The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-02-01
HOW TT rs DONE.

Since the whole city is or should ~
seriously Interested in suppressing those
dens OF vico In lis midst, equally injuri
Gus to public morality and decency, and
to tho character OF its municipal admin
istration-and since the DEMOCRAT means
that the bunko desperadoes and knaves
shall be followed, II possible, persistent
IN In their nefarious doings and crimes
until this wicked and intolerable null
sance be abated, II will not be u%nprofta.
bic or embarrassing for tho public to
understand the arts and tricks by which
honest strangers In the city are en-
trapped and robbed Of their money by
yillainous schemers and social vaga-
bonds occupying every street and almost
every saloon In all manner OF disguiscs,
and living In violation OF law, by the
grosse6t kind OF cheating and stealing,
and breathing like vipers or vvrrpin the
poisonous atmosphere Of their own Gre
alton. Apart from the broader view Of
the subject In Its moral and legal
ASPECTS, o In which our good people
are vitality concerned. our mer-
chants and hotel keepers are
Indirectly effected by these gambling
operations, and are directly interested
In their suppression. We mean that
the merchant necessarily loses the trade
which strangers, despoiled Of their
means (no one hears OF a hnndredth
part Of the losses really sufrered) have
no longer the ability to consummate,
and the hotel keepers arc compelled to
make short accounts with unfortunate
guests who have become the victims OF
bunko ropers and sharpers. or,
worse still, to put their lodging
and board bills down to mere
profit and loss in business. 1t
Ia we'll, then, for all citizens to know
what the game Of bunko Is In Its practi-
cal methods OF rascality and swindling.
We have obtained particulars from ex-
perts, who have themselves been first
seduced by the skillful approaches and
combinations OF these thieves, and then
led on gradually to comparative, II not
actual. ruin. -
We learn, then, that the game Of bun
ko h a species OF robbery, partaking
both Of the highway and lottery prac-
tices as we'll as those Of the sneak thief,
perpetrated In the following manner /:
A person, known in the language Of the
stews ~ b roper, affable and we'll
dressed and exceedingly polite. meets
some gentleman from the country whom
he pretends to know, and after an invi-
tation to drinks and oysters, informs
him, ~ II casually, that fortune has
Just favored him In lottery, as he holds
a ticket which has drawn $4,000, at q
time, too, when he most needed the
money, as he had heretofore encoun-
tered many disappointments and much
expense, and begs his friend to accom-
p0ny him to the bank where he will Oh
tain the cash Immediately in his pres
ence. tA~ &
To this reasonable request the gentle
Of course accedes, and thcy 60 to
the bank, AZ Il has been termed, and
enter together u well furnished apart
ment up stairs, whore two or three
clerks, bunko confederntes, are sitting
at a business table, and busily occupied
In writing near an iron safe that Is sup
posed to contain m immense amount OF
greenbacks. Tho roper, us soon as he
arrives with the person he intends to
fleece, throws down his lottery ticket
and demands the sum It has drawn.
This sum Is seemingly furnished with
out the least hesitation. and after tho
counting and delivery Of the money the
roper is politely asked by the apparently
honest and accommodating banker II he
will not purchase another ticket, the
price being only one dollar? The second
ticket is purchased Immediately and the
game begins, the stranger being brought
cozened into 1t in this way. An oil
cloth with numbers on 1t Is placed
on the table, and then the banker
bunko man handles his box
OF dice and confidently md elo-
quently says: "Now, gentlemen,
you only lose a dollar Ia this game when
the chances are open to you to win
thousands, AZ you have just done, sir,
addressing the roper. II your nun
Der does not come up the first throw
you double 1t and keep doubling each
time until 1t wins" This talk goes on
until the roper, being anxious for his
friend" to win, induces him to pur-
chase q ticket also, which Is easily ac-
complished, and once being done ends
only when the banker has discovered
from indubitable signs that the vic
TINS money il all laid out on
the bank table. by the constantly
doubling operation with which his
infatuated imagination seeks to
his losses. The last throw
IL then made, and the bunko dealer
snatches all tho money accumulated
one dollar to hundreds. or thou
and calls out Gentlemen, you
have lost as your number has not come
out and luck Is against you" After this
announcement the roper
takes his old acquaintance away with
him, friendless and cashless in New Or
leans. and at the first opportunity
leaves the greenhorn to his wretched-
ness and bitter consciousness Of folly,
confused by the drugged liquor lavishly
offered in the den we have described,
and with a throbbing head and heart.
II not able to prevent such scenes as