Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-03-30
Formally to facilitate his recall. Tn
Times says Sargent has resigned an
prefers to return home.
"Bsc." in New York.

Bscearat has at last found shrine In
New York. Its votaries are not yet as
numerous a. tley are in London and
Paris, but the game is au insidioas one,
and we may yet see In this country q
repetition Of the gambling mania which
recently reached a climax in London.
In quiet side street, not far from
Broadway. is house which is distin.
guishsd from its neighbors. only BY the
gas jet which dimly Eliminates it's ves-
tisule until an early hour in the morn
ing. The house is conducted as o pro.
prietary club, and the visitor, before ad-
mission. is obliged to go throug the
preliminaries Of introduction and
being enrolled a. resident or non-resi-
dent member. The dues are not heavy,
and the principal requisite for admission
is willingness to tempt the tickle god
dess and the mesns TO make sacrifices
to her. Once admitted tho visitor will
find On the frat floor nothing 70 Indicate
the char actsr Of the so-callsd club, and
he will be sadly disappointed if be ex-
poets TO find any Of the gorgeousness
Ia furniture and decoration which char
acterizes the traditional gaming house.
On reaching the second floor, however,
the unmistaksble click Of ivory chips
il heard. About . table, shaped like
figure eight, are seated : score or more
Of players. and mixed lot they
are. A Cuban or tive, three or four
Frenchmen and Italians, some genuine
Englishmen and some pseudo English
men, pair OF dudes, and . sprinklinQ
OF Americans Of the baser sort compose
q crowd which is denationalixed and
unified in the common desire TO capture
the dealers money. The intense still
ness, which il thought to be necessary
where heavy gambling il going ON, is
absent here. and, although the stakes
are quite heavy, there il 8 continual eur.
rent Of banter and jest, English maledic.
tion and French exultation--or vice versa
a. the luck may turn--triumph ON one
side Of the table and cursing ON the
other, all punotuated with the
dealers monotenous ''No more" and
the occasionsl "Bac" from dealer or
player. At Intervals the bank il either
broker or the banker sees ct 10 retire
from his onerous position. The club at
tendant puts the privilege up at auction,
and his "Fve hundred once--iive hum
dred twce--ive hundred three times, end
sold to Mr.. Blank. determines that Mr.,
Blank is t. Place five hundred dollars In
money ON the table to be played against
i,y the cutters until it is exhausted or
until he has dealt through three packs
Of cards. In the latter event even the
bank is again auctioned of to tho hieh-
est bidder. Nothing but cash or count.
ers redecmabls by the club is permitted
to be played for, and this has the salu-
tary effect Of limiting players to the
amount they have with them, making it
impossible for rash players to involve
themselves or their bank accounts
in ruin through the momsniary sx-
element Of the gamo. This & the
only redeeming feature Of Baccarat.
Otherwise IL is as psrnicious in Its effects
as Keno or any other disreputable mode
Of gambling. Novel writers have thrown
: halo Of distinction about IL which II in
no Wise deserves Certain features Of
the game make it impossible for it to be
played under ordinary surroundings, and
II has therefore come to be regarded -
almost exclusively club game, but the
recent exposures in Paris show thai, even
under The most favorable circumstances,
it can be made the means Of Fashionable
swindling, while experienced eard.p play
ers ssy that with the most trifling collu-
sion, it furnishes . splendid field for
sharp practice. 1t will be bad day for
New York when Baccarat becomes to be
more generally played. T1e Modern
4oe for Apri.