Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-02-01
The Great Disappointment.

About 175, 900 people are supposed
to have knashed their teeth and torn
their hair yesterday morning over the
news from Chicago. 1t is not rash to
assume that of those who held tickets
In the great GAlongo Lottery. q vast
majority fully expected to become the
fortunate possessOrs of the Opera
House, and that the 300 lucky ones
who drew the smaller prizes are almost
as diseonsolate as the thousands who
drew nothing at ALL For ourselves,
we must confess we don't feel sorry for
them. They spent their five dollars
fooishly, and they richly deserved to
get nothing for their investment.
This business of lotteries Is fast be-
coming an insuferable nuisance, and
it is high time to abate it. The policy
shops, where servants and day laborers
squander their hard earnings; the still
meaner sWlndles staring US in the face
at every. corner, where the uususpect-
ing are deluded into buying worthless
/ s. gift iewelry - the " exchange Offices
where you may stake your dollars on
All "A; the charitable raf1es, in which
the demoralizing passion for gambling
and sometimes, we grieve to say, the
grossest dishonesty, are impressed into
the service of religion; the Art Union
enterprises, now fortunately less pop
ular than they used to be; and finally,
this great scheme by which Mr. Crosby
has got rid of his white elephant-all
/ these are symptoms of a mania which IS
fast becoming epidemic and threatens
to play fearful havoc with the moral
health of the public. We don't pur-
pose at this late day to reopen the
question of the influence of lotteries.
The sensible portion Of mankind de-
cided long ago that it was bad We
only want people to ask themselves
wherein lottery gambling on the stage
of the Chicago Opera-House is any
better than policy-playing In dirty
den on West Broadway. That men Of
good reputation and social standing
gave their cOuntenance to the former
scheme is perhaps the worst thing
about it. They ought to have known
better, and remembered that they are
the class to whom the poor and the ig-
nOrant have the right to look for good
example
Perhaps the unfortunate persons
who didn't draw the great prize on
Monday may be helped to a resolution
to avoid such things for the future by
looking at the following figures The
Opera-House was valued (by its own
ers) at 100000, though it certainly
could not have been sold for near that
sum. The Art Gallery was not worth,
at the outside, over $4,000 About
10000 tickets we're sold at s. each,
yielding 100000. Allowing $500
for expenses, you have 500 600 as the
price obtained for the Opera House
at least thirty per cent. more than il
would have brought at a regular sale.
But this IS not all nearly 10000 tick
cts remaining Unsold were reckoned
the property of Mr.. Crosby, and placed
in the wheel; so that the owner of the
building, besides getting a handsome
price for it, had one chance in every
seven of drawing it himself We have
no doubt that the drawing was con
Quoted honestly, and without decep-
ton; but had we not better avoid, for
the future, all transactions in which
the seller has suehs tremendous advan-
tage over the buyers ?-Ne10 York
Tribune.