The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-09-01
JOHN MORRISSEY,S SUCCESSOR

Description OF the Greatest Gambling He'll
!" America-A Picture Of q Night In The
Club House. q:
From the st. Louis Republican
The successor of John Molrissey at
Saratoga is Charles Reed. brawny six.
footer, with full beard, heavy overlapping
fore-locks and broad shoulders. Although
now the gayest of sports, he was once under
the sentence of death in New Orleans for
having shot a Union soldier. Ben Butler
was in favor of hanging him, but Gen.
Banks pardoned him. The club house OPP
poslte the Congless park is the most un-
blushing gambling hell in America, made
into gilded palace Of sin. Tho house is
OF brick. with an ornamental front and an
L. extension, where pools we're formally
sold, and where bar Is now kept. The
flower garden at the corner has fountain
casting spray over beds of ferns, palms
and foliage plants. There il lawn on the
opposite side of the house, in the centre of
which Is a cistern containing live trout
Upon the cross street there are several cot
tages for the use Of the male friends of the
proprietor. Reed has small army of men
in his employ, and he keeps them all be-
meath the roof of his club house, so that
when he wants them he knows where to
find them. He makes himself factor in
the politics of Saratoga, so that he is not
disturbed. Gov. Cornells proclamation
against gambling houses has had no pre-
ceptible effect here.
"How is it." asked of an old resident,
that in New York gambling must be con-
Quoted so secretly, while here, where the
same law is in force, it is almost paraded?"
Just because" he said, public opinion
tolerates it here. Reeds club house is one
of Saratoga's institutions. It brings many
people here who otherwise would not come,
and it brings money to the town."
If one does 1ot know the side entrance
which leads into the club house. he can en-
ter by ringing the front door, bell. A ne
gro opens the door, does not say word,
and if the. visitor will put on look for a
moment conveying the idea that he knows
where he is going to-, he is admitted into a
grand hall, richly carpeted There is a
restaurant there, where the best cooking in
Saratoga may be had. 10 the left is a
reading DOM with hi.h ceiling, massive
glass chandeliers, big tables and easy fur
niture. The interior woodwork ia all of
polished walnut, but walls are as yet
bare and are. staring white. The great
gambling room is on the right. 1t is bril-
liantly lighted and richly furnished, and
the air is filled with excitement which at
once has seductive effect upon the innate
spirit OF gambling in every man. Rich ia
bles around the room have each LAY out"
for different game. The tables are splen-
did pieces of mechanism. They are cover
ed with billiard cloth and are richly inlaid.
At each table sits dealer employed by
the house. One old mln attracted
my attention. His hair and long. full beard
we're as white as snow. He seemed to be
all of his long lifo in the nefarious business,
and he had cold and finty look aud man
ner. He was alone behind table, rafting
dice in box and exclaiming to himself over
the good luck of his throws. No one seemed
to care to play his game, but as the loungers
passed he ratified the dice, threw them and
chuckled. The bait, however, did not catch.
The reason was because all attention was
rivited upon two games. One was faro. A
middle aged man with that chastity COM
plexion men who work theiS brains at night
get, sat as dealer. A silver plated box, the
size of pack of cards with strong spring
in the bottom, was before him. The clay
out was of cards of ivory, set into the bill
lard cloth. A half dozen men sat around
the table. Some had charts keeping tally
of the game to get at the "habit" of the
cards, and also to keep run of the cards
at each deal. Each player had a pile of
ivory buttons, called chips, before" him,
and he placed these upon different cards
about the table. AS the dealer slipped out
a card, the one that appeared determined
the fate of players. II the house won the
dealer would rake in the chips, and if the
player won he would place chip on the
one that was upon the winning card.
There was not word uttered at the game.
No one expressed surprise, satisfaction or
regret. A young man at the end of the
table, scarce twenty one, who seemed to
have fallen heir to an estate, was playing
recklessly and twitched nervouslyas he sup
piled the chips that were raked off. A seedy-
looking man about thirty who seemed to
have ''bucked the tiger for the worse, los
allthat he had and quickly gave up his-seat.
cast of features who handed in 800 bill
and took pile of chips. He waited for
fresh deal and placed half dozen chip
on the board. He raked in five dollars. He
played cautiously and in about ten minute
he handed in $35 worth of chips for vhic
he got cash. Then he stepped away. The
dealer paid for the chips from bank book
filled with bank notes and impassirely
handed out the money, made apencil men,
orandum of the amount and went on with
the deal. The secdy looking man had
raised SIS somewhere and he handed it in
for more chips. In about five minutes
these were all naked off and heaving deep
sigh he arose, and wiping his brow with
his hand, went out in the cool nighta;r.
do gamblers consider this fair
gamer" I asked player at my elbow.
'Tbe deal is fair" he said; but the
house makes its money on the split cards.
That is, if you bet on the ace and two aces
come together in the pack the house gets
half of your money. If you watch the
dealer you will see that he takes up the
cards once in while and shuffles them.
He understands how to bring the cards to-
gether so that they split Or will come out
two alike"
The game that attracted most attention,
however, was rogue ct MOir, more com
monty called roulette. About 800 men
were packed like sardencs around long
table, in the center of which there was a
revolving wheel, at the bottom of a hole
shaped like dish-pan. This wheel is
filed with alternate slots, colored red and
black, and numbered as high as sc. Squares
of black and red of corresponding numbers
are laid out upon the table to the right and
left of the wheel. The dealer throws a
marble in an opposite direction. to which
the wheel is revolving, and the players
place their chips about upon the black or
The red, whichever they play to win. The
ball runs around the surface of the sloping
side Of the wheel for about minute and a
half and then drops into one of the Slots
If black, black wins, and the player who
has his chips upon-say No. 80
black-gets so times the amount
he has played. The dealer
sweeps in all the remaining chips upon
the cloth. While much money is won by
the winner the chances in his favor are
small. The game is now all the rage. Ev-
erybody discusses it, and nearly everyone
who goes to the club house plays7it. There
were, .beardless boys, certainly not out of
their teens, who were playing alongside of
old men. saw a familiar face It one end
of the table. It was that of Spectator
who is not known to fame but, who is in
fact, one of the shreWdestS operators in Wall
street, having made over million dollars
by careful. speculation the:e. He was play
ing with the sumo care at Roulette, and
seemed to be winner. Tom Ochiltree-
who is it that hasn't heard of him and
his stories-said that there was a Jew GU,
west who bought all Of the privileges at a
country f.ir and among Others that Of hav-
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