Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1859-03-30

the one in which the rattle was 10 tax
place. 10 this room, on Christmas eve
the euchre party of the former winter. tc
; gether with others from The neig hhnrhnoc
= me-. and ;he 'afH g fer ''chsnceS crm
mrucrd The urke,s were rffi-d q
~ 'en O'Clock. and i supper followed a
she expense of he proprietor After lhi.
Que or tEo o. the party commenced play
Ing dice for quarters, and soon liter t,
whole party joined in the game.
There were the tour Bank clerks be
fore alluded to there sat a dentist,
doctor of medicine, dealer in hardware
a lumber merchant. livery stable keep
er, a merchant from New York, anC
others. around large table, throwing
alternately for the pool. and betting ths
they would throw a certain number mime
at one throw with three dice Win,
flowed in abundance. and daylight OF
Christmas had loug dawned when the
party. with bloodshot eyes and aching
heads. broke up and wound their way
homeward, many of them having receiv
I'd their first lessons in gan bling MANY
lost; some won most of them were
indebted TO each other in sums ranging
from five dollars 10 twenty five dollars.
while the proprietor of the institution
found that be had made very hansso
sum out of the turkey raffl--he having
received a quarter from every fourth
pool.
He was not man the said proprie
tor 10 allow such golden opp rtunities to
pass without improving them; so ere the
fumes from the Christmas eve debauch
had cleared from the brains of the party,
they received il rvitations to attend another
supper at the same place, where watch,
together with ducks, chickens and tur-
keys, would again be rsffled off On New
Years eve of 1856, they again met !;
again they ratified again they supped,
and again the dice was thrown again
the night and morning. was passed in
drunken debaucberT. Tae prnpriv-or
was pleased. and treated his guests with
that respect. or rather reverence, which
gained him many friends; after hat eve
ming turkey raffles were almost of
nightly occurrence. The institution soon
changed its character, and from the for
mt r oyster and ice cream saloon il te-
came sort Of club room, and after a
certain hour in the evening none but the
members were allowed to enter the rooms
on the second story. Tue character of
the games changed also, and cards were
introduced eucher. seven up. pitch
trump, and poker were the games orti
narily played. Some of the party were
experts al these game-Field being an
excellent eucher player and daring bluff
ter Bul the den,iSt before alluded TO
was ''sharp' player at all these ames;
and though he commenced with a very
small capital. he was soon in the posses
sion of quite superfuity of funds. His
trade psyed him better than his profess
sion.
The hardware man was very lucky at
dice, and one evening he found himself
in possession of dimond pin and ring,
together with considerable cash-that
which he had not when he entered the !
rooms. The bank clerks were generally
the losers, and it was astonishing what
large salaries they must have received.
A hundred dollars or so lost and won at |
one sitting was not thought of by these /
exemplary young men and it was very
amusing 10 the rest OF the party 10 hear
the manner in which ;hey accounted for
the possession of such large amounts
One OF them had received legacy from
a deceased aunt another had drawn
prise in the Delaware Lottery while
third amused the company one night by
them as to the luck he had had
hat day "bucking the tiger"-sll of
which stories the party believed, as a
natter of course for they were gentle.
men, every one of them, and would not
play with man who would STEAL
They only played for amusement" was
he oft repeated assertion. which all col |
ectively implicitly believed, but individ-
laly, in their own minds, they did not
believe.
Such state of affairs could not last :
ong. and one evening one of the party
"a New York bank clerk-was not at
lis accustomed post. Ii was a matter of It
urprise TO all, for during the past month S
e had never missed an evening; and, J.
aving lost enormous sums of money, S
the whole of his aunt's legacy and much b
nore, } every one thought that he would a
ertainly endeavor to redeem himself ii
ut hour after hour passed away. and S
tll he came not. The games tagged, d
nd gloom seemed to settle over the b
pirits of the company. while the spirits "
t the bar were in active demand. ii
wonder what has become of Char h
~" murmured the dentist, raking in p
w quarters and putting vigorously at
is cigar 81 won of him last night, IN
nd be demanded satisfaction, which 10
,;saJ m r,iva hin, %