Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-04-14
President. blindfolded, inserts his hand

President, bllndfolded, inserts MS hano
to the elbow in a large jar and draws
forth a little stick, upon which is painted
one of the characters found upon the
tickets. The name is called out, and all
the agents write the characters upon
slips. There are eighty of these "Som
Toy sticks, corresponding to the num-
Der and names of the characters upon
the tickets. Twenty in all are drawn
ont by the President and recorded.
Then the sticks are thrown back
and shaken up for the next nights
drawings. The names drawn are hen
spotted out in red ink upon tickets by
the agents. The lottery officers eagerly
scan the tickets sold to ascertain if they
have met with heavy losses. If an unu-
sually heavy Series of losses is discov-
cred, the company at once discards its
untrustworthy patron deity, and selects
another. If the losses are light or nomi-
nal, the President sets out baked meats
and comtits for the patrons editication,
and hangs up congratulatory prayers.
In the morning the players compare
their tickets. If they have caught five
out of the twenty spots they receive two
dollars; if six spots, they are paid
twenty dollars: ii seven, $40. Eight
spots, which are very rarely caught,
reap a golden harvest for the lucky
gambler, for he collects 5000, and nine
and ten spots, which have o. rare occa-
sions been drawn, but never in New
York, pay $1,000 and $4,000. These
are what are called ''white mems" tick
cts, because white men play them ex-
clusively. Players may buy halt, quar-
ter and even one-tenth tickets. For the
latter fifteen cents is charged, and but
one-thirteenth part of the prize is paid.
In this city hundreds of white men play
at Chinese faro. For the most part they
are the poor Italians who live in the
vicinity, but many men, and even wo-
men, who employ Chinese la%undrymen,
deal in lottery; the Chinaman purchas-
ing the tickets and collecting the prizes.
In fact, many of the wash houses are
branch agencies.
The mania for playing at Chinese lot
terry is spreading, and there is no reason
why it should not get as firm a hold up
on white people here as in San Francis
CO. There thousands play at the game.
Three hundred lottery agencies are scat
tered over the town. They usually make
a show of selling cigars. Elegantly
dressed gentlemen may be seen to dodge
into the doorways where the agency is
located. The Chinese house servant is
an almost universal institution, and he
never misses his opportunity to intro
duce to his mistress the mysteries of the
game. The lady will invest a dime or
two bits in a ticket, just for the novelty,
ard IF chm vuino a crnoll nrivo loon on
playing from day to day or week to
week, until she draws a large prize. In
that event she looks for another servant,
for John has failed to come back with
the winning. One lottery agency near
the Palace Hotel does a large business
with the ladies, many of the tickets go.
ing direct into the hotel. The police
make constant efforts to break up the
games, but as fast as they raid one shop
another opens, and the law has been in
terpreted to exempt visitors at the dens
AS the main Offices of the companies
move weekly and are located with grea,
secrecy, the chief culprits a not be
caught. The company always pays the
agents fine. There are seven grea'
companies in San Francisco, with al
aggregated capital of several millions
The greatest is the Fook Ii Company
In this city, as in San Francisco, thu
Chinese themselves play at what they
call the ''high-low" game, in which thu
prize is not q set figure, but varies will
the combinations. Many more spots are
marked out than in the white man.
game, and the player may pay as higl
as 500 for one ticket. Enormous prize!
o,.a o,o,ofsp,o nc n 70 xrp nj this kthsoe1, 1ory3
lottery. Lucky combinations have bee,
known to break the bank. The larges
winning ever made in this city wa!
about one month ago, when Wins
Hi paid a Chinaman over $1,000 on
$3.50 "high-low'' ticket. The larges
drawing made by a white man was mad
by an Italian, who struck eight spots
drew 5000, and went upon a glorious!
spree in celebration of the event. Whel
he sobered up he found that he hat
been robbed of all his money. TIL
game becomes rapidly popular becaus'
it does not expose the votary to any dan
ger of disgrace, for IN accommodating
Chinaman may always be found who i
willing for a small consideration to &C
as messenger between the agency anc
the player. The Investment is small
the drawings rapid. The oompanie!
are %scrupulously honest in their deal
ings with their patrons, and although
agents sometimes swindle green players
the man who is willing to brave tn
loathsome surroundings and disgusting
odors OF a Chinese gambling den will
generally obtain his prize. Any laun
dryman who knows that hrs customer i
not in collision with the police will in
troduce him to the game; and therei,
lies the danger.-N. Y. Sun.
The entire problem of aerial navi-
cation has been solved by a nan in Buf
falo. He has devised a something which
looks like ar ordinary steam yacht, with
innumerable wings or outriggers, anc
with it he will clrcumnavigate the glob,
and penetrate the heretofore impenetra
BILE STRATA of the upper air. Steam il
to be the motor when the invention shall
have proved a success. For expert
mental purposes, however, he is con
structing q smaller aircraft that will b.
ODerateu hv man mower. Ten mon wil