The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-08-12

ference and lawsuits, or to pay their expenses in
such an event. II the lottery man ia frightened he
makes an agreement of this kind understanding,
as the backmaier does that the latter shall neither
make any complaints himself nor allow others to do
so. In this way vast sums OF money have been
drawn from lottery men, and sometimes by thoso
in small Offices where they hold little power
LEaALIzED LOTTERIES.
Notwithstanding that there are but four Statea
at present legalzng lotteries, it is stated that tho
business is now almost as extensive as when
it was thrown open free in all the States. The
total amount Of moey invested in the business
is estimated at $5,OoO0O0 annually The profits
are by no means 40 extensive as many imagine; as,
for instance, the immense firm OF Wood, Eddy Co.,
after paying all expenses, is said to realize
but about six per cent of profit on the sales OF
tickets. AS stated previously, the only legal lot.
teres now in operation are in Georgia, Mis-
souri,, Delaware and Kentucky. The Georgia
lotteries monopolize the Southern market, and
have greatly injured the sale of tickets for the
Havana lottery which was formerly very popular
at the South. The following statement is made of
The sales of tickets OF the legalzed lotteries in the
United States:-
Sales in the Wood, Eddy & Co.'s lotteries in Della.
ware, Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri and Mary.
land, per year, ...,....,........... 80 100000
Sales in the Havana lottery ........... 100000
THE LOTTERIES OF WOOD, EDDY AND co.
By the above statement it would appear that the
lotteries of Wood, Eddy Co. comprise all the
legal grants but one, and the great bulk of the
business IN this country. we propose 10 give ID
brief history of the firm of Wood, Eddy Go. as far
as practicable from accessible materials.
An application made five years since to the
Legislature Of Alabama for the endowment OF tho
Southern Military Academy, OF that state. Ac-
cordingy franchise granted for lottery, and
S. Swan was selected by the Military Academy to
manage their business This was conducted for
three years, the drawings taking place at Montgo'
merry and Mobile, in public. The grant expiring in
1857, Samuel Swan & Co. leased the Fort Gaines
and Sparta Academy Lotteries, in Georgia, which
have been drawn uninterruptedly without doubt
of their legality up to 1857.
The following is copy of the original grant on
which the Georgia lotteries of Swan " Go. were
based
TIE ORIGINAL ACT INCORPORATION.
An act authorize the trustees Of Sparta Academy 10
the county Of Hancock, TO raise by lottery the sum OF
five dollars for the benefit Of said Academy.
Be enacted by the senate aud House Of Representa-
tves Of the State Of Georgia in General Assembly met,
and il IL hereby enacted by the authority OF the same,
that the trustees OF the Sparta Academy county Of
Hancock their in office. be, and they are
five Thousand dollars for the benefit of academy.
And be further enacted tnst Wn. Jerril Robert W.
Aston Thomas s. Martini Nathan O. Sayre Thomas A.
SMITH James e. jones and Joel Crawford or majority
OF them be- and hereby, appointed commissioners TO
rioners are hereby authorized said lottery
| as many separate senemes or drawings al IN their
udgmen. shall beet suit the interest OF said academy and
any Of money which may be raised by said
dedactog the expenses Of lottery, shall be BY them
paid to the trustees Of said academy for the use and
| benefit thereof.
| Assented 10 Dec %, 1920
It was alleged by Mayor Tiemann and others,
that this grant expired by act OF the georgia
| Legislature of 1888. That act, however, read as
Act TO prevent the drawing lotteries for the sale
Of lottery tickets 10 this State approved Dec 23 1888
Sec l. From and Immediately after the first day OF
May next all and every lottery and lotteries and device
and the Of lotteries. shall DO utterly and
entirely abolished and hereby declared 70 be thence.
| forth Unauthorized and unlawful
Sec 2 describes the nature OF the msdemeanor, the
Avn m
less than $500 nor more than 81 900 for each and
Sec g. In default Of payment Of fine, imprisonment six
Sec l. All laws and parts Of laws initiating against
this act are hereby repealed Provided That thus act
shal not apply TO lottery heretofore authorized BY
the General Assembly.
It was claimed by Swan & Co. that the last
| clause kills the whole bill, and makes the cont.
nuance Of their lotteries now owned by Wood,
| Eddy q Co., legal. The other ground for tho
alleged iegality of their lottery was that
the franchise was originally given to the trustees,
and that they had right to assign trust to other
parties On the other side it was claimed that this
trust could be assigned, and that the grant was
vested right which could be taken away. This is
| apparently an intricate point of law, which would
be more appropriate to settle by Court of APP.
| peals than by trial for msdemeanor. The advo-
Gates of Swan Co. stated that if the Georgia lot.
teries Illegal the authorities could easily stop
the drawings at once, but that the rival lotteries
who backed up the onslaught dared not bring the
| matter in any other shape, because they would
| nave 10 give DOnuS 10 secure SWan ~ CO against
| damage to their business, whilst they ran no risk
in the trial for msdemeanor, and had the chance OF
| the damage which they expected to do to Swan &c
Co.; they also said that the fact of the arrest Of
| Swan Co. was telegraphed to all parts Of the
country at the expense of rival lottery concerns,
as to be published in the next mornings papers,
as soon as the Georgia paper could publish 1t; but
| whatever might be the facts Swan ~ Co. were
| undoubtedly able to take care of themselves.
| Benjamin Wood and George p. Eddy, formerly
with the Maryland concern, having been for over
| two years connected with the firm of Swan Co.,
at last in connection with c. II. Maury, of the firm
| of Gregory & Maury purchased an interest in the
| concern, which is now known as the firm of Wood,
| Eddy & Co., and which, as we have already shown,
monopolises nearly the entire lottery business,
Mr. Swan retained an interest in the firm which has
infused the energy which has lately characterized
the business. They enlarged the capital, purchased
all the legal grants but one in the country and pre-
| sented large schemes to crafty the taste Of
| Southern patrons, who had been accustomed to
patronize the extensive lotteries of Havana. They
first commenced the drawing of the single lottery
on plan similar to the Havana, having drawing:
every Saturday. The State employed Commits.
soners of acknowledged responsibility to superin-
| tend the drawings
For the qualification of Northern buyers, who
| favor the ternary combinations introduced by
Yates and Mcintyre they established in September,
1867, combination lottery on that plan, drawing
| twice every day. Specimens of the schemes on
each of these plans were given in the first part Of
| this article.
The numbers drawn in these lotteries are imme-
diatey telegraphed TO all the dealers in the United
States, and, in order to prevent any mistake,
| check word is sent with each number. The ex.
penses of this firm in telegraphing alone have been
estimated at s25 900 per year. They employ fifteen
| lottery business have an extensive exchange
and banking business in Augusta and Atlanta,
and they have large printing office, employing
thirty or forty. hands to print their tickets,
schemes, &c. They have an extensive corespon-
dence, and three clerks are kept constantly busy,
answering and filing orders for tickets. Their
m
year, and their advertising at $4,000 per year.
| The tickets for each scheme sent out at
east one month before the drawing, and
must be all accounted for by the dealers be-
fore the hour of drawing Each dealer is COM
PEELED to deposit in the express office, before
certain hour, all unsold tickets, with list of those