Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-08-06
MEMPHIS /" SPORTS
The Gambling fraternity and Hard
Times-The Tiger PROSTATE
and Hungry.
How Many Sports " There are in
Momphis-Their Trials and Tri- I
bulations-" Jordan a Hard
Road to Travel"


The lizard Times have been
mourned since coin and paper. were first
known. We do not remember year
that has failed to produce the we'll worn
cry. "The times" seem always hard,
and the boys are constantly urged TO
wait little longer" The good times"
keep just head like tomorrow, and
like ito morrow" are never reached.
But so far as Memphis is concerned there
is no doubt that the present, more than
any previous year, has proved "the time
that tried mems souls" Every depart
ment of trade has languished and nearly
died. Dimes come reluctantly from
pockets which once disgorged dollars in
lavish profusion. Old coats are cleansed
anew, and continued in service which
long since rendered them threadbare.
Juleps and icy punches are guzzled less
frequently, and the popping of Cliquot and
Mosels is seldom heard. The melan.
choly days, the saddest of the year,
have cast their black shadow upon every
path, and obscured the broad, clear sun.
light of prosperity. There will be an
end of this some time, when the hearts
of those who now mourn the dark days
will bound for joy.
It would be remarkable if what so seri-
ously affects the marts of industry failed
of its influence on those who live by their
wits. This class like the more deserv'
ing, languishes. The majority Of its
members in our midst seem barely able
to live. King Faro has descended from
his proud throne and crouches in dark
corners and by-ways, his purple and fine
linen displaced by serge and sackcloth.
His Golfers no longer burst with reple-
ton. Vacancy is echoed back from their
recesses. Ichabod is written on their
iron hasps. The Tiger has become a
quiet animal. His teeth no longer
brighten by their power and dazzle by
their brightness He is now weak,
sickly, NANCY beast, glad to receive
quarter rations of coarse food and brack'
ish water, in lieu of the luxurious feasts
enjoyed in the plentitude Of his great
ness.
A year ago the streets dazzled with
hundreds of gay Sports, whose gaudy
trappings outshone all other passerS by,
and whose diamonds flashed, like meteors,
in the sunlight. To-day we have not a
hundred professionals-resident and
"floaters, all told. The gaudy cloth
ing has been replaced by sober garments,
and the flashing diamonds are out of the
way, labeled collateral" The spruce
"Sport," once the cynosure Of the DENT
monde, is in the valley of the shadow of
misery. A few yet count dollars by
hundreds. Fewer still have odd thou
sands with which to weather the storm.
They are of the almost infnitessimal few,
who know equally well how to make and
save money. The others play rapidly,
win rapidly, and loose rapidly. Money
burns their pockets and must 60. II a
nights play impoverishes, its successor
may enrich. Your true gambler is the
most hopeful of mortals He believes in
"luck," though, perhaps, able to over
take it but once in life time.
But the hard times have caused his
lucky star to set in gloom. His most
consummate combinations fail him.
Stocking the papers is of no avail.
Luck may again turn her face up
permost in the pack, but at present, like
Othello, his occupations gone.
Formerly his pockets were filled by
registering country blades, with more
money than discretion, with an irresist-
ible desire to see the tiger" and conf.
dence in their ability to lay him, mangled,
at their feet The hard times !" have
stopped the supply from this source.
The Bptian has learned bitter lesson
from them, and seldom seeks the Tiger 5
lair. Impeeuniosity has overtaken him
too. A small source Of our sports ="
revenue was from residents, who occa-
sionally sandwiched business with an
onslaught on the beast. Now the stray
dollars expended in this pastime, seek
other channels, and the animal must
either devour himself or starve.
We learn, from those entitled to credit,
that the condition of the sporting fra
ternity, in Memphis, is desperate beyond
precedent. Probably a dozen of the
hundred have money. The others. to
use an expressive phrase, are compelled
to shin around" and keep body and
soul together as best they may. The
sofa or the bare floor of hell or res
taurant generally serves as bed, and
"free lunch" often furnishes the only
meal of day. Stripping greenhorn
is no longer the thought uppermost in
our Sports mind. 1t is how to
obtain a supper and a place to lay his
head. Last winter gambling hells =
thronged every quarter. The brilliant
gas light dazzled the eye and proved ire.
sistible. The Tigers juugles we're daily
r i