Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)
Issue: 1936 March - Page 15
P A C ,FI C
Coin Machine
•
PAULW.
BLACKFORD
Editor and
Publisher
•
25 Cents Per Copy
Yiiew
Publication
Office:
1113 Venice Blvd.
.'
Fitzroy 8269
Los Angeles
One Year ... One Dollar
Published at Los Angeles, Californ i a, du r ing the first week of each month fo r distribution to operators of coin controlled
equipment from coast·to-coast and with a 98% coverage of the eleven states west of the Rocky Mountains
CANADIAN TEST
•
Dom inion operators asked to
join in Supreme Court battle.
AMHERST, N. S.-Organization of every
operator in Canada for the purpose of com-
bating unfavorable legislation and carrying
through successfully a test case on pin
games now before the Supreme Court is
advocated in a letter sent out to the trade
publications and coin machine manufactur-
ers by the Empire Machine Company,
Reg'd.
"We are asking you to send a general
warning to all Canadian operators to bury
the hatchet and un ite in this fight," the let-
ter continues. ".
If each operator
in Canada would donate at least one dollar
per machine he operates, the amount would
be sufficient to secure the best legal talents
in the country, and without a question we
would obtain a decision in our favor, from
coast to coast. The funds could be depos·
ited with the bank, and one administration
( under bond) allowed to handle this fund
with a director representi ng each province
of the Dominion. The administrator and
directors would serve without pay and
would be entitled to refund for expenses
incurred while servi ng in official capacity
for the association.
"The Federal legislature is now in ses·
sion, also a few provincial legislatures.
If we are to make a move, now is the time;
in
same trouble that we are in Quebec,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island. Let's get together now!"
J . Causette of th e Empire firm announced
his willingness to give his time free to help
the Canadian national association formed.
NIP HIJACKING PLAN
• Two arrested in raid on
warehouse storing 45 slot ma-
chines.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-An alleged at-
tempt to hijack 45 slot machines, collected
in the city and county by agents of the
owners because of the ban against the
devices, was revealed by police with the
arrest January 27th of two men at a local
·warehouse.
The men were Oscar B. Franklin, 47,
said to be an employee of the Universal
Vending & Novelty Co. of Seattle, and Karl
Steltz, 35, of Ferndale. Acting on a tip,
seven policemen waited near the warehouse
and assertedly watched Franklin and
Steltz open the door and put three of the
machines into a waiting truck. Police said
Franklin was about to sever his connections
with the Universal company because of the
lack of employment since the territory was
closed.
MARCH ,
1 936
Saved . . . 446 Bucks
In Sixty Seconds
Harry J.
I F known
head
Wolcher, well
of Western Dis-
tributors, Inc., of Seattle can
save $446 every 60 seconds for
the rest of his life, he'll be in
the clover for fair. But Harry's
face gets red when he tells how
he saved the money.
It seems that Harry was hand-
ed a traffic tag in Olympia and
I ike any good citizen sent the
judge $5 in payment of his fine,
offering to send as many more
$5 as were necessary to cover
the fine.
Harry's policy of giving away
obsolete pin games to hospitals
and other institutions is well
known to the trade, so it was
only natural that he should ask
the speed cop if he wanted a pin
game to take home to the kid-
dies. Imagine anybody thinking
of a jalopy pin game as a bribe
or something!
Anyhow, Harry had to post a
$500 certified check to guarantee
appearance on a speeding charge
in the superior court at 10 a.m.
one fine day. When Harry show-
ed up at 10: 59, a court paper
ordering forfeiture of the 500
bucks was half finished. He paid
a $35 fine and $19 costs, pocket-
ing the $446 balance with 60
seconds to spare.
Incidentally, the $5 he had
sent to the justice court was
returned to him.
Harry ex-
plained to the judge that he was
giving away pin-ball games to
make room for phonographs,
wh ich was accepted as proof
that his offer to the traffic offi-
cer was nothing more than pure
and simple generosity.
BOARD PROBE ASKED
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Because in-
stances of alleged operators threatening
the loss of liquor licenses to location own·
ers if they did not permit pin games to be
installed, John C. Corbett, San Francisco
member, asked the Board of Equalization
on February 6th to investigate the opera-
tion of pin games in places having liquor
licenses. It was believed certain that such
a survey would show an overwhelming ma-
jority of locations favoring continuance of
the pin games and few if any places where
they were not wanted.
COl N
SAYS PINBALL LEGAL
• City attorney of Bellingham
upholds tables as games of sk ill.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-An opinion is·
sued February 4th by City Attorney Ho-
bart S. Dawson to the effect that pinball
games are primarily games of skill rather
than games of chance was seen by Belling-
ham city officials as openin g a new channel
of hope that the municipality may not lose
all the anticipated revenue from the oper-
ation of coin machines here.
Because of the failure of many Washing-
ton commun ities to distinguish between the
two types of equipment, pin games in many
cases have been incl uded in the genera l
ban on slo t machines being put into effect
throughout the state.
City Treasurer J. E. McGinnis is holding
a total of $1500 which has been paid for
slot machine licenses, and Dawson is of
the opinion that this money must be re-
turned to those who paid it if slot ma-
chines are not allowed to operate.
With slot machines out, the city officials
expected a heavier play on pinball ma-
chines with the result that more of the $50
annual license fees would be in demand.
The sum of $9000 had been placed in the
1936 city budget as anticipated revenue
from all coin machines.
HONOLULU INJUNCTION
• Operator Dounia Switz asks
restraining order on games.
HONOLULU, T. H.-Hearing on the suit
for injunction filed by Operator Dounia
Switz of the Hawaii Amusement Exchange
to res.t rain the police department from in-
terfering with the operation of marble
games was postponed during the month.
When the injunction proceedings came
up before Judge Norman D. Godbold in
circuit court, City·County Attorney Wilfred
Tsukiyama entered a demurrer attacking
the sufficiency of the charge filed for Switz
by Attorney Joseph Ferry.
The board of supervisors was expected to
vote final passage of an ordinance prohib·
iting minors under ]9 years of age from
playing or loitering in the vicinity of pin
games. The supervisors had been asked to
raise the age limit to 21.
FOUR·DAY RUN
SAN DIEGO.-Some types of marble
games and race horse machines were in·
cluded in a ban on games of chance put
into effect at the California Pacific Inter-
national Exposition here February 16th
after a four-day run. The San Diego police
put padlocks on equipment and midway
concessions not meeting with their approval
but made no arrests and confiscated no
machines. The exposition ope ned for the
1936 season on February 12th.
MACHINE
REVIEW
•
15
Coin Machine
•
PAULW.
BLACKFORD
Editor and
Publisher
•
25 Cents Per Copy
Yiiew
Publication
Office:
1113 Venice Blvd.
.'
Fitzroy 8269
Los Angeles
One Year ... One Dollar
Published at Los Angeles, Californ i a, du r ing the first week of each month fo r distribution to operators of coin controlled
equipment from coast·to-coast and with a 98% coverage of the eleven states west of the Rocky Mountains
CANADIAN TEST
•
Dom inion operators asked to
join in Supreme Court battle.
AMHERST, N. S.-Organization of every
operator in Canada for the purpose of com-
bating unfavorable legislation and carrying
through successfully a test case on pin
games now before the Supreme Court is
advocated in a letter sent out to the trade
publications and coin machine manufactur-
ers by the Empire Machine Company,
Reg'd.
"We are asking you to send a general
warning to all Canadian operators to bury
the hatchet and un ite in this fight," the let-
ter continues. ".
If each operator
in Canada would donate at least one dollar
per machine he operates, the amount would
be sufficient to secure the best legal talents
in the country, and without a question we
would obtain a decision in our favor, from
coast to coast. The funds could be depos·
ited with the bank, and one administration
( under bond) allowed to handle this fund
with a director representi ng each province
of the Dominion. The administrator and
directors would serve without pay and
would be entitled to refund for expenses
incurred while servi ng in official capacity
for the association.
"The Federal legislature is now in ses·
sion, also a few provincial legislatures.
If we are to make a move, now is the time;
in
same trouble that we are in Quebec,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island. Let's get together now!"
J . Causette of th e Empire firm announced
his willingness to give his time free to help
the Canadian national association formed.
NIP HIJACKING PLAN
• Two arrested in raid on
warehouse storing 45 slot ma-
chines.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-An alleged at-
tempt to hijack 45 slot machines, collected
in the city and county by agents of the
owners because of the ban against the
devices, was revealed by police with the
arrest January 27th of two men at a local
·warehouse.
The men were Oscar B. Franklin, 47,
said to be an employee of the Universal
Vending & Novelty Co. of Seattle, and Karl
Steltz, 35, of Ferndale. Acting on a tip,
seven policemen waited near the warehouse
and assertedly watched Franklin and
Steltz open the door and put three of the
machines into a waiting truck. Police said
Franklin was about to sever his connections
with the Universal company because of the
lack of employment since the territory was
closed.
MARCH ,
1 936
Saved . . . 446 Bucks
In Sixty Seconds
Harry J.
I F known
head
Wolcher, well
of Western Dis-
tributors, Inc., of Seattle can
save $446 every 60 seconds for
the rest of his life, he'll be in
the clover for fair. But Harry's
face gets red when he tells how
he saved the money.
It seems that Harry was hand-
ed a traffic tag in Olympia and
I ike any good citizen sent the
judge $5 in payment of his fine,
offering to send as many more
$5 as were necessary to cover
the fine.
Harry's policy of giving away
obsolete pin games to hospitals
and other institutions is well
known to the trade, so it was
only natural that he should ask
the speed cop if he wanted a pin
game to take home to the kid-
dies. Imagine anybody thinking
of a jalopy pin game as a bribe
or something!
Anyhow, Harry had to post a
$500 certified check to guarantee
appearance on a speeding charge
in the superior court at 10 a.m.
one fine day. When Harry show-
ed up at 10: 59, a court paper
ordering forfeiture of the 500
bucks was half finished. He paid
a $35 fine and $19 costs, pocket-
ing the $446 balance with 60
seconds to spare.
Incidentally, the $5 he had
sent to the justice court was
returned to him.
Harry ex-
plained to the judge that he was
giving away pin-ball games to
make room for phonographs,
wh ich was accepted as proof
that his offer to the traffic offi-
cer was nothing more than pure
and simple generosity.
BOARD PROBE ASKED
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Because in-
stances of alleged operators threatening
the loss of liquor licenses to location own·
ers if they did not permit pin games to be
installed, John C. Corbett, San Francisco
member, asked the Board of Equalization
on February 6th to investigate the opera-
tion of pin games in places having liquor
licenses. It was believed certain that such
a survey would show an overwhelming ma-
jority of locations favoring continuance of
the pin games and few if any places where
they were not wanted.
COl N
SAYS PINBALL LEGAL
• City attorney of Bellingham
upholds tables as games of sk ill.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-An opinion is·
sued February 4th by City Attorney Ho-
bart S. Dawson to the effect that pinball
games are primarily games of skill rather
than games of chance was seen by Belling-
ham city officials as openin g a new channel
of hope that the municipality may not lose
all the anticipated revenue from the oper-
ation of coin machines here.
Because of the failure of many Washing-
ton commun ities to distinguish between the
two types of equipment, pin games in many
cases have been incl uded in the genera l
ban on slo t machines being put into effect
throughout the state.
City Treasurer J. E. McGinnis is holding
a total of $1500 which has been paid for
slot machine licenses, and Dawson is of
the opinion that this money must be re-
turned to those who paid it if slot ma-
chines are not allowed to operate.
With slot machines out, the city officials
expected a heavier play on pinball ma-
chines with the result that more of the $50
annual license fees would be in demand.
The sum of $9000 had been placed in the
1936 city budget as anticipated revenue
from all coin machines.
HONOLULU INJUNCTION
• Operator Dounia Switz asks
restraining order on games.
HONOLULU, T. H.-Hearing on the suit
for injunction filed by Operator Dounia
Switz of the Hawaii Amusement Exchange
to res.t rain the police department from in-
terfering with the operation of marble
games was postponed during the month.
When the injunction proceedings came
up before Judge Norman D. Godbold in
circuit court, City·County Attorney Wilfred
Tsukiyama entered a demurrer attacking
the sufficiency of the charge filed for Switz
by Attorney Joseph Ferry.
The board of supervisors was expected to
vote final passage of an ordinance prohib·
iting minors under ]9 years of age from
playing or loitering in the vicinity of pin
games. The supervisors had been asked to
raise the age limit to 21.
FOUR·DAY RUN
SAN DIEGO.-Some types of marble
games and race horse machines were in·
cluded in a ban on games of chance put
into effect at the California Pacific Inter-
national Exposition here February 16th
after a four-day run. The San Diego police
put padlocks on equipment and midway
concessions not meeting with their approval
but made no arrests and confiscated no
machines. The exposition ope ned for the
1936 season on February 12th.
MACHINE
REVIEW
•
15
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).