Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-07-26
In the Tigers LAIR,

Long Branch, ". d., Letter to Boston HeraId.
Gambling has long been a feature of life
at this resort, but it has been exclusively
of the male gender. Now the trap is
opened for the other sex, and it is an in
teresting question whether ANYTHING
| feminine will be caught. The bait is al
Turing, as it is made up of the choicest
viands, served in the handsomest imagin-
/ able restaurants. The PENNSYLVANIA Club
is an old-time gambling house, the West
End, but new capital has been put into il.
the main building is devoted i'm its lower
story to eating and drinking, and an en-
larged room contains the gambling hell.
which is said to be the most luxurious one
in America. Phil DAILY is the manager. He
| doesn't see why American women
shouldn't gamble, as the fashion is at
some of the European watering places.
1t is with view to enticing them that he
has given up so much separate space to
the restaurant branch of the business. He
hopes they will be charmed by the beauty
of the grounds, than which none at the
Branch are better, and thus be led to try
the gastrOnomy of the establishment.
Thence their way would be easy to the
adjoining gorgeous hall, in which faro.
roulette and other games go on. Several
women have taken this route to the green
tables, but it is guessed that they were
merely stOol-pigeOns, whose employment
by the concern removes them from all
danger of being plucked. Gaming re-
mains questionable for ladies, in spite of
Phil. Days eXtravagant efforts.
There are several new bells, including
one fully as large as the Pennsylvania,
and quite as pretentious. This stands
near the Ocean Hotel and the front pier.
Its ostensible owner is Charles Ransom,
a New York gambler, and the rumors as
to the rest of the ownership are too I'M
substantial for publication. 1t is certain
that a capital of not less than 5000, 600 is
requisite to cover the property and make
a solid backing for the bank. The house is
big and of ornate architecture. No struct-
ure in the place makes better show of
exterior. At night, when the brilliant
lights shine out through an abundance of
stained glass, the building looks
like an enormous lantern of
variegated ,colors. The interior
IS as handsome as the out
side. A spacious hallway runs clear
through the centre to a leafy porch at the
back. On the right are supper rooms, in
Guiding an open, large one, where table
is heavily laden with cold delicacies for a
midnight free luncheon. On the left. all
of the floor space, and a height of two
stories, are given up to grand hall. The
sides and ceiling are cherry wood, elabo-
rately carved and decorated. At one end
immense tiHres in wood and metal over
the mantel. The floor is softly carpeted.
The gambling tables and appurtenances
are of the costliest criptiOn-particu-
larly costly to the players, who in the end,
have to pay for them many times over.
Gaming has always been a feature of
the place; now it has suddenly gained
extensive and glittering proportions. This
is in part due, no doubt, to the fact that
the business has for a year been hampered
in New York city by ComstOck's society,
and the professional gamblers sought the
nearest place of moneyed crowd. There
are three of the so-called club houses.
Some exceedingly heavy playing is done
in the places, besides much that is so only
relatively, in view of the inability of the
players to bear the losses. The Jockeys
and other employees of the Mon
mouth Park race course pretty
regularly deposit their wages in
these banks, and don't often draw any
thing out. The buffers and coachmen of
wealthy summer residents are also to be
seen at the tables. But the heavy play,
as a rule, is by Wall street men, who have
not left their love Of chance behind in the
city. Faro is the favorite game for these
chaps and for the time seasoned old
gamblers among the Astounding turfmen;
but roulette has attained popularity with
inexperienced and uncalculating fellows
to whom the payments of &c to l, when a
wager wins, are so dazzling that they fail
TO see the clear and sure percentage Of