National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-08-09
GAMBLING Ar LONG BRANCH.
A Philedciphie Doctor Wins n small
Fortune q. Ono NiBht-The Card
Sharps Givon Practical Immunity.


Fortune d. Ono Night-The Card
sharps Given Practical Immunity.
Recent Long Branch Dispdtch.
A Philadelphia physician, who Ia o por-
sonal friend of Gen. Grant and as we'll
known In tho fashionable society of Now
York and Washington as no is in that of
his own city, is the hero Of the biggest bit
OF gambling done here so far this season.
Ho had little poker party in his private
parlar at tho hotel whore he is passing tho
season night or two ago. 1t had been
raining all day, and the party played
without interruption from noon until IL
o'clock at night. The physician was then
in $500. Ho was made daring by success.
Although IL was so late he had carriage
called. and was driven over to one Of tho
fashionable gambling, by courtesy called
club, houses. He played high. Luck
was with him until his winnings ut rou-
lette amounted to about 5000. Then 10
turned. When his gains dropped to $1,000
he said; Pm out" and no had the
strength Of will to remain out. So his
winnings that day were $7,400. He cele-
brated his victories by giving dinner
party TO seven friends. Ho regarded
himself as so assuredly the favorite of
fortune that tho fact that the number at
table was an even one did not phase him.
The cost was 500 cover.
Gambling here is still carried on with
striking boldness. The most fashionable
place occupies site directly opposite the
Wost End hotel. IL is surrounded by
we'll kept grounds, graccd by the most
beautiful designs Of the landscape garden
er's art and made uniquely charming by
profusion Of rare and costly exotics. A
half dozen men are constantly employed
in keeping the grounds in order. A
broad carrlageway leads up TO the splen-
did restaurant that forms the ante-room
Of the tigers lair and gives ready excuse
to those who have not yet reached the
point of taking prido in encounters with
the troacherous beast. Entrance may
also be directly gained by footpath lead
ing through beautiful shrubbery to broad
stops The rattle Of dice, the whir of the
roulette wheel, and the voice of the crier
may BIO heard on the green sward outside.
But. though the laws Of New Jersey
bear with extraordinary severity against
gambling. no earnest effort has been made
to interfere with the business of this
gorgeous establishment. Until that wero
done it would be absurd TO mako any
movement against the four smaller places
that have sprung up in the wake of the
giant. Since the collapse Of tho pre-
tended official crusade against the club
houses OF the beginning Of the season and
the exposure Of its hallowness, public opin-
ion has forced the subject upon tho minds
Of the authorities. The commissioners
at secret meeting considered the uues-
tion as to whether something had not
better BIO done at once. They could not,
however, summon the courage to face the
opposition that q vigorous policy would
certainly awaken, and so they endeav-
ored to turn the attention of tho public
away from the subject by directing all
their energies to the suppression of
another sort Of evil and the arrest of
thirty-one women, mono of whom, it is to
be presumed, had much money or any
political influence.
person whose sympathies and affilia-
tions are with the gamblers informs tho
Times correspondent that the keeper of
tho chief place Is constantly the victim of
''squeezes," and that his immunity from
the rigors of the law is largely to be
ascribed, apart from his political influence,
to the fact that he pays generous tribute,
As long as these conditions exist, it Is
declared, there Is no likelihood that the
gamblers would be disturbed If den were
to be erected in front of every church OF
the branch. That the tribute" may easily
be made generous may be inferred from tho
fact that the profits Of Dsly's Pennsylvania
club amounted last season to more than
$4,000. Tho gains this summer will not
be so large owing to the backwsrdness Of
the season and the fact that tho recent
disasters in Wall street have left the New
York spectators, who form large part
of Daly's patrons, with less money to
squander formerly. All the same, the
business, considered in itself, is large.
Last night tho house was full of players,
as IL generally is on Saturday and Sunday
nights during the season, and the play
was constant.