The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-07-21
IN HARD LINES,
! San Francisco Gamblers Tour of tn,
Country in search of Snort.

country IN search Of Sport.
professional gamblers of high and
low degree never were in as tight
lines as they are now, and unless the tide
soon turns in their favor, they will be
forced to abandon the green cloth and
seek other vacations to secure even the
necessaries of life"
me speaker was veteran gambler,
an Intelligent EHglishman, known as
freddy win probably as many aliases
MS a cat Is expected tC have lives. For
the past twenty years he he's lived by
his wits, making and squandoring thouS-
ands annually. He can play an honest
game wien circumstances compel him,
but his aim ever is to have the odds inn
mea .surably in his favor. lie is an adept
IN dealing a brace game of faro, or in
swindling at short cards, but the height
of his ambition is to transfer an .nno-
cent mans money into his own pockets
by means of some confidence game. In
the last-named role he Lay be classed
| as an expert.
81 have just returned to the bay" CON
| tinued tho disconsolate sport, "after a
| twO-yearS' professional tour, Dlaying
brief engagements at all the leading
sporting centers in the country. | had
hoped to find things booming in San
Francisco; but the hope was sadly
blasted, for find more broken gamblers
here than / found in any other city.
High rollers who only n few years ago
Squandered their hundreds weekly are
now glad to capture enough money to
lodge in 25-cent room and subsist on
beer lunch. Where one gambler is i'm
funds fully ninety-nine are IN Distress"
GLOW did you find the situation at
| n re IA
with very few exceptions lust as bad
for the fraternity. About two months
ago made tour on the Northern Pa
cifc road. From st, Paul to Helena |
did not find single place whore the
gambler could make any money. At
Helena and Butte there is con-
siderable sport, but controlled by a
few men. Then / went into the CCeur
dAlene mining region i'll company with
several other sports and found that
country n dead fraud; there were actu-
ally more gamblers there than there
were dollars, and our party had tough
time to get out of the internal country.
visited all the leading points in Oregon
and Washington Territory, only to find
/ business dull everywhere. AT Port
Land there are several lively faro games,
played wide open, but the limit is 50
small that an outsider can't make a
winning of any size. Then | took a
steamer for Frisco, expecting to make
some money on the passage. Again |
was disappointed. The only gambling
on board was at whistna quarter cor
ner for the rubber. The degeneracy of
the times actually made me sick, and |
took my berth and remained there un-
til the boat reached the dock"
"How fare the sports east OF the Rocky
! MOuntainsW
AT Denver the game is lively and the
doors are wide open, but bets are small,
and the same is true as TO Salt Lake.
The glory of the gambling camps i'm New
Mexico and Arizona has departed, and
even a slick gambler couldn't make
enough down there now to feed a crow
AT ST. Louis and Kansas City, for Years
the leading sporting centers of the
! West, not single gambling-house is
open; in fact, the laws of Missouri
make ii a felony for any one to run
gambling game within the limits of the
state. The same severe law is in force in
| Tennessee, and the chances are that lust
such law will be enacted in most of the
! States inside of the next few years. And
when this change comes about there
| will be an end to professional gambling,
for even the braveSt gamCster will throw
| up his hands if he sees that the doors of
] tle penlleHlldTN are ydWnlng Tor MN.
On the Mississippi river, once noted for
its heavy games, there is very little play,
and on most OF the boats gambling is
positively prohibited. In Chicago, where
the heaviest games mt faro have been
| played of late, the Mayor has announ-
cod his firm determination to shut up
every gambling house, and of course he
can accomplish the task If he means
| business. In New York city
gambling is under the ban,
although faro games are con-
Stantly run on the sly. In Philadelphia
there has been very little gaming for
/ years, and at Washington only few
| faro games, and skin ones at that, are
under Roadway. Boston and Providence
are the only two points in New England
patronized by professional gamesters,
| and at both the betting is very tame.
| Throughout the Southern States there is
very little betting at faro, and at the ia
/ voritc game tpoker) the stakes are
/ light. In New Orleans gambling is
/ licensed, and in the winter months the
/ betting is very lively, hut not SO piece
/ is wagered on the green cloth now where
| 4 thousand was ten years ago. The fact
is that gambling in public houses is
| rapidly on the decline throughout the
whole country, and the signs of the
/ times indicate death to the green cloth az
no far distant day. Frisco Chronicle.
81 ittln Inlyn,.'i l.. tIo Lngt .,,,oI.;,.. .,