The day after Daniel F. (for Francis) McDevitt took office as Democratic mayor of Reading, Pa. last January, he made a florid announcement: he was going to drive out the gamblers. He gave pinball-machine operators 24 hours to get rid of some 1,000 "multi-coin" machines (in which players can insert a number of nickels to boost payoff odds). But Mc-Devitt's crusade was a resounding flop. After 19 days, in which three pinball distributors and two operators were arrested, he lifted the ban. His reason: the city (pop. 114,200) could not legally outlaw the machines. But Daniel McDevitt warned citizens nevertheless...
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