The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1884-11-14

Something About the Early History of the
Game-Its Career In New York.

Game-Its Career In New York.
"Havc you any idea by whom or
when the game of faro was invented?"
asked reporter for The Commercial
-Adoertiser few days ago while talking
with Charles Dunn, the well-known
gambler. The question was asked in
the course of conversation about gam
ing in general, and particularly about
the prevalence of it in the city. Dunn
had previously said that there was more
gambling going on at present within
the precincts of this devoted city than
at any other time in its history.
"Well, that is question" replied
Dunn, crossing his legs with grunt of
supreme comfort and lighting another
cigar. "Faro, my boy, dates back to
the inventors of almost all the games
that require thought. 1t was invented,
l have heard, by the Pharaohs after
they had got tired of playing chess and
backgammon and all the other innocent
little games which brought them so
much enjoyment But the new inven-
| ton was the ruination of the Pharaohs,
for they gambled so much that finally
the shepherd kings went for them and
pulverized them, rs we say nowadays;
so faro was temporarily forgotten. The
Ptolemys revived it, and then it crossed
over into Italy, where mosaics in the
ruins of Pompeii have been found rep
resenting two players deeply absorbed
in the primitive game. No, I'm not
joking. never joke about any such
serious matter as faro. But, honestly,
no one knows when the game was real
ly invented. 1t was one of those things
which partook of the nature of Topsy
and simply Crowd
1.-THE earliest record we have of the
game is in the thirteenth century, when
it had assumed considerable popularity
in Italy and France | am inclined to
believe that it is of Italian origin. From
the Italian we get the word 'parlee,
which IS used in the game now, and
means TO let the stake lie and double
The Italian original is paroH. To make
pdrott, as it was originally called, II
player was required to bend one corner
of the preferred card over. 1t was al
ways his right to withdraw bet after
the time when he had won his first
stake, but previously to that he had to
let his money remain. At that time
there were no 'lay-Outs. Every player
had his own pack and made his bets Oh
the cards that he himself turned. When
he won he simply showed his card to
the dealer and he was paid. A century
ago no box was used. The dealer dealt
out his hands, and so ran great chance
of showing most of the cards. The box
is great protection against the inquis-
tive, and it is really the only protcc-
ton the player has against any possi-
b1a LOT; fha ,.t ,.f h,
dealer. If faro was dealt out of hand
as it was in former times there would
be decided number of shootings in
this police-ridden city.
ut is hard to say when faro was in
troduced into this country. The prob
abilities are that it was played in Eng
land long before anyone ever dreamed
of colonizing the new world. We know
that it was played in Virginia long be-
fore the revolution. The old planters
were not chary about betting their
slaves on the turn of Il card, and had
none of the Puritan -mindedness
which kept faro out of New England
The game was played at that time with
out box. The players chose their
cards from their own decks, and had
ample opportunity to manipulate it rs
they pleased. They got no benefit
from Il split-that is, when two cards of
like denomination are turned up and
the stakes are equally divided between
the player and the bank. They didn't
even have the advantage of Il 'cue-boX'
to check off the cards which. had beer
dealt. OF course, there was rash bet
ting in consequence, and manipulation
was common on the part of the bank
and OF the player, and you may be sure
both took advantage of their changes
to the best of their ability
"Have there been anyrcccnt changes
in the game?h
IL should think so. And they all
have had a tendency to make the game
much fairer than it was originally.
Thirty years ago, remember that it
was the rule that if man put Il bet
down on the table he was compelled to
leave it there until it had lost or won
its equivalent. Now he is able to
change his bets as many times rs he
chooses. AT that time when man sat
down at a faro-table he sat down only
to bet to win. Now he can bet either
to win or TO lose. At that time there
wasn't any such thing as a copper;
now man can copper the ace and bet
that it will lose and still win on los
ing card. Then there is considerable
difference in the way faro is played in
the west. If man puts his chips at
the corner of the king heading TO the
deuce, in this city, the bet takes in the
king and the deuce only; but out west
such placing of chips would mean the
king, queen, ace, and deuce. Checks
have only been used during the last ff-
ty years. Previous to the ivory disks
which represent so much money, coin
was used, and oftentimes the faro table
would be strewn with gold and silver as
the game went on. The first time faro
was played publicly in New York was
in 1927. 1t increased to an alarming
extent until 1884 before the great fire.
when that calamity left the city almost
without money. The distress of the
followinU two or three years almost