Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-07-11
THE GAMBLER.
bow Fis Presence in Community De
yastates 1t.


Under the above heading the New York
Tribune. in q recent issue. pays its respects
to the gambling fraternity rs follows ::
The gamblers of New York have led q
precariouS and on The whole 4 wretched
existence for two or three years past. These
places have been Faded by both the public
and private police, and whenever the al
titude Of the law is decided to-
ward them they read the handwriting
on the wall and take a holiday. Per-
hapS the least sef-satstied CounteaanCes
to be seen around our hotels and public
resorts are the old gamblers who long had
complete immunity. and to this day
preserve 4 little hold on the police and
even the Police justices. Cases are not
infreQuent OF gamblers sitting on our
minor benches or being clerks of tine
Courts. Hence . certain latent sympathy
in the prosecution Of these men and
even on their being surprised Tie
best thing the gambler can do 10 satisfy
himself Is to get out of the business ai;ogeth-
er. The occasional funds Of money he
raises by his dangerous and oU,lawed trade
hardly ever stay by him, and good deal
Of 1t goes to the police and lawyers and
other parasites who hold vice 10 be their
natural BANKER and side patron. Our
hotels are also often Indifferent TO the pres
ence of the gambling community right
among their guests, and ii seems - me TO
be a poor thing TO do with q guest who
comes to town with money which he
might otherwise spend in the proper Office
OF hospitality, to allow him to be taken in
hand by some gamblers rcper-iG and
escorted TO some place in the ncigLborhood
where ne can be picked clean, and has to
draw his check, more or less uncertain, to
6
A sufficient number of gamblers will de-
vastate any territory on the globe. Long
Island City, though it is the capital Of %
county and with the seat Of justice, has
been kept back, Notwithstanding long
witted men like Eiiphaet Nott thought it
had such admirable opportunities that q
half century ago or more they made in
vestments there for the benefit of Union
College and other trusts. The gamblers
found it a convenient spot to halt between
the rows OF tracks and the city, and in q
little while the whole city government be
came the creature of gamblers. Dctul-
cations began, violence Was not uncOm-
mon, and the tone Of that suburb began
to grow lower There is hardly an old
racing track on Long Island or in the
general vicinity OF New York which
has not collapsed and left behind
it long pile of old board fences and some
old hotel over which fate and ghosts seem
10 hover There are at least two such
courses on Long Island, and in every old
city their yestiges arc to be seen; and the
Elysian Fields in Hohoken seem never TO
have recovered from the gamblers vista
ton there LaI century ago. In truth
there can be no occupation 50 unworthy OF
a matchmaking man as to live by teihpta-
ton and advantage, refusing work, being
in perpetual watch for men of means or
youths with legacies or prospects, and thus
corrupting at the fountains of society lives
meant to be fully lived out with credit and
composure A man who expects to play
this kind OF a game and be a permanently
happy man is fortifying his wretched con-
science with apparent examples in regular
life which he will find on Investigation he
has never understood