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PARIMUTUEL SYSTEM IN FRANCE Inventor Oiler Tells of Ilia Device to Treasurer ApplcRato of Louisville Louisville Ky September 20 H C Applegalc treasurer of the Louisville Racing Association has returned here from a trip to Paris liis mission abroad being personally to interview Joseph Oiler the inventor of the parlinutiiel method of wagering on races which was revived in America by tho New Louisville Jockey Club at its meeting last spring at Churchill Downs A return to the French system after a lapse or many years aroused keen interest and it has since been the subject of wide comment ranging from praise to condemnation So confident nre Messrs Charles W Grainger presi ¬ dent of the New iLouisville Itacing Association and M J Winn the general manager and vicepresident of that organization that the method will prove the salvation of the speculative end of the turf that they never have wavered in their opinion Because of this firm attitude they assigned Mr Applegate to pay a visit to Oiler in order that lie might thor ¬ oughly ncqualnt himself with every detail of the system systemApplegate Applegate experienced no difficulty in locating Oiler in Paris It is related of the Inventor of the parimutuels that he is one of the most popular clever and enterprising citizens of the capital In addition to operating a mammoth establishment for printing parimutuel supplies he owns and operates race courses and is the promoter and manager of several theatrical enterprises At eightythree Oiler is alert and active In business He is a small man with hair and beard of snowy whiteness and dark bright eyes Oiler eyesOiler said to Applegate I recollect Louis ¬ ville Ky because I sent some machines there in 1SG7 I am glad that the people of America are showing concern in my method It is the only way to bet and the history of betting in France shows it Every year the parimutuels handle about 100 000000 and the public is satisfied When vou hear some one criticizing thb parimntnels usually there is a selfish reason for it Prior to ISG2 the French wagered among themselves for the reason that there was no public system Over in England however the bookmaker flourished I devised a sort of a lottery plan whereby the numbers of the various horses in a race were shaken Up in a bag Each holder of a ticket in tbe pool drew a card The person who held the number of the winning horse took the pool the aggregate of the stake less ten per cent commission to the pool seller Since a bettor had no option in selecting a horse I realized that a system was needed to do away with the lottery feature and afford the speculator an oppor ¬ tunity to use his judgment Meanwhile the book ¬ makers were swarming over from England and were getting a foothold in France In 1872 I introduced the parirautuels It was a struggle between the mutuels and the books until 1875 when the Associ ¬ ation of Racing Societies was formed Bookmaking had reached its golden age Then ensued a reign of scandal attributed to the bookmakers The wave of protest resolved itself finally into a storm and the accusation came from all sides that the bookmakers were corrupting the turf Probably such charges were in a majority of cases unfounded nevertheless they grew and had their effect The ministry united with the press and the government suppressed book making in 1SS7 1SS7The The government through the famous Loi Riot teau legalized my machine which as tlie world knows reigns supreme In France And what have that variable and elusive quality morality the more concrete Puritanism and those wiseacres whose pas ¬ sion is to stop gambling gained Simply this That from five millions staked yearly at the Oiler machines the same public now Invests during the same period over 250000000 francs at the govern ¬ ment parimutuel booths Truly a magnificent change changeOiler Oiler telephoned for liis nephew and before long the gentleman arrived in an automobile and whisked his American guest over the boulevards of Paris to various race tracks and then to the printing house conducted by M Oiler and Alexander Oiler his Inother located at Pnteaux on the banks of the Seine nearly opposite the Longchamps race course Here millions of parimutuel tickets are printed and every kind of stationery used in connection with the system is prepared Everything is prepared in duplicate so that If an accident occurs In transmis ¬ sion another set of tickets is ready for immediate dispatch In collection with the Importance of printing the tickets it may be stated that the Societe dEncouragement prints its own tickets for Longchamps and Chantilly This printing house is at BoisColomhes a suburb of Paris One hundred men work there The Oilers print the tickets for Auteuil MaisonsLaflitte and St Ouen For each of these meetings 5000000 tickets arc used The Oiler printing bouse is magnificently equipped and affords employment to several hundred crsons crsonsMr Mr Applegate made an investigation relating to the totalizator which shows the various amounts staked on horses as the hotting progresses He as ¬ certained that In 1807 Oiler had with M Leon Sari the late manager of the FoliesBergeres as ¬ sisted by Gamier the famous clock maker in ¬ vented the totalizator This machine not only totalized the sums but it also did all the calcula ¬ tions and after deducting the percentage showed on a special dlnl the return on the winning and placed horses The machines were attached to the back of great charabancs o i every race track in France These belonged to the Agence Oiler and each year the takings of this concern amounted to an enormous sum Then the finish of the totalizator was brought about by the government It will not sanction a mistake no matter its size conse ¬ quently the work of perfecting a totalizator is still in progress Oiler progressOiler in the meantime devoted his marvelous in ¬ ventive powers to making a selfreckoning ticket ticketThe The ticket is printed on the commonest kind of paper The large figure replaces the date of the month The amount of units is indicated showing the investment on the horse This is at the foot of the ticket Not content with this simple and marvelous contrivance Oiler places on every voucher a reference number that completely safeguards the racing societies from forged tickets ticketsThe The French government has a wonderful system too growing out of the parimutuels Its repre ¬ sentatives settle with the track management iind they insist on promptness and accuracy Eight per cent is the amount taken from the grand total Half of this goes to the jockey club The remainder is expended in maintaining charitable institutions How closely the agents of the government keep an eye on the game is demonstrated in the handling of men detected handbookincr Offenders of this kind are sentenced to serve from one to four years 1n prison prisonTreasurer Treasurer Applegate profited by his contact with Oiler and others identified with the manipulation of the parimutuels and the experience will be util ¬ ized in operating the system at Louisville LouisvillePresident President Grainger and VicePresident Winn will insist on giving the mutnels a complete trial and this will lie done at the Douglas Park autumn meet ¬ ing which opens next Monday for a run of eighteen days As the best horses in training in the west will compete and for the reason that all Louisville race meetings are well attended it Is certain the management says that splendid sport will mark the season throughout The presiding judge will be Charles F Price
