The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-10-31
A GAMBLING PALACE.

Like an English basement, one-half OF
one story of the building snuggles in the
earth, the other three and ahalf rise sky
ward, crowned with cupola, turret, and
other ornamental device. Broad stone
stairs, eff easy ascent, lead to the massive
front door, and couched on each side of it
a pair of iron dogs act as perpetual senti-
nels. Let it be remembered all Saratogians,
with boys under twenty one, and all aoomen,
are excluded from the palace. But suppose
you are man and stranger, with none to
love or protect you, and that you are forced
to make acquaintance with that which you
will be obliged to deny, you find yourself
standing between the iron dogs, and your
hand touches the knob of a bell. Instantly
the broad door swings on its noiseless
hinges, and fearlessly you step within.
Hope enters with you, but Mercy stays
behind. There is no vestibule, only broad
open hail. You find the floor broken into
five large divisions, the first four of the
same length, but differing in width. These
rooms run north and south, and end in a
particular line which runs east and west.
Beyond this line is magnificent dining
hall which runs the whole width of the
building east and west, and in this way
the whole area of this floor of the building
is consumed. To the right you enter that
W
is the reading room of the palace, as well
as the private Office of the Hon. John Nor
| Iissey. A velvet carpet of Persian design
covers the floor. Silk and lace shade the
wide windows. The most costly upholstery
! is scattered around. A stand upon which
are placed all the leading daily journals of
! the country occupies the centre of the floor.
Against the wall, midway in the room, is
/ seen an article of furniture which may be
book ease, but it is solid, and keeps its
secrets like coffin. Opposite the curious
receptacle is placed the elegant carved
writing desk of the ex-Congressman, a gem
of utility and beauty, inlaid with the diff
| ferent and most precious wood found in
various parts Of the world. To the right
you enter the wine room, all temptation
concealed by the master hand-only a
handsome drawing room which serves as a
vestibule for the gorgeous display which
lies just beyond. You have crossed the
wine room and reached the broad folding
door; your breath is gone; you are in the
| den of the "Tiger" You are in a room
| that you will never forget to the day of
! your death. 1t is the great Gambling Hall
of the Republic, sanctioned or wnked at
| by the law: the shell which encloses the
vice that preys on the vitals of modern
society. A refinement of human taste has
| touched the royal magniticence within the
whole orbit of vision, and Oriental luxury
| is entirely distanced and eclipsed. The
| first impression is that of superb grandeur.
| The wood work is dark and massive, like
the lining of cathedral. The upper cell
ing is broken by two enormous sky-lghts,
which admit light and ventilation below
! The side windows, made for ornament in
its aid of use, are yelled with lace dainty
enough to cover, but not to conceal, a
womans face. Costiest moquette of per-
feet pattern hides the floor. The walls,
panelled with pier glasses, reflect the ex-
| qusite bronze statuary; but there is moth
| ing here to remind man that he has a
sweetheart, wife, or mother. No woman's
pictured face looks down from the wall
| The bronze figures represent mans strength
and power.
But the fascination of the hall centres
| the queer-looking tables which surround the
room on three sides. Here the foreigner
sees the element of his beloved rente ct
| quarant rouge ct noir, and English hazard,
while the American can indulge in his
native faro until his purse is as lean as
/ Pharaoh kline. All games known to the
civilized world can be INDUCED in The
| Duchy of Saratoga; only the games of the
! Orientals and barbarians are left out
| That is a faro table at the right; there is
an elevation in the centre longer than it is
wide, upon which are painted some cards
OF each suit. This is done that you may
! designate your favorite card without speak
ing. So at every table at which cards are
played all is fixed, that the game may move
on in silence. Faro is the American gam
bling game just as monte is Mexican. The
next table is for English hazard; you stake
your money on the throw of the dice.
| This is favorite game with college stu
dents who declare they have passed the
years of twenty-one, but whose smooth
chinS prove that nature has been a long
time performing very small amount of
work. That holiday table, so brilliant in
high colors, is trents Ell Quarant And here
is roulette, the table at which women in
Europe go mad. There is no intricate
| game to be learned; it is chance, appar-
| emily, all chance. A small ivory ball rests
on a particular point. You set a wheel in
motion, stake your money on some figure
placed either on a red or black ground, and
then wait and see how near the ball will
fall to your number How desperate are
all the odds against the player There is
no place for skill or human forethought;
only blind. laundering chance. Where can
the fascination exist in attempting to fight
| fate? In roulette an infant can win just as
much as the wisest man. All that is re-
quired of body or soul is strength to turn
the wheel. This game is the lowest round
of the gambling ladder, where age can
take the last taste of it's mental opiate
before it expires. And yet the ex-U nited
States Congressman and eX-Confederate
| Judge who made explanations, declared
that he had seen thousands of dollars won
at roulette, and that a person who had no
| practical knowledge of the "business,
had no way by which a correct opinion
| could be formed.
After the roulette tables another game is
shown called "red and black" This game
is made up by taking certain attractive
points from the rouge ct n0ir and other
European games. 1t is simple, easily
learned, and finds many votares in the
| younger class of men. 1t bears the same
relation to most other games that soda
| foreign games have been what is called
Americanized, for their is the foreign table
| for the same kind of game.
The second floor of this superb building
| is divided into parlors of cosy dimensions,
each with its table of different game.
| Here the rich men of the Republic, who
have exhausted life in other directions,
come to get a new sensation from that
enjoyed at home as head of a family, pillar
OF a church, and Good Samaritan generally.
Their families are staying at the United
States, Grand Union, or Congress Hall.
| They get a taste of the delights at the
lace course and the race often ends at one
of the Hon. John Morrissey's faro tables.
In the little gem parlors up stairs men who
would have nothing to do with gaming can
be safely hidden, whilst sin is vanquished
because scandal is saved. There is a pri-
vate entrance, and by means of screened
lattice no exposure at any time of day
need be made.
The third floor of the building is divided
into bed rooms, where the devoteeS of the
| passions can retire to sleep away their
excitements or deep rotations. Here all is
done for that precious animal that is also
known by the name of Man. Curtains of
rose and azure exclude the intrusive sun
light; beds soft as the cheek of infancy
receive his weared frame; and on polows
| rerfumed with the sweetness of roses he
sinks into the dreams of forgetfulness to
open his eyes-aIas the awakening part is
known only to himself and his God.
/ The dining room and the kitchens below