Alluding to the men who hang around, furnishing "pointers," and looking for an invitation to a fifteen-cent lunch, one of the speculating women said of them, "These men are the lowest creatures who come up here; most of the women are respectable, but these men are lazy, dirty, ignorant and infinitely low, and all they are after is to get money and a free meal out of women." "The ages of the women range from twenty-five to seventy years. The older women peered anxiously through their spectacles at the board and whispered quietly to a companion; wisps of ragged gray hair escaped and waved below the little black bonnet. Heavy, thick-soled shoes stuck out from the hem of the modest black gowns; they grasped worn silk reticules in their nervous fingers, and got out the small sum which, in most instances, they did not have the nerve to invest." Describing the condition in life of these women, the reporter was told that some had been wealthy, and were now poor through speculation; while "more than two-thirds are the mothers of families and are eking out a little income, in many instances supporting an idle, worthless man, who should himself be out in the world earning a living." "If they make 75 cents a day it is a big day for them," said the reporter's informant. "How little you realize the state to which many of these women are brought! Many of them are almost penniless. Frequently they come here in the morning and borrow money with which to begin the day's operations." Pool rooms, as a general rule, run wide open; occasionally they are "closed for repairs" caused by a police raid, forced by some flagrant outrage against the law. They flourish in the most public places, with no restriction upon admission to any visitor. The daily races all over the country are posted on large black boards covering the walls, with a list of the horses entered and a minute of the odds which will be given or demanded by the house, from which the room's judgment of the "favorite" can be ascertained. The money is handled openly, bet openly, and paid openly. City detectives assist in their management, and "play the races." Raids contemplated by the police are tipped off to the managers, and when the officers arrive the game has closed.