New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-07-21
rEw-YoRK IN SLICES.
sliee VI ...THE GAMBLING. HOUSES.

q, -. , ,s.oupt Of such things being done in is
-. I'm. There i certainly more entirely
respectable and correctly managed puDho housc ~ 'o
country than Delm0uico's but no" i ''"'o'N
10 know-or how can he possibly Interfere "''l-'"''
= -, ,,i,,v bv his guests in the privacy OF tseir
~,,., n D.,roonco. were 20 be censured TOR ms,
we know OF plenty OF private residences
Tscckerr with fcc.touc fronts and zeal silver bell
pulls. tina, would come under the ban directly bu'
is not with the private gamblers that We have no" 70
do. lnvunerabi, to the law, they escape even 'n'
long reaching fingers OF the press, and are secure ro
all rebuke save that Of God and their own conscencc'
and perhaps and then beggarcd wife and iami'
ly There are more of them than anybody knows Of
and Il chanbcrd0Ors made of glass. some people
who are considered patterns punctuay and models
of financial proprety would appear very great dis
advantage ON Change and there would be- A. great
revolution among good names In Bank among
the blouses in Paris But said not word OF all
I that
| Newiu begin however Al the Clubs. These although
assuming 10 boz private are fact but too public In the
influence they exert over the minds and habits OF the
Young. by placing dissipation and gambling in their
most seductive and respectable aspects and making
hahspirited young ambitious 10 BE- ruined Il Il
one of the perhaps incurabe social evils OF political
Democracy that it inspires just entering into lite
in moderate circumstance and with fair prospects
with an neNtngushsble passion for shining at any
cost even that OF honor and reputation Taught nom
childhood that all equal and as they gro" up
seeing this doctrine practically carried out at the polls
(5u nowhere else and necessarily talked about the
newspapers they forget overlook the great tact that
social distinctions broad ard well defined IN THIS
country as anywhere else in the world and that the
attempt OF q young man whose fortune and position
are vet TO be made force himself into the society
upon equal terms OF the established and wealthy must
lead to speedy and inevitable ruin The successful
merchant or banker whose income Is ten or twenty
thousand dollars year is not necessarily compromised
by losing few hundreds faro or bras or by eSpend
ing now and then an extra thousand upon fashionable
mstres- While the poor clerk, nred with the ambition
of not being outhone by his associates and proud oil DC
inc admitted to their society hnds his paltry salary soon
expended and rushes hesdlong into debt and dlshonor
ending too often, in crime and prison
The literal translation Of club is gambling house
Nor does club differ in any essential respect from
public rendezvous of this kind except in the fact that
in the former the business OF plucking the pigeons ana
putting through the green horns is done by the re
spectacle" members while in the latter IL IL confined
to professed blackegs. In the club as IN the gambling
house you have hot suppers and cool wines oval sso
citation and the most seductive freedom OF manners
IN both the pretence pleasure and the business gam
ing But the club is more arisocratc and more desi'
rable TO ambitious young man, as being iancied
means Of somehow Che doesn't exactly know how)
eevating ais social position and giving him the eree
to good society-a pleasant dream which he never lives
to see realized The wives aud daughters of the arts
tocrac members despise the club from the bottom OF
their and with very good reason too. 1t is Of
| ,1as no
ing the aec Jns and driving Woman to that course OF
independent action ever fatal her delicacy if not her
purity the most pernicous and comprehensive in its
influence The habaude of a club, said a married lady
to US the other day. can scarcely by any possibility be
| a good father good husband or good neghbor
But we were about to speak especially of the gam
bling houses-existing in open defiance ofthe laws and
with as little real concealment the cohcehouscs or
| oystercenars The public know all about them-wherc
they are who manage them, and who are their regular
frequenters Once in a while, to save appearances,
some establishment il complained of and, perhaps
tried and convicted The keeper pays 1--WE hundred or
thousand dollars, by way of fine gratuty-Justiee
is satisfied and the business goes This has been
and always must be the until we can have City
| Government composed of men who have no party
pledges to fulfil no political ambition to crafty, no
hungry pockets feed with brides When will that be
II you wish to visit irst.rate gambling house you
had better make the ACQUAINTANCE of gentemany
backleg-" sporting.man is the title by which he
prefers to be known in his profe ssonand put your
self under his protection. II this is not convenient,
however II viii make no particular difference. Walk
down by yourself any time after ten o'clock at night,
to one of the finest looking houses in srkpiace, and
ring the bell. colored gentleman will open the door
and if you proceed if you know what you are about
he will take ii for granted that Il Is all right and VIII
Immediately disappear-eaying you to make your own
way You open the door OF the parlor on the right
hand and sauntcr carelessly n-probaby meeting one
OF the propretors who asks you in tone of perfect
and unobtrusiyo hospitay,-if you will take supper
You generally decne-but this particular occasion
YOU may sit down at luxurously furnished table and
mention 10 the waiter who is instantly at your side,
what YOU would like You need not hesitate TO consult
your finest tastes Came according to the season Of
every variety and exquisitely cooked-the rarest
French eutreueis-anythng in short, you have fancy
| for-wiu be instantly forthcoming. bottle OF iced
chanpagne-the genuine Heidsick-is at your elbow
and if you have fancy for glass Of rare Burgundy
or old South side Madeira you have only TO make it
known, and you will be supplied directly.
Having supped lesurey-for which remember you
are to pay nothing (unless you choose 10 try your
|
the other parlor where group Of fifteen or twenty
seldom more except during the races and other times
of unusual excitement-is gathered about long low
black table in the centre Of which Is cloth contain
ing separately fastened down by the backs all the
cards of the "tul deck" At one end Of the table Is
seated a little crooked man, with fingers like eagles
claws who has little tin box before him. from which
mysteriousy slips card Of time, which he lays
one Of two piles, which grow mpartislly by alternate
distribution beneath his hand Every card that Is dealt
occasions a commouon and great change Of places
among sundry heaps Of large ivory buttons-some
white, some red-lying promiscuously about on the
stationary cards On the table You no money, ex-
cep, and then, when Of the players is broke
he passes or an up 10 the dealer and receives its
equivalent in buttons The white dollar
apiece, and the red ones hyeso that you readily
see how easy il Is for with bad of luck to
ose several hundred dollars in the Of evening
And thus the game goes on, from night TIL
gray morning-the pald, eager, dull beaming, reck.
lees and despairing faces gathered around the table
presenting panorama OF human passions which it is