The New York herald., 1870-08-19

Fulton and In Barclay street, in Chambers street,
and aii about these localities Their objects are
threefold,.-TO secure the downtown clerks and
brokers as customers to fatten on the full purses
OF strangers filing the hotels on the lower part of
the Island, and to form business centre among
the other business centres for uptown gamblers
who have no "banks'' with which to deal during
the day.
Very little gambling is done above Blocker
street before nightfall, therefore these houses
reap rich harvest But it should be understood
that they never cater to the highest grades of the
profession. The first class gamblers are con-
tented with the high stakes Of fChamberain's, Nor
rissey's aud Ransom's, Faro banks in and about
Ann and her sister streets, with bat few excep-
tion, are
"sKN CANES"
that s, they employ agents, who, In general, con-
sist OF expert thieves and burglars to "rope in'
unsuspectng people. The task Of these men is
usually very easy. Faro Is game so well known
the land over that persons who are what the
world calls sports are familiar with It's simple de-
tails, yet there is not one In thousand who know
the tricks, the little ingenuties, by which player
can be given brief gusts OF good luck and then
have the i-winds which swindlers have kept
nursing, blown against him. So man can go TO
Ann street. to Fulton or Chambers street. depart
with no money, and still never have the satsfac-
tion Of feeling that he has been
VICTIM OF FRAUD.
Instances are occurring every day where
drovers, paymesters and cashiers are despoiled OF
large SIMS by these dcns.
fruitful cause Of many of the defalcations,
embezzlements and direct thefts recorded by the
daily press can be traced TO these houses. An
makes young clerk, holding responsible and
confidential position, accept the Invitation to
spare half an hour at lunch time to make de-
tour OF some notorious "hell" not block from
his place Of business. He enters. He is green,
He II wined, treated with courtesy and hospital
ity. He leaves With or invitation to call again.
He thinks he would like to understand faro just
out OF curiosity. He goes repeatedly It would
do tO rfN Ntro Of ftan
without pay, and
PAY IS NOT RECEIVED,
80 to be Just he ventures small sum on card;
he wins by the "bank's" intention; he plays again
and again and soon is involved His future may
be--a gambler, an embezzler, defaulter, an in
mate OF a State Prison.
ROADWAY FARO BANKS.
The hells on Broadway can be placed In a
seventh class. They extend from about the City
Hall to Harlem river. There some fair games,
but the majority are "skin games" They are
about one grade above the last class specified.
representative establishment is now in running
order in the vicinity Of Houston street. Ascend.
ing the staircase to the second floor. the visitor
stands before door at the extremity of
tho hall. He pulls hand bell, which gives low,
muflled sound A negro appears and opens
panel. Assured that every thing is right, the
visitor is admitted. He passes through dark
apartment, makes sharp turn and etHerges into
the front room. 1t is ten o'clock at night Some
twenty men are gathered about faro table, and
small bewhiskered man is dealing the cards.
The players are clerks, ordinary sporting charac-
tiers, and old devotees of the game; they do
not mngle in the upper circles Of society.
The game is lively, but bets exceeding $lOO are
noted. Deal follows DEAL and taking an average
1t is found that 81, 900 is wagered by the throng in
total upon each deal. To balance the losses and
winnings of the players, of Course but small
portion of this amount actually changes hands.
Some evenings the game continues
TILL MORNING,
and Is only closed as the last gambler has satisfied
hsn xl:~As... ..s~1. l~x
night pedestrian of Broadway pass along the
sidewalk and glance at the second story on the
route. He will perceive here and there shutters
from Which suspicious streaks Of light are emitted.
Watch the staircase and of flashily dressed
men will be observed to come and go.
CRIMES
Of the most startling character frequently occur in
these places; and the police make descent and
"pull" the "hel." But few months since, as
will be remembered a noted gambler, the keeper
of house on Broadway, was assailed in his own
quarters in the stiffness of Sunday evening aud
violently robbed Of $4,000, then bound and left
helpless.
nANsoM's AND MoRRIsssY's
| gambling houses. One Is in Twenty-fifth street
| and the other in Twenty y-fourth street. They are
| supported by politicians, men high in authority
and influence, by combinations, and the playing
is Of the most extravagant description. The
dealings are always fair These palaces are
an inside view of the workings is revealed, the
reader will readily believe the first institution of
the kind in America
1t is perhaps too severe to say that all the
SOCIAL CLUBS
of New York are places where gaming is IA
vored institution This assertion is not made; yet
without specification, it is fact that the very
highest organizations of this character allow
games OF chance, wbercon money is wagered in
large amounts, to taint and corrupt the
best blood of the city. The influence is
bad, very bad. 1t takes young mon from
elegant homes, from intellectual pursuits,
fhprn
adrift upon the sporting elements of the
metropolis 1t makes more than one young
broker a suicide it makes more than one mer-
chant bankrupt it makes disgrace and shame
fall upon proud but innocent families. The hus-
band of brief year, under the deathless fascina-
tion of his early game, strays into the club to
greet his old chums, hardly knowing what force
has drawn him there, 1t is the subtle enchant-
nlent Of gaming which beautiful wife could not
Danish, which tender babe could not extinguish,
to which the affections of home are but secondary
impulses. A short while and his work is DONE
domestic ruin, vile companions, grief, despair.
Where are the agents of morality needed more
than in the club life Of New York. In
THE TENTH CLASS
we place John Chamberlains establishment alone,
because its operations have been obtained upon
reliable authority. Chamberlain considers gam.
bling business. He is
A MERCHANT GAMBLER.
The divisions of gambling houses classified,
with the nationaties Of patrons as follows
!. Policy exchange Offices Snrc.r siesno' "n1
n cru., .u,,, ,or.o. MIXED nationaties Ameri-
q S"'oi' s"ii'As "o"'eS''' I prevailing
q u,rsos 10 IN f,mo JThree-eIghths American; FIVE
o. ho"e'' Vi :" 'S' ''''''' I eighths foreign.
4. Lager beer gardens, &c.. Principally German.
8. Low eating houses and Mostly 1r,sh
saloons. ''
6. Day gaming hels down. Mostly Arerc,n
t0wn....... '
T. broadway houses ........ Mixed natlonales.
8. Ranson's and Morrissey's Chiefly American,
8. Clubs. American.
10. Chamberlain's, Twcny.l American
fifth street.
OF the above classes, fair playing can scarcely
be expected In the six first mentioned, in the
lager beer gardens, where there is no "baDk."
The remainder have the reputation Of participat-
ing in legitimate risks alone. We now come to
THE HIGHEST PHASE OF GAMING
in America-that carried on at the establishment
of John Chamberlain, in Twenty-ffth street, not
far from Broadway. The system, the patrons,
the betting and the game itself all different