, 1885-03-26
ysQUARE9 GAMBLER.
WHAT AZ SAYS M MEDICATION OF
HIS PROFESSION.
A Man OF Strictly Tempelate Principiss
Gamblers Who Arc Dewnright .
Thieves - Comparison ACith
[san rransI.oo cam Inlerriau.l

49, = AA 49,
magnificent physique. pleasant expression
and healthy complexion would attract at
tention where average mon would pass un-
noticed. After tho usual idiotic remarks
upon the weather, atc. tho rcportar exr
plained his mission. and asked the card
champion whether he would smoke or drink,
or do both. q
mo, thank YOU was the unexpected re-
ply. II have not smoked for years, and
have never taken an alcoholic drink in my
life. My weakness Is milk, and / will join
you in a glass OF that. II you don't object to
such mild tipple.
"Ah, that explains what ! have been puz-
zling over; your clear eyes and healthy skin,
1 mean. Ono scarcely expects 10 find such
features in a man who lives in the excite
mont and keeps the lats hours TINT you must
do. BY the way, what arc the gambling
hours in San Franciscan Il VI
-From 10 a m till q n m, and these six
teen hours are divided into watches, as on
shipboard. That Is TO say, there are two
regular dealers in oach house, who are each
ON deck eight hours a day, in four-hour
watchezn
III the question strikes you as being rude,
/ will apologize and pass It, but l would
really like to know whether you regard your
business rs one 10 be proud OF, or other
wiser I.a .
A slight flush passed across the forehead
OF the gambler, and he hesitated a moment
before saying; at isn't exactly a profession
that one feels like Boosting about, and still
1t is by no means as bad as the religious
people seem to think These last ARE always
confusing professional gamblers with pro
fessionnl thieves, which proves hat the =
lgious people are unchristian and ignorant.
There are certain card men and bunko
men, and men that work other sure things,
who call themselves and are called by the
public gamblers, but who are absolutely
nothing but thieves, and who can not asso-
ciate with the real gamblers, and are not
allowed to enter a square gambiing-house.
We regulars only apply the name OF gam
bier to a man who sticks strictly to the
Legitimate chances OF the game, and e1
perience proves that such a person Is. II any
thing, more honest in all his business
affairs than the average man who
moves in the highest social circles. A
game that starts with q decent capital
and that Is honestly dealt Is SURE to win in
the long run, and Therefore It doesn't pay to
cheat, for you'll only spoil your market II
game Is once suspected, that Is the end Of
It's business, and square dealers have this
fact so rubbed into them from tho start that
they never lose sight OF It, II you find that a
merchant gives you short weight you'll not
patronixe his establishment any more, and
just so with those Of the public who are fond
OF gaming An Individual having a run Of
luck, will win from thu bank, but as the
stakes are limited, and as the dealer is al
most always backed by a much larger CAPT
tai than that held by any one OF the players,
and as the latter have to do the guessing,
the odds In the game arc in favor OF the
bank, and when It loses 10 one it VIII win
from several others.
People win gamble, in some shape or
other, for the desire to get money without
actually working for It, and a blind trust in
luck, are an invariable |inheritance OF tho
human race. Circumstances made me a
professional gambler in my early youth, and
I would find 1t almost impossible to do any
thing or to get anything to do in any other
business, and so / stick to tho trade that has
given me and mine a livelihood for so many
years. / never deal n brace nor cheat a man
at short cards, and cannot only say that l
am honest, but can defy any man to dis
cover even a rumor of my being dishonest
Your stock brokers deal in larger sums, and
are therefore eourted by society, but there
are avery few among US regular gamblers
whose honesty viii not stand in favorable
contrast with that Of a Gould, a Keene, or a
Willard Hl.rlI Hl F.
"May l ask, said the Journalist, show it
happens that you are SO much better edu-
Gated than the majority OF your craftff
II am not better educated than a good
many OF them, and am wofully ignorant on
a great many topics, but / am what Is called
the black sheep Of a respectable family, had
the luck Of good schooling In my youth, and
nave been more or less fond of reading ever
since. 81.
Al was ON the Comstock for n good many
years, and was there during the booming
times after Crown Point and Belcher began
70 pour out wealth from their lower levels
Every human being in that region took to
gambling In one or more forms; the women
and even the children going in for stocks,
while the men used to III in all their spare
time with faro and poker. The same spirit
exists thare yet, but the capital Is gone, and
only small risks can be taken instead of
heavy ones In tho flush days on the Com
stock money was 50 plenty that people could
not believe a dull time would ever come, and
IL thoy lost everything to-day were COM
forted by the thought that they would have
plenty OF chances to makea raise tomorrow.
Card gambling was the humor Of the hour,
and every man indulgsd in 1t, from the
Judge and the banker TO tho man who drove
a drill in the mines. Tho most plentiful com
modify seemed to DO coin, and a 500 piece
then was Thought to be scarcely more worth
keeping than a two-bit piece nowadays.
AFor years tho pay-rolls OF the mines along
that lode nan from $500, 600 to 5000, 900 a
month. and faro banks ran twenty-five hours
out OF the twenty -four. As a protection to
the banks the bets were usually limited to
SIS, but when a man planked down capital
enough We would sometimes take the bride
Off, and j have turned tho cards for as high
a limit as es0o. A crooked game couldn't
last there q week, and the result was that
the gamblers all played dead on the square,;
while the hogging men might catch a hat
now and then, but shortly after such a per-
formanco would find IL beneficial to skip the
place.