afternoon is nearing an end and it seems quite probable that it will be through by ,Wednesday afternoon, and that the numerous Lake county lawyers and others will be able to eat Christmas turkey at home and not have it mixed with a discussion of. lumber bills and jockey clubs.

The plaintiffs have devoted most of their tiafie to trying to establish the existence of a partnership, while the defendants have sought to show that instead of a partnership the jockey club was a corporation, chartered in (South Dakota. A number of ruMngs of the court have seemed favorable to the plaintir’s case and when at the conclusion of the plaintiff’s testimony the defendants moved to dismiss the case; Judge Hanley ruled against the motion. He also ruled out the charter of incorporation. W. J. Sheetz, of Gary, and H. A Hyams, of Indiana Harbor, were dismissed as defendants, the plaintiffs having failed to show that they were in any manner connected with the alleged partnership. Sheetz and Hyams are said to be the two men who originated and carried into effect the “speak easy” form of placing a bet. on the traces. This plan was so successfully worked at the track that Walter Fabdng, the prosecutor of Porter county, could not even discover that there was any betting . The Republican described this style of betting last summer. The baakmaker stands with a program on which the odds are marked. He has two or three aides standing near and the bettor edges up and mumbles the name or number of the horse he wants to bet on. One of the aides grabs the money and another records the bet on a tablet in his pocket, taking the initials, of the better. No tickets are issued but if your horse wins you hunt up the big Irish guy with the flannel shirt, mention your initials and the amount you bet and get an envelope with the cash. Myams and Sheetz say it was working splendidly when the troops arrived. Sheetz and Hyams were reported to have each invested SSOO in the promotion of the track, but no one swore that they had and their release followed. , . Peter Crumpacker, Tim Englehardt and Clarence Bretch and A. F. Knotts, along with B. R. Hyman and William Daley, are now the principal defendants.