Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-09-06
GAMING ON THE OCEAN.
A Passengers Judgment of Dis
tancss.
MYSTERIES of the Calcutta (or Auction Pool,
and Some Startling Condolences
Connected Herewith.
New York Uord.

New York World
The little unpleasantness which took
place on board the BIi nuic, Of the
White Star line on its last return trip to
New York, in connection with the sell
ing OF pools on the number Of miles
msde BY the vessel IN day, has called
general attention to the gambling, Of
ten for high stakes, going on Oh board
of most Of the ocean steamers. Mr..
Louis II. Lorillard lost $1,000, but does
not care 70 make any explanation OF
how he came To lose It, while Mr.. Cur
It's, AN actor, who lost = ,5DJ. says there
was, IN his opinion, some unfair deal
ing, but that his "chOler had departed
with the color of his money"
These pools are what Is known -
The Calcutta Pools"
and are played every morning at about
III O'Clock, or an hour before the noon
reckoning of the number % miles the
ship has gone the last twenty-fOur hours
II made. y number of gentlemen, waO
desire To participate in the pool, gather
IN the smoking raOm, and if it Is as
sumed that the ship will make, say 80
miles, the pool is made 10 embrace the
numbers 800 to $50 inclusive. The for.
mer number covers all the number OF
mileS which may be made below it,
while the latter all the miles above it.
The numbers are placed in hat, and
on paving a small entrance fee, usually
ten English shillingS, each person is
entitled TO u draw. The money so OO-
tSiutd forms
The Basis Of the Pool.
After the numbers are drawn the inter-
mediate cues between the first aud
the last are put up at auction
in rotation, and the person who has
drawn it must defend its possession
against higher bidder. If the bidding
runs too high for his inclination or the
length Of his purse he lets the number
20, in which case the purchaser pays
the former owner One-half of the
amount of the premium bid and de
posts the other half in the pool. If the
holder of the number is the highest bid
der he need pay Ia only One-half OF ni-
bic. The same person may purchase rs
many numbers IL he chooses, his
Chances OF Winning
heiug thereby increased, as is also the
EXPENSE. The end numbers are then
put up at auction, and naturally bring
tie highest prices on account 0f tue
wider rurgr which they cover. In the
pool IN W hich Mr.. Curtis was Interested
he bought the lowest number, 305. y
Mr.. George bought tue number $50,
paying the extremely high price Of go,
or S95 for il. the chance Oi that par
Iirular number winning in perfectly
iair game WAS hardy one in a thousand,
and Mr.. Louis II. LDrillard thought he
had a sure thing of it when Mr.. George
was willing to make q bet of one TO ten
that he held the winning number. Mr..
I.Orillard put up 5000 against Mr..
Georges 500. BY peculiar cOimci-
dence the number $50 was the favOrIte
that uay in four different pools going
on at the same time, and by still more
peculiar coincidence it proved TO be y
winning number.
A gentleman well acquainted with
the subject explained to reporter OF
the World the Calcutta Pools and
added:
1T seems to me almost impossible
that there should be any
COIlusiOn I'm the Matter.
The number of miles that the ship
has sailed the previous twenty-fOur
hOurs,iS determined every day ut noon
by the Captain and four OF his Officers.
The Captain takes an observation wi h
his seXtant and discovers the exact la'i-
tude and longitude, from Viii ID
he SubtractS the latitude anu
longitude of the day before, and thu,
finds the number of miles. The first
flicer takes similar observations; the
Junior officer makes what is called a
dead reckoning from the ships log, and
the engineer counts the revolutions OF
the wheel All the officers hand the
results of their calculations TO the Cap
tain, who uses them as a check on
own de auctions. 4 variance is always
expected, but il it is trifling it is not he.
gafded, and the Captains reckoning is
made the official one. Ifthe variance
Is large the thing is gone over again by
all the parties and the Captains second
result i posted as the run of the day.
Under all circumstances
Tne Captains Figures
are the only ones taken, as he is the
only responsible officer in command"
Then it would be no value for the
junior officers 10 show their results to
the passengers before bringing them to
the Captain?'
Not the slightest. Besides such
thing would be a serious breach of dis
cipline, and render the offending officer
liable TO instant dismissal"
Gould not the Captain post certain
number as heing the run of the ship,
"A IL "a Al
from the real run when making up
The Official RcEister?''
"Where the difference is small he
might do that without even his subar-
diuate officers detecting the fraud, but
the temptation would have to be a very
strong one to make a Captain betray
the trust reposei in him by the owners
of the vessel. do not believe that any
Captain of any ocean steamer now
atluat would do such thing. In fact,
/ remember case where an offer to
that effect was made by passenger u
n certain Captain. The indignant
officer turned OO him like thunderbOlt,
and in q clear tone of voice,sO that every
per>On on deck heard it, exclaimed:
sir, you are blackleg and scoun-
drpl. "
Mr.. r. ]. Curtiss, the passenger agent
OF the White Star line of steamers, was
not in when the reporter called, but he
had heard
The Story OF the Trouble
on board the steamer Britannic, and
left word with one of his clerks to en-
phaticslly deny that anyone connected
with the vessel had anything to do with
the pool players.
mo official" said the clerk, from
the captain down to the pettiest sailor
IS permitted to participate, either di-
rectly or indirectly, in any pools going
on on board of any vessels of our line,
and any statements to the contrary are
| nilnrlu a.rn.a Of trnAh H. ..nsnar,-