The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-02-07
A Lecture on Gambling.


Tbs local man of the Cincinnati I'm
quirer recently met an old professiona
gambler in Jail where he had beer
locked up for beating counrryman ou
Of his last dollar, when the following
Conversation took place:
What do you gamble fors'
Because like il. What do some
men preach the gospel for, and otbera
buy and sell. practice law. etcs Its
my business. l am better qualified for
it than anything else l know Of
But it is such = disreputsbls busi-
ness
The hit is! There is Just as much
honor in it as there is in any other busi.
ne,s. and if anything = little more
There are rascals in every business. and
the profession of gambling is not On
exception. There are rascally preach
ers. 10 is shown by the scandalCus ex-
posures in the press almost every day;
there are dishonest merchants and thiev.
ing bankers. Every trade has its tricks
and tricksters. There is no more or less
gambling in every business. It's all .
risk. A faro bank is conducted on -
square business principles ss . national
or savings bank. When the roll in
the faro bank is lost the bank closes,
and the players get face value for their
checks. Your modern savings bank
takes the earnings of the widow and
the penny Of the orphan, invests, spec
ulates, becomes embarrassed, and hangs
out a sign Closed for repAirs' The
widow weeps, the orphan moans, but
their money comes not from the vaults,
and the only consolation that remains
to them in their misery and misfortune
is that the president. cashier. and board
of directors are all Christian gentleman.
Compsred with this style Of doing bust.
ness gambling is respectable. We never
refuse to give to charity when the
Sister Of Charity or others connected
with the church wish aid. They do
not hesitate to call on the gambler. and
their drafts arc always honored. We
are not as mean a. they try to make Us.
Yet we are black mailed by the law
makers and bulldozed by the law guar
dians six days in the week. and held up
by the pulpit on Sunday to paint o
moral or sdorn tale
A BIa WINNING.
How did you fall into gamblings'
i used to be a CLERK. l played a
little and liked it. l made big win.
ming once at faro when boy. l was
keeping 'cases' one night in . house on
Central avenue. 1t was on Saturday
night. iu so some time. player gave
me a spiit-a chip worth FIVE cents. l
tossed it on the board and it slid into
the pot place between the SIX,
seven and eight. 1t won and let it
lay. and it won some fifteen times in
succession. let it double mp to the
limit and broke the bank. then sat
down and dealt snap for the boys
and broke them all. aud went home
Sunday morning with over 81. 900 in
pocket after paying the whisky bills
and the per cent. Of the house.
such winnings are rare, sin't they.'
We'll, rather. They only happen
once IN . lifetime from such small be.
ginning.'
Did you see the bank broken oftsn!'
Yes. all gamblers when they get .
run. can make the roll look sick. In
1861, man named Grape was dealing
in the building next 10 Wood's Theatre.
and Bony, Nash. Blackmore. Woodruff.
Pettibone and some other sports we'll
known IN those days dropped in upon
him. The bank had what il called .
running limit. No player could bet
more than $6 25, but Il won he could
let the bet set until it run up to $25.
when he had to take down. The tIay
began winning aud they all got onto it.
When any player won bet he would
move it onto the tray. II won twenty
Ave times in succession. q most unpre0s-
dsuted thing for card to do. and the
players busted the bank. winning - 600
with this winning limit inside OF three
hours.'
AYAcroR's LUCK.
There used to be, he continued. an
actor here who was great gambler.
His name wss Johnny Mortimer. He
was member Of the stock company at
Pixies in 1862. He was . magnificent
dresser and prided himself on being
the best dressed man in town. One
December night l saw him. after the
play was over, come into house on the
corner OF Vine and Fifth. He was
dressed to perfection--overcoat shining
plug. cane, watch. big chain--eysry-
thing gorgeous and the best. There
were no players and the game was idle,
but he made them open up for him. He
bought SEQ worth of chips. and lost.
He changed in so more. and lost. He
lost al his money aud then offered bis
clothes. He WAS allowed $500 for his
overcoat, and lost that. lie passed over
his coat and got $40 worth Of chips,
aud lost. He plsyed in his watch and
chain. his vest, his ast. his cane-even
his shoes and pantaloons- got des
persse. He asked me 10 go and get
him something to drink In keep him