New-York tribune., 1867-05-30
THE HAZARD or THE DIE.


sport, coarse, cheap, and irrational, brutality
usually prevails so that the single combat may
be doubled or redOubled, and twenty finish
what two began. There is no lack of laws to
mako hOrse-racng respectable, but there are
rules adopted by the gentlemen of the turf to
which the moro numerous mob pay little heed.
Nobody is in the least astonished when ne
reads in his morning paper of fatal incident
in gaming house, for the wonder is that there
are not three hundred and sixty-fve just
such manslaughters every year. Even bill
lard players and chess champions are
always sending each other acrimonious notes,
or getting them, under the plea of public inter
est, into the newspapers for nothing. Ii you
take up an ordinary sporting journal, you lind
nothing but bets from beginning to end-bets
offered, bets TAKEN bets declined, and bets dis
puted. We are afraid that all this proves that
manly sport" generally means money, while
it is quite natural that those who devote their
lives to the cultivation of Improbable games,
or those which are in themselves at least un-
productive, should expect to be paid for their
training and their trouble. The easiest way of
paying them is to get up an epidemic of bet
ting upon their prOwess or their skill. The
cheats, the dctections and the quar-
rels inevitably follow. 1t is discovered
by the losers that the conqueror
"fouled," or pushed" or hit his antagonist in
the wrong place, or told some lie about his
weight, or did something which, upon dis
coyery, should give the crowns and the cash
to the conquered. Then everybody concerned
feels an acute thrill in his brecches pocket,
and howls either his approval Of the decision
or his dissent. The Olympic contest degener-
ates into n pOt-house squabble, making the
landlord alternately miserable or happy as the
fight becomes more furious, or the orders for
beer more frequent The rencOunters of the
clubs are perhaps genteeler, but they are no
less acrimonious, and well-bred men suffer
themselves to say unmannerly things to their
old friends and neighbors, and to get into
passion with Dame Fortune, for which she does
not care two jack-straws. Even the decorum
of the Agricultural Fairs has been at least en-
dangered by horse-racing and betting, and we
fear that the college boys, who are fond OF
rowing do not altogether escape the contagion.
1t il SO easy to back up ones opinion. although
il may not be quite so easy to pay when one
is compelled to back down.
Our readers know that to really honorable,
innocent and manly sports we have never
made any objection Pugilism, of course, is out
of the question, and is not a whit more re-
spectable than common fisticuffs or ordinary
chance medley. In running matches, in walk
ing matches, in cricket and base ball, and in
chess and billiard playing, there may be nothing
worse than the loss of valuable time and this
may be and often is redeemed by the advant-
ages of physical exercise. A friendly trial OF
speed between horses may have nothing in it
which is Objectionable. A will never be con-
vinced that BIS yacht is the fastest sailer with
out formal and regular trial. But are not all
these things sufficient of themselves for any
reasonable mans diversion without gambling
upon the result, No horse will run any faster,
no boat will glide any more swiftly, because q.
great deal of money has been staked upon the
performance, when all concerned honestly
feel that il is the victory which is desir-
able for its own sake, and not for
the sake of the lucre wagered. The
toughest battles of the kind which the
world ever saw were at the Grecian games,
where the prizes bestowed were a handful of
twisted leaves which a few hours dried and
withered rich gentleman should be content
with glory and u poor one has no right to bet
at ALL Should we be told that fame and honor
are not sufficient incitement then we answer
that sports which cannot be sustained except
by gaming should be instantly given mp. In
such case, they are no better than rouge ct
"noir" OF faro, or desperate game of bluff when
an enterprising player goes it thousands bet
"ter on Nary pair" with Western energy, or
with Southern enthusiasm. When men
think and talk so much about their
wagers, and are so punctilious IN de-
manding prompt settlement you may be sure
that it is not the improvement of equine
breeds or the promotion of muscle which they
are thinking of, but the money up and the
prospect of pOuching it. Then respectable
man who wishes to risk small sum on the
event. will lind that those who are readest to
meet him are the blackguards and the black
LOGS who swarm about the course, and who
make a liying-s0metimes handsome one
out of the green, the soft, and the unfortunate.
The wise will give these fellows a wide berth;
but who ID always wise, and especially who Is
always wise upon race-eoursef
We think that these considerations are worth
advancing, because o love of gambling may
become national vice with our people as it
has with many another; and because also the
love OF play in gift enterprises and at fancy
fairs, and in fifty different shapes, is certainly
not on the decrease in this stmulus-lOving
land. Even churches gamble TO make ap the
arrears of the minister's salary, on to buy q new
organ, or bandsOmer communion table. A
boat race has most innocent leok, but every-
body has been reading OF the quarrels of
Brown and Hamil. A good rule for all to act
upon is, that whatever is worth doing ia worth
doing for it's own sake, and that betting il