The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-31
THE rRArELL1vo PRINCES DARE
Curiosi,ic. OF New York Life.


somebody who wishes to see us. We keep late
hours, sometimes up till two and three In the
morning; yet the day seems still not long
enough. The fact Is that certain things cannot
be seen In day time at ALL The Herald ONCE,
the low dens Of the Five Points, the gambling
houscs-all this had to be gone through after
midnight.
An impression derived from a superficial &C.
quaiDtance with the life in the minor cities OF
the Union made me believe that Americans
went to bed early. but l now see that a large
portion Of the Inhabitants Of New York are just
as apt to turn night into day as the people Of
any other country. Their great national game
Of draw poker frequently keeps players at the
curd table until morning, and someti mes, am
told, for fOrty-eight hours in succession. There
are many oyster saloons and second rate eating
houses open all night, and In the best hotels
and restaurants, too, you can stay and be served
all night. provided you give your orders before
midnight.
The gambling houses are iourishing here as
freely as in Madrid. They, too. are o . en- all
night or at leas. rs long rs there is anybody
willing to play An deliberately dressed table
offers free supper to all comers. The visitors
can eat aud drink az much "a they like. The
other night we vert to one OF them at about
o'clock In the morning. Nobody knew who
we were, yet we had no difficulty about getting
admission. In answer to our pull of the bell, a
negro looked at us through peephole in the
front door. and being apparently satisfied with
our appearance, mmediately let us In. About
half a dozen men mere talking at the supper
table, about n dozen more were playing at the
faro and roulette tables. Everything looked
quiet and respectable, almost solemn. No
stakes Of money were to be seen, as they are al
ways to be seen on the tables Of Baden and
liomburg. The games are played here with
ivory chips. which every gambler has to buy be-
fore he sits down to H. game. man who Is
kno wn to be responsible can have any amount
Of these chips without paying. lie simply gives
an y L or his card.
This o u business Ia another peculiarly Of
the English and American people. A laconic
promise to pay Of this description Is held among
gentlemen OF both countries as more solemn
than any regular document. There are mer-
chants who become bankrupt, ruin their credit
ors, dishonor all their bills, yet pay all their
gambling and other l o Us. A celebrated ex-
ception to this rule was the famous Duke OF
York. People revenged themselves, however,
for his breach Of geDtlemanliness. They called
the big column erected to his memory In Lon
don the L monument.
inquired whether quarrels and fights are fire.
quent 10 such places. Never" was the an
hWeT, none OUT gentlcuen auUltttO mere.
And II things do always go on as quietly as they
did when we were there have only to admire
the decorum observed by American gamblers
1t mus; be said, however, that gambling in this
country is not, as with Europeans, the conse-
quence OF individual craving for excitement on
the part Of dtsreputabie characters on the one
hand. and OF wealthy aud idle people on the
other. II seems to be part OF every Americans
nature. Everybody CANDLES In something-in
stocks, In real estate, or In merchandise, II not
at cards. The third word Of every discussion is
81 bet you" Even their women gamble
whenever they get a chance to do so
without being found out. The chase for
wealth Is too general and too desper-
perate here to allow man to restrict himself
exclusively to his legitimate business. lie
thinks he could not have any show at all II he
did SO.
ODDLY enough. gambling is here In intimate
connection with politics. Almost every politi-
cal man Is a gambler; all the CANT oilers. without
exception. are politicians. Anex-Mayor of New
York and his brother. prominent journalist, are
said to be the best poker players In the country.
The Ambassador at the Court OF ST. James, at
tanned world-wid reputation as a professor Of
the game. with Cabin ct Ministers, Senators. and
members OF Congress- sociable meeting sell
dom means anything else than a quiet game Of
draw poker Toe word quiet does not. how
ever. designate here small game. 1t means
merely secluded game, the stakes being am
told. always much bigger at private parties than
at any gambling house.
And fancy by whom are kept some OF these
houses. one by a state Senator, another by
German Baron-a runaway Is ron, though.
Bot in saying all this about the gambling pro-
clvities OF Americans, ! must also, in justice.
acknowledge that my own countrymen are not
| a whit better. Cubans and Suaniards seem TO be
| among the beat customers of tiger" At this
| season Of the year, when many Americans are
| out OF town. my countrymen form nightly a
| large majority OF the attend ance at the gam.
| ding houses. They have even a special house
| Of their own for monte playing.
Having seen some Of the fashionable dens OF
the city, | became DESTROYS to see some lower
| once, and, 10y application through friend Of
ours. at he police headquarters, obtained the
| services OF detective officer, who showed us all
| that could be seen in that line. We started on
| this expedtion-eeht OF us in all-in two Ian
| daus but bad to abandon the carriages within
several blocks OF the so-called Five Points, an
| equivalent 10 the London Seven DiAls. The
| streets 40 narrow here that hand barrow
would Ind It diiicultto pass in some OF them.
| The atmosphere OF the locality. and the mass OF
| dirt and rubbish all around, are indescri able
| The detective happens to be a corpulent iovial
| German Of the name Of Won Gerchten (on being
| introduced to me, he handed me his card. which
| shall preserve as a reminscence Of this excur-
| SION. Finding that he could talk to me In his
| native tongue, he undertook the-for him, prob
| ably-yery uresome task OF plotting us.
The first visit was TO the Grand Dukes Opera
| House, asubterraneln theatre In which boot
| blacks form both the actors and the audience.
Everything Is miserable. of course, and dirty