The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-07-28

ysung men, all bank clerks, engaged to NEE
alternately at the residence of each, in the city
OF Brooklyn, and pass the long winter evening,
In playing euchre- Their reunions were of the
INST pleasant character, no betting being allow
e-i,-and evening after evening passed pleasant
II away. They invariably broke up at ten
o'clock and retired to their respective homes
satisfied with themselves and their evenings en-.
trrtainment. The party consisted of Oscar S.
Field, late teller of the Atlantic Bank, Brook
lya y bo,k-keepsr in another Brooklyn Bank,
u clerk in u bank in Wall street, and the writer.
They were Young men ON whom no word of re-
proof had ever fallen from a fault-fnding world.
Tho meetings at the house of Field were p~articu-
larry pleasant, for there home joys and comforts
were mingled with the pleasures of the game,
and each envied Field in the possession of a fond
and loving wife, in whose happiness his whole
being seemed enwraught. Outlines was the
quotation applied to them
Two souls with bat a single thought
Two hearts that beat as one
The winter passed away, and spring came.
The parties were on account of the shortened
evenings, broken up, to give way to summer
aInusemente. The next fall an effort was made
to reorganize them, but from some cause it fall
ed, and November passed without any meetings.
On Christmas eve of 1855, there was a turkey
rattle advertised to come off at a house In n mar
bic block in Court street. This house was the
residence of a man who had once been a tailor,
but had recently risen from that estate, and at
the time of which we write he kept an oyster
s.loon and bar. In the portion of Brooklyn in
which he was established there were but few if
any, of these saloons, and it was, therefore, the
resort of most Of the young men of the city, who
had no better place in which to pass their time.
There were two rooms on the second story-ln
one the bar, and the other one in which the rattle
was to take place. In this room, on Christmas
eve, the euehre party of the former winter, to-
yether with others OF the neighborhoOd met. and
the rafting for = chances commenced. The
turkeys were rallied off by ten O'Clock, and u sup
Der followed at the expense of the proprietor.
After this one or two of the party commenced
playing dice for quarters, and soon after the
whole party joined L in the game. There were the
four bank clerks before alluded to there sat a
dentist, n doctor of medicine, a dealer in hard
ware, a lumber merchant, a livery stable keeper,
from New York, and others, around a large table,
throwing alternately for the pool, and betting
they would throw over a certain number (nine)
at one throw with three dice Wine flowed in
abundance, and daylight on Christmas had long
dawned when the party, with bloodshot eyes and
aching heads. broke up and wound their way
homeward, many of them having received their
first lesson in gambling. Many lost-some won
most of them were Indebted to each other for
sums ranging from SIS to S25, while the pro-
prietor of the institution found that he had made
n very handsome sum out of the turkey rattle
he having received q quarter from every fourth
pool.
He was not the man 1.-THE said proprietor) to
let such golden opportunities pass without i'm
proving them so ere the fumes from the Christ
mas eve debauch had cleared from the brains of
the party, they received invitations to attend
another supper at the same place, where a watch,
together with ducks, chickens and turkeys, would
again be ratified off. On New Years eve of 1856
they again met again they ratified, again they
eupped, and again the dice were thrown again
the night and morning were spent in drunken
debauchery. The proprietor was pleased, and
treated his guests with that respect, or rather
reverence, which gained him many friends.
After that evening turkey rafles were almost
of q nightly occurrence. The institution soon
changed its character, and from the former oys-
ter and ice cream saloon it became a sort OF club
-: and after a certain hour In the evening
but che members were allowed to enter the
f5srns ON the second story. The character of the
gam changed also, and cards were introduced
eucnre, seven up, pitch trump, poker were the
games ordinarily played. Some few of the party
were experts at these games-Field being an ex-
cellent euenre player and a daring buffer. But
the drnrist before alluded to was a sharp
player at all the games and though ne com
menced with a very small capital, he was soon In
possession of quite a superiuity of funds. His
trade played him better than his profession.
The hardware man was very lucky at dice, and
one evening he found himself in possession of a
diamond pin and ring, together with consider
able cash-that which he had not when he enter
ed the rOoms. The bank clerks were generally
the losers. and it was astonishing what large
salaries they must have received. A hundred
dollars or Sd lost at one sitting was not thought
of by these exemplary young nel and 1T was
very amusing to the rest of the party to hear the
manner in which they accounted for the posses
sion of such large amounts. One of them had
received a legacy from a deceased aunt another
had drawn a prize in the Delaware lottery
while a third amused the company one night by
informing them as TO the luck he had that day
3 bucking the tiger'-an of which stories the
parties believed, as a matter of course for they
were gentlemen, every one of them, and would
not play with a man VINO would steal. d" They
only played for amusement was the oft repeat
ed assertion. which all collectively, implicitly be-
lieved, but individually, in their own minds, they
did not believe.
Such a state of affairs could not last long, and
one evening one of the party, a New York bank
clerk, was not at his accustomed post. It was a
Of surprise to all, for durings the past
month he had never lost an evening; and having
enormous sums of money, 1.-THE whole of his
aunt's legacy, and much more, every one thought
that he would endeayor to redeem himself; but
hour after hour passed away, and still he came
not. The game tagged, and a gloom seemed to
over the spirits of the company, while the
spirits at the bar were IN active demand.
- Wonder what could have become Of Charley"
mumbled the dentist, raking in a few quarters,
bnQ pumng Vigorously al nis seSar. won Y
him last night, and he demanded satisfaction,
I promised to give him." Various were
The coniectures offered, and though all in their
minds knew the truth, they dared not speak it.
length q loud rap was heard at the lower
1oor, and after the money had disappeared into
The pockets of the respective owners, the pro-
prietor went down stairs to open it, while the
pazty were Immediately engaged in reading the
5mday papers, and no vestige of card playing
could be seen in the room. The proprietor re-
and with him a policeman and one of
he clerks in the bank where Charles - was
The company looked up in apparent
at the intruders.
ssHaye any of you seen Charles -,t this
evening" r. inquired the policeman.
No ooe has seen him since the night previous,
all inquired the reason of the strange pro-
When told that he was a defaulter for
NJ three theusand dollars, and had not been
o the bank that day. they gazed at each other