Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-11-11
Chinese Gamblers.


That the heather Chinese are not to
be done out of their gambling . easures
by the raids made upon them in their
dens, was clearly seen by Chronicle re-
porter yesterday. Sauntering along one
OF the alleys of Chinatown his notice
was attracted by the unusual amount of
business being done by one OF the fortune
tellers who locates his stall at the corner
TO attract passers-by. The rapidity with
which each votary took his departure
struck the reporter as something out of
the common, as the practice with these
professors of iuturity is to keep their
victims. in suspense before letting them
know their late. Approaching the stall
he discovered what to casual observer
appears nothing but a small box con-
tanning Chinese writing material, but in
this case the innocent-lookinR box had
small slide on the top. The slide being
pushed aside showed small card, in
scribed with characters denoting an
animal, a fish, or reptile, also a rude
representation of the subject. Each
Celestial at the time OF paying HIS stake,
namely, a dime, guesses the name of
the object he thinks will appear on
the face. If another of the objects
appears he loses his stake. Should he
be fortunate enough TO hit the right
animal he receives n dollar, but, rs
the chances of winning are 50 much
auatnut him thn banly rara1.v 1opaa
The reporter. having questioned the VEN
erable moon-eyed astrologer, found that
this species of gambling was conducted
on larger scale at an establishment os-
tensibly devoted TO the sale of drugs in
the heart of Chinatown, and. having as
certained the name of the shop, leis-
urely. proceeded TO make some further
inquiries into the modus operandi OF the
game. At first, admittance to the back
room where the performance was car
ried on was refused, but few words
gave assurance and an entry was gained.
Assembled in a small apartment were
about thirty Cinnamon. A narrow
counter divided the manager OF the
game from the crowd, and. as the pool
was about 10 open, the reporter stepped in
and took hand. Selecting a character
and handing two bits TO the banker, he
| received piece of red paper upon which
was written the character he had
chosen. Thirty-six cards, each bearing
n NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and correspond.
ing 10 similar characters shown upon a
red paper about eleven inches square,
which was suspended from the wall,
were then deposited in an earthern pot.
Diving into the pot the assistant banker,
who was blindfolded, drew a card. and
the fortunate individuals whose, papers
bore similar characters were paid ten
times the amount of the stakes against
! the winning numbers. The cards were
named as follows: -Four literary grad.
yates, represented bya white fish, frog,
n goose and peacock. Seven merchants,
represented by flying dragon, a white
horse, an elephant, n wildcat, rat and
hornet. Four Buddhist priests, repre-
sented by tortoise. fowl, a yellow eel,
and fish.
Five beggars, represented by ashrimp
a snake, a caterpillar, singing-bird,
and sheep. Five generals represented
bygan. earth dragon, white rabbit, a pig.
tiger, n water buffalo. Four lucky
personages Of the upper world, repre-
sented by n monkey, toad, kite, and
sea dragon. Two Tauist priests, repre-
sented by "A white stork and gold
colored cat. One nun represented by a
ravenous wolf.
Should any purchaser OF a chance not
happen to be present when the drawing
takes place, he comes to the shop and
inquiries not about any gambling ques-
ton, but says: To-day how is the
great So Machinr =" meaning one OF the
five generals-as he holds ticket with
the charaters Wong Che Ko" the
earth dragon, alias "Sz Machin," the
generals, and this 10 novice, who
might be in the shop, appears to be
making an inquiry after some person.
! The Chinese courtesans are great Gus
toners, and send their children to pur.
chase the tickets TO avoid notice being
taken of the game by the initiated.
The game is called "Tsefa," and is
likely TO prove large source OF revenue
to the banker, now that fantan and
other species of gambling have been
uprooted in Chinatown.-SnF Francisco
Chronicle.