The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1862-05-02
How was Cared of Gamtwg.
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE.

NV Wf0n0 WeR captatH " Vuo W
the mail steamers, plying between
New Orleans and Mobile. He
spsut some days with me not long
since; and. among other adventures
which had befsllsn him, he related
the following:
Ihad been engaged on board the
steamer (something) ovor q year,
and was then serving in the eapaci-
ty of mate. During the first lew
months I had been rather shy OF
New Orleans by gaslieht. ! had
heard 60 many stories Of robheries
and murders and OF strangers being
attacked from mere wantonnes, that
I prefsrred to keo, myself az safe as
possible. sometimes | spent the
night at the hotel, where the officers
OF the various steamers had assem-
bled for Q social time, and some
time. went to theatre. Atlenetb,
however, as became acquainted
with the city, the old timidiiy wore
of, and finally accompanied some
Of my brother officers to places
where the more startling episodes OF
real life in the city occurred. From
the hotel we went to the theatre,
and from the theatre we went to
some OF the most famous gambling
houses.
Suffer mo, my friend, 10 inform
you here that am not gamester.
I have played q little as | shall he
obliged to confess; but the charm
was broken, as you shall hear.
On the third or fourth visit TO the
gambling house, one Of my compan-
ions lsughingly proposed that we
should make a email venture at the
faro table. With a smile upon my
countenance I threw down quarter,
eagle. The banker asked me IL bet
on The queen. told him "yes.' |
wac then admonished tn put my mon'
ey fairly upon the card. pushed
the piece further on; and the confua.
ion | exhibited must have informed
the bystanders that | was slightly
veriant touching the rules, rrgula.
tions and mysteries Of the faro bank.
The banker began to slide of the
card, and presently he drew in the
piece of gold which ! had ventnred,
and threw down in its place an ivory
chequs representing five dollars. I
had won. smiled at my luck. and
when the cards were next shnfn ,d q,
| placed my cheqne back upon the
queen. | won again, and again |
smiled; for the thought that | was
gambling did not enter my mind
II was sport-sport Of new and
exciting kind. bet upon the queen
again. and ag ,in won. Before tho
next play | calculated a little. /:
wss mot likely that the same card
wonld win again, 40 made my ven
,urc upon the ace. The queen lost
and the ace won. At the end of an
hour | had won s75 or so. and then
went with my companions to the no.
tel, where we spent another hour be.
fore repairing to our boats.
A ter this | frequently accompa-
MED nv friends to the gaming hous'
es. and | also made iutnre ventures
al the faro bank. A love Of the ex.
citement grew upon me before | was
aware ofit- grew upon me so strong
ly that more than once | ventured
alone into a gambling hou,e not far
from our hotel. One evening four
o! us officers were at the S.. Charles,
and after supper the question was
started a. to how we shoul dispose
OF the next few hours. Two were
for the theatre. and two for the gam
ing house. How should we decide?
As neither party seemed willing to
give up, it was finally arranged tn At
we should 20 just as our inclinations
led ne. Two went to tho theatre,
and two started for the gaming
house. | was one Of the latter
My companion WAS captain Of an
up-river boat, and before We set out
he informed me that he must be on
board by midnight, as he was to
start early 10 the morning. This
was all pleasant to me, as | had al.
ready made up my mind that | would
be in my own state room before the
hour he had mentioned. So off We
went, over towards the third Mu
nicipality, nearly mile and a hal
from our hotel, where we found ths
gaming house we had planned tt
visit. We sat in the bar room 9
while and smoked cigar. and theu
went into the hall. We loungec
about. and observed the progress o
the different games, and finally stop
ped at q faro tstle. l made anoth,
er venture and lost; another and won
Then bought $40 worth OF cheques
When bought my cheques ther,
we're seven players beside myself q,
the table. Two OF them wer,
steamboat captains, and four O
them were either merchants, O.
gentlemen Of that stamp. They
may have been gamblers by profes
sion-regulsr blaekIegs but tina
doesn't matter. They appeared t
be gentlemen, certainly they be
haved as such. Tho seventh ma,