The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-02-27
Cunning Devices.

once OF cunning, Gays the San Franctico
Chronicle. and perhaps in no device does
he give evidences OF the possession OF THIS
factor in his character more fully than In
the n;etns he employs In obs,ructing the
entrance Of the police into his games OF tan
and In his fertility OF resources, by which
even though an entrance be obt"ined and
the gam blars be caught almost in the very
| oct OF practicing the darling device OF their
nationality, he succeeds In removing or de-
s,roy!ng everything in the nature OF evil
dencs which the police could depend upon
to use TO secure his conviction in court, and
in the absence Of which All arrest would be
useless. That these statements are pert.
nent 10 proved by the fact that these gam
b!ers have devised scheme by which they
can play tan almost with impunity, 70
easily can they remove all evidence
that gambling game has
been in progress after the first
signal has been given by the lookouts ofthe
approach OF the police and before the Off
GERS can succeed in entering the room.
For q long time proprietors OF the gamb-
ling dens paid all their attention to the tor
LITIGATION OF their castles, with the idea OF
delaying the entrance OF the police until the
evidence that gambling had been in pro-
gress could all be sec;eted and the gam berB
themselves escape by means OF traps and
back doors. But the officers knew the in
tricacies and the mems OF escape from the
buildinge almost as well as the Chinese
ihems, Ives. and the percentage Of captures
and convictions became too great for the
prosperity Of the games, and general
strena henipg OF doors was the result, tho
idea being to make them strong enough to
resist any effort to open tnem. Bnt the
uselessness OF this was soon demonstrated,
and the keepers then turned their attention
| to devisin means by which they could play
-htla thu inn leupntR uRAd in Dlayinl
| cou d not be used az evidence against them
| in court.
The lay-ou Of tan game Is fat piec'
of wood about nve inches square, with the
sides numbered from right to left, and bet
are made by placing the money upon any
desired side OF the board, two OF which
make the bet odd and two even. Then
there 10 . quantity OF white shirt buttonl
and few black ones, the latter being used
| for the sake OF convenience 10 double bets;
come small bone clips, oolored red, and used
for the purpose of-"splittiDg" or dividing
the bets; . thin strip Of rattan. about eight
inches long and curved at the end, and q
brass arrangement, - much Ike circular
card receiver - anything else. II being used
In an inverted position. The players being
| ready, Q quantity OF the white buttons,
number unknown, are placed under the
brass cup, and come small bets are made "a
to whether the number Of buttons under
meath Is odd or even. The edge OF the cup
is then raised slightly, the curved end OF
the rattan stick inserted, and the button,
drawn out four at time. When nearly all
ia,t and furious as to whether
an odd or even number re-
mains, and as this results, 60
the fortunes Of the game are decided. Al
OF tho layout, as above described, 10 good
evidence upon which to convict in court,
save the black buttons. As arrests con-
tinued to be made the wooden squares
were abandoned for those OF pastebosrd,
these being moro quickly DESTROYED or
hidden, but even this was frequently found,
and conviction followed, until ut last, at
their verv Wits end, tho gamblers have
adopted q lay out which the police confess
will give them great deal OF trouble to
secure conviction upon.
Tho Chinese are great domino players,
and the possession Of dominoes Is not
against the law. They simply take enough
dominoes to make large enough square
and put them together. At the frat alarm
OF police sweep OF the hand produces a
heap of innocent dominoes on I'd Q table and
they cannot be used as evidence. They have
tried TO find substitute Tor the white but
tons, aud have used almond and water
melon seeds, but these are good evil
dence. A short time ago raid was made
ON q gambling den, but when the officers
elected an entrance nothing could be iound
by which the Chinese found in the room
could he convicted II arrested. Suddenly
one OF them was seen TO put his hand into
an inside pocket and transfer something to
his mouth, which he began to energeticaliy
chew. A vigorous choking compelled him
to disgorge q quantity OF almond and
watermelon eeeds. and IL Is actually the
case that q conviction was secured upon
this evidence. But the difficulty hs; final
IL been overcome. Connection by pipe Is
now made with the sewer beneath or the
nearest wster-closet, and there Is hose
connection between the water faucet ana
the pipes. AZ the frat alarm the buttons
20 Into the pipe, tho hose IL turned on and
sway soes the evidence efiectually beyond
the reach. The most difficult problem was
that OF the brass cup, but this in turn has
been solved. Every Chinese gambling den
has its pot OF tea and small china bowls are
used In It's preparation, and one oil these
bowls takee the place OF the brass cup, and
q lorg opium needle 10 substituted for the
rattan stick.
Surprising the police locate game Of tan
add raid IL. II they take no more than two
or three minutes In which TO effect an en-
tranct--apd under the new system OF forti-
6cation they may need half an hcur-they
nnd, when they get in company OF Chi,
nese drawing for game OF dominoes and
drinking tea. while one or two spectators,
are perhaps. eravely smoking and enjoying
. pipe OF opium. That 10 all. The game OF
| ran, which Wa 10 full blast . few minutes
before, end all evidences OF II has vanished
a. com pletely ~ though swallowed oy the
earth, apd nothing can be found upon
when q conviction .,uld be hoped for. In
addition there 10 generally line OF look
outs, and an officer, whether In uniform or
citis.n's clothes makes no difference, can
| not get within q block OF q game without
oils spprosch being signtled. All the games
Of taa ore operated by stock com panies. who
ran back them with nm almost unlimited
amount OF coin, II being known that In one
or two instances from $4,000 TO $4,000 Ia
behind the games. The winnings, too, are
trsa aently large, ard the police report that
| in enc week DR.. Ii 70 Tai won $4,000 Of
tan. The LOTTERY games are also fortified
against the police, but BY no means 8, i'm
preensbly a. tan. The Offices are nov
furnished ~iih n small stove. In which q
ERE 10 kept DO ming. and on the approach
Of the &c lice ell in the nature OF evidencs
eoee iutn the s,ove. The Chiness can moi
bold public or even private drawinss With