, 1872-12-12
THE LOUISVILLE LOTTERY.
How the Three Hlndred aud Seventy.
five Thousand Dollars were Drawn.

-SAAAANS%lA
the drawing that an outsider q mean o repre-
sentative Of the prces) could see, will give you,
in as brief 8 manner as possible, an account OF
the proceedings, Us well as the Impressions made
upon myself and one or tyo other dsinterested
spectators, from what We Witnessed
At o'clock in the morning presented myself
at the great hall of the Public Library, but
found that it WAS not yet opened. At half-past
6 the doors we're opened and abont twenty nu-
eicians entered and took their seats in the CT
chcstra. Shortly after lalf-past 6 B. few police
men and three or four 1oafers made their ap-
peatance, and at the same time ono Of the
officials came along, who passed me- on to the
stage.
two wheels. 1t is, however, Of no consequence
70 describe them. Tas furnished q seat near
table, Of which there we're three on the stage,
one for the official recorders Of the drawing, and
Zwo for the reporters Of newspapers.
Having never attended q lottery drawing be-
fore, I was under the impression that the reason
It commenced so carly in the morning was On
account Of the tags: $4,000 in number. having to
be counted IN the presence OF an impartial com.
nittee Of the audience, or any persons that
could vouch for their being correct !; but here
was soon deceived, aud shown how Innocent I
was in this matter, for at o'clock, when there
were not yet more than dozen persons On the
stage nor more than thirty OF forty in the ball,
besides the band Of musicians before referred to,
and while the gas jets we're yet required to chow
light IN the building. there entered On to the
stage, br the side door, three rough-lcoking men,
each bearing trunk Of the comuonest descrip-
tion on his shoulder, and, after laying down
their loads on the stage near to the foot-lights,
they retired. Shortly after two men came and
opsned these trunks and one of the officials IL
formed me that they were the Committee who
counted the tags. The door in the eide Of the
largest Of the two wheels was now opened, and
the tags, which we're Of thin hard leather, ,.and
about size smaller than the brass tags usually
gl7en as checks Tor baggage, we're taken off of
long wires. Some OF the wires, it Was said, con-
tanned thousand tags, and others contained
zny number from fifty to d thousand. Each
wire, however, was emptied Of its tags and
when the thrca trunks were empty, soma
one remarked that tLers were 1000 tags then in
the wheel, but it would be fairly impossible
for any one present to say whether there we're
ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, ninety, or one hundred
Thousand, or even more, tags in the wheel.
When asked one Of the officials, !" Who count
ed the tags - he answered, "Hon. John Barber,
Colonel 3elson P. Johnston, and Vim. Murphy
I could find 10 one on the stage who could In
foun me who Hon- John Barber was. Colonel
Jelson P. Johnston, WAS told, VAS tho landlord
Of the Gait House, and Nua- Murphy vas his
clerk Now. these three gentlemen named are
no doubt very honest men, and may haIo count
ed the tags, although nc have not the slightest
evidence that they did de- SO, but let US suppose
that they did. How long we're the tags in the
three common trunks, and where did they come
from early last Saturday morning2
The reason dwell so long On this tag ques-
tio1 is because On it the whole question OF hon
esty or dishonesty Of this lottery depends. a
gentleman from Cincinnati who sat alongside
me. to whom spoke Of this tag business, said:
81 Give me tie counting Of the tags for that
wleel, and I'll arrange it beyond doubt that
every prize drawn goes into the hands Of the
geterE-up Of the lottery"
Who could tell that the numbered tags put
into the great wheel represented the numbers Of
the tickets sold7 It is quite possible that only
8 few Of the tickets sold we're represented by the
tags. One had to have great faith to believe
that any considerable number Of the tickets for
which people paid their money VAS represented
We know that it Was impossible to fix these tags
to suit the parties deeply interested in thepro6fs
at the lottery.
That this thing could be done is beyond doubt.
Was it done in this instance7 Impossible to
say One may believe it vas, but, like the
Judge on the bench, who ia often morally Ger
tain of the guilt Of prisoner, and has to let him
80 scot free because his guilt cannot be proved,
We also have to bo content With Tel-grounded
suspicious.
Was the drawing fair7 Indeed it was! The
drawing OF the cash prizes cut Of the wheel was
one Of the 1ai1est transactions ever Witnessed.
There were five official registers present. all Of
them gentlemen we'll known to the people Of
Louisville. Ex-Governor Braulette was also
present; 4. Ballard Esq, presided at the large
wheel, and Oliver 81. stratton at the small An
drew Graham, Esq, and Colonel Churchill
helped to see that tie numbers drawn from the
wheels were properly registered As far as the
dsawlng was concerned; p nothing 20 could be m PLAIN
How strange that not less than twelve well-
known gentlemen helped to see that the drda2ing
was fair But the drawing was Of no conse-
quence whatsoever, il the tickets drawn we're
Leld by the men who conducted the lottery, and
who were behind tho scenes, and with whose
names the public are not at all acquainted.
would consider it an insult to the renders Of
tie Gazette to describe the drawing, or tell how
:ae senseless crowd, that sat IN the theatre from
Z in the morning until at night, appiauded
Ehea the voice Of the man who took the caah
prizes from tho hands Of the blind girl an
nounced q large prize, but not one OF that audi
ence Of 5000 drew cent. Cincinnati and Ohio
had tens OF thousands OF dollars in this lottery.
Where is there to be found the individuals who
obtained prizes7 Where can you not find the
fools that threw away the dollars they may some
day want7 And yet they threw them away, per-
huading themselves that the lottery would be IS
was for . good object-for the Public Library Of
Louisville The managers OF this enterprise
could well afford to give to their patrons fifty or
even one hundred thousand dollars, and yet make
that some few ticlet-holders will turn up Who
received small prizes, for that is one of the bats
necessary to tho success Of the swindle.
It was represented that the tags left in the !
wheel after the drawing would be counted They
were not, and will not be. The Public Library |
may barely receive so cents out Of every $40 re-
ceiyed by the managers.
But another lottery is announced. Who Will ]
buy tickets IN it after what ne will tell them? |
Wll1 there be any one so rash as to delnde him
self that he cca ever get cent Of his money |
back, to say nothing Of getting q large prize ? !
The phlanthropic object Of the Library is we'll
conoocted snare and delusion. This lottery busi-
ness is disgrace to Louisville, and will, if not
by all who study the happiness
and prosperity Of their felow-men, be produe-
tive Of widespread ruin and Decentralization
Columbus, Ind. tDee. 81 Despatch to the Cincinnati
qNiTcT.
There has been considerable excitement here
in our usually quiet little city since Saturday
noon, over the result of the lottery drawing at |
Louisville. A club Of ten holding the lucky
number, $3.50, which drew the 575, 600 prize, |
live here. Their names and occupations are as |
follows: ". 81. Webb, Of the firm of Pirkinson J
T. Webb, contractors and builders; T. G. Bur- |
CESS, clerk in q grocery store; " D. Sumner, |
grocer Albert Jones, ex-County Clerk Chas. |
McColla, cattle dealer; Lloyd Mortage. car
penter; Frank Pancake, liquor dealer Gideon
Schultz, drayman; Henry Rothrock, blacksmith;
and Charles C. Crawford, travelling agent tor
Conduit, Dougherty d Co., Indianapolis.
4 Strike Among the Paria Actresses.
parfA CnTrtsr11rsnce of fHf landau N,e,rs