Omaha daily bee., 1881-08-18
SARATOGA.
John MorrisSey's Legitimate Sue
CeSSOr.
Description of the Greatest
Gambling He'll in
America.
A Picture of O Night in the
Club House.
Charles Reeds Curious Cottage.

st. Louis Republican.
The successor of John Morrissoy a,
Saratoga is Charles Reed, a brawny
~six-footer, with full beard, heavy over
topping fore-locks and broad shout
ders. Although now the gayest OF
sports, he was once under the sentence
Of death in New Orleans for having
shot a Union solder. Ben Butler was
in favor of hanging him, but Gen.
Banks pardoned him. The club house
opposite the Congress park is the most
unblushing gambling hell in America,
made into a gilded palace of sin. The
house is of brick, with an ornamental
front and an l. extension, where pools
were formally sold, and where a bar
is now kept. The flower garden at
the corner has q fountain, casting
spray over beds of ferns, palms and
foliage plants. There is a lawn on the
opposite side of the house, in the CEN
tire of which is a cistern containing
live trout. Upon the cross street there
are several cottages for the use OF
male friends of the proprietor. Reed
has q small army of men in his EN-.
ploy, and he keeps them all beneath
the roof his clubhouse, so that when
he wants them he knows where to
find them. He makes himself q factor
in the politics of Saratoga, SO that he
is not disturbed. Gov. Cornell's pro-
clamation against gambling houses has
had no perceptible effect here.
ILL.,. -. - u.1 III
resident, shat in New York gambling
must be conducted so secretly, while
here, where the same law is in force,
it is almost paraded?'s
1tJust BECAUSE" he said, "publi G
opinion t~olerates 1t here. Reeds
club house is one of Saratoga's insti-
buttons. 1t brings many people here
who otherwise would not come, and
1t brings money to the town."
If one does not know the side en-
trance which leads into the club
house, he can enter by ringing the
front door-bell. A negro opens the
door, does not say q word, and if the
visitor will put on q look for a mo-
ment conveying the idea that he
knows where he is going to, he is ad-
mitted into a grand hall, richly car
peted. There is a restaurant there,
where the best cooking in Saratoga
may be had. To the left is a reading
room with high ceiling, massive glass
chandeliers, big tables and easy furni-
'ture. The interior woodwork is all
of polished walnut, but the walls are
as yet bare and are staring white.
The great gambling room is on the
right. It Is brilliantly lighted and
richly furnished, and the air is filed
with excitement which at once has q
seductive effect upon the innate spirit
Of gambling in every man. Rich Ia
bles around the room have each a
"lay-out" for q different game. The
tables are splendid pieces of mechan.
ism. They are covered with billiard
cloth and are richly inlaid. AT each
tables there sits a dealer employed by
the house. One old man attracted
my attention. His hair and long,
full beard were as white as snow. He
seemed to have been all of his long
life in the nefarious business, and he
had q cold and finty look and manner.
He was alone behind q table, rafting
dice in o box and exclaiming to him
self 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 riveted upon two
games. One was faro. A middle
aged man with that CHASTITY complex
ion men who work their brains at
night get, sat as dealer. A silver
plated box, the size of q pack Of cards
with a strong spring in the bottom,
WIS before him. The 'lay OUT was
OF cards of ivory, set into the billiard
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 a run of the cards at
each deal. Each player had a pile of
ivory buttons, called ''chips," before
him, and he placed these upon differ
emit cards about the table. AS the
dealer slipped out a card, the one
that appeared determined the fate of
players. If the house avon the deal
or would rake in the chips, and if the
player won he would place a chip on
the n 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 nervously as he supplied
the places Of the chips that were
raked off. A ~seed-looking man of
about thirty who seemed 10 have
''bucked the tiger" for the worse,
lost all that he had and quickly gave
up his seat. 1t was taken by an old
man with a severe cast Of features
who handed in a $50 bill and took a
pile Of chips. He waited for a fresh
deal and placed a half a dozen chips
on the board. He raked in five dol
lars. He played cautiously and in
about ten minutes he handed in $50
worth OF chips for which he got cash.
Then he stepped away. The dealer
paid for the chips from a blank book
filled with bank notes and impassively
handed out the money, made a pencil
memorandum of the amount and went
oil with the deal. The seedy-looking
man had raised So somewhere and he
handed it in for more chips. In about
i've minutes these were all raked of
and heaying a deep sigh he arose, and
wiping his brow with his hand, went
out into the cool night air.
"Do gamblers consider this a fair
gamei" ] asked a player at my elbow.
THE deal is fair" he said; shut