The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-12-26
[rRou OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
NV YonK. November. 1868.

PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
New YORK, November 1868.
Strangers coming to New York, unless their prin-
ciples are rs correct as those of all the readers Of the
Commercial -4ireriissr, generally have 4 devouring
curiosity to see how things are managed in its aristo-
cratic gambling saloons-those brilliant, mysterious.
fascinating places where so many curious young men
annually come to grief.
Now a frst-class gambling hell in New York is a
very Interesting thing but it is rs well to visit it by
proxy rs in person. Let me take you by the arm and
conduct you in thought to the scenes that are to be
witnessed in ssch a place. 1t is a few minutes past
midnight. The gas lights flare brilliantly in front of
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Afew loungcrs are still lin
gering under its marble portico, watching the late
s~trGgglers ON the street.-the last corners from the con-
cert saloons, the rouged and brightly drapel women
that trip by, u-naccompanied and listless. The stages
have stopped running, and the thin current of pc
destrians makes its way northward for neither
business nor pleasure calls many New Workers down
town after midnight. The turbulent city is begin
ming to entertain the idea of sleep.
v Turning westward from the hotel we find ourselves
in a fashionable street of brown stone buildings, not
two minutes distant from the Fifth Avenue. We run
up the steps of an elegant building, apparently a
private residence. It is the temple of chance. One
- 10 iidS mere DciuES. anu mas Tic CUfFee OF the
forbidden region otherwise, its doors would not
open to us. For gambling, in this pure and virtuous
city, is a punishable offence and only those can be
admitted to share in its profits and its pleasures who
can be depended upon to make no complaint of its
losses and its tribulations. There must be no scenes
within the parlors of this elegant establishment.
Everything must be done genteclly and in order
not so much, however, for the purpose of preserving
secrecy-for the police Snow the place perfectly well
AS to prevent the house from becoming notorious,
and TO avoid prosecution by the owners of the ada
cent property, As long as everything goes on quietly
in these places it IS ~nobody's interest to urge the en-
forcement of the gambling law. Why annoy the
elegant proprietors Of these saloons To be sure,
Len. Johnson once said <I do not see the necessity
of that, sir - But then the old moralist was lectur-
ing a rumseller, and not a : banker
We ring the bell of the brown stone house the
door opens promptly a smiling and obsequious
darkey appears and takes in charge our overcoats,
umbrellas and rubbers-for the October nights are
inclement this year-and gives US checks for each
article. Then, throwing open the doors that connect
the hall with the front parlors, he ushers US into a
large and brilliantly lighted suite of rooms. The
furniture is rich and substantial good engravings
hang upon the walls the upholstery is expensive,
and the carpets are fine. Upon your right is the
AAaO NAsAN VIII ~ oi4ASl uGuAte Ult u mcCil1iIl-
cal contrivance for dealing the cards. Ivory count
ers, representing values from 81 to $50 a piece,
stand in piles before the gentleman who sits, placid
faced, at the table and directs the games. In the
further corner you see a roHicue table. 1t is not a
large and handsome affair like the roulette of the
Wiesbaden or Hamburg saloons it is a smaller con-
presenting fewer varieties Of risk aud fewer
chances Of gain to tie players. This the manager of
the table freely admits. For this expert has a scien-
and candid way of talking, and will explain to
your precise mathematical chance of winning at
any specified form Of risk-admitting that the balance
Of chances, in the long run, is considerably in favor
Of the bank. lie discourscs in such a genial way
upon the subject Of loss and gain that you feel your
austerity somewhat modified, and perhaps begin to
play.
In the rear parlor, which is connected with this
saloon by open doors, we see a company of stylishly
dressed men at superior midnight is the supper
hour at the fashionable gaming establishments.
They look up languidly as we enter, and seem to
have little appetite for the substantial meal that is
spread before them. Roast beef, salads, game, pre-
serves, and fruits tempt them to no purpose. The
lttractiyeness Of their favors is oyerpowcred by the
more gnawiug hunger and greedy thirst for gain,
These gentlemen have not the bland and satisfied air
Of men who have eaten well. They have a wearied,
lich-!nstre, phase expression OF Cpunteulnce, such as
you may travel far and fail 20 see anywhere but in a
gambling saloon. 1t would be hard to find a set Of
men who seem more evidently dissatisfied than they
things in general. As Sydney Smith said of
Jeffrey they are in a mood to growl at the plan Of
he solar system ITSELF planets too distant insult
icicnt light pesterel with comcts-a weak con-
They remind you of the man who held
. he was not drunk, but d%amnably dis
Nor is it strange, for they have lost
money enough already, this evening, to pay for five
hundred suppcrs. Neither meat nor wine can re-
them.
We are invited to the table and eat hastily, after
he high-prcssure American style. We decline wine
md liquors. So does the manager OF the play, who
at the head Of the table and We wonder whether
nc aJstains 8 in order to sec you the BETTER as the
wolf said to Little Red Riding Hood.
There is no conversation. The issues of the even
ng are not to he influenced by talk. 1t is a grim
of a meal, and we are not sorry to be lone with
i, and to follow the moody couclnyc to their business
for " business and d" play oddly enough,
to be the same thing in this place a strange
-esult Of the civilization Of great cities.
Two players repair TO the roulette table. \ nice
,ouug man. neat and triu ns if lac was just going to
IA evening party, stands beside it AMI issues ivory