The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1885-06-24
GAMBLING IN CHINATOWN.
Kow 1T Is CARRIED ON IN NEW
YoRRs CHINESE QUARTERS.
Heavy Celestial Play I'm tho Dens-
Methods OF Chinese Gambling De-
scribed by "A Chinaman.

sCribea by "A Chtnaman
Wong Chin Foo, the Chinese reporter,
says in the New York World! Mott
street. from Chatham square to Park
street on the south side and to Pell upon
the north, is one long list of gambling
hells, into which laundrymen, sailors,
cigar makers and sight seers are hourly
inveigled and often times robbed. In
ono brief block no less than twenty-five
gambling dens are in full blast under the
very ewes of the police. In front OF
each place an almond eyed steerer and
pig tailed capper sand to lure in cltl-
zens from all the Oriental lands For
John Chinaman is but one of the victims
of these dens. An hours circuit among
them will show the visitor japanese, Ma
nilans, Hindoostanese, Maoris, Hawai-
iaus. and even members of our own race.
The vast commerce of our port brings in
daily hundreds of seamen and passengers
from these Eastern lands, and these serve
ns prey for the gamblers of Mott street.
The dens begin at No. 4 on the north
side and end at 1S; at No. on the south
side and end at 21. Each is backed by
from two to ten persons, and employs
from one to five ropersSh. Altogether
and thirty chevaliers d'industre, and en-
riches at least twenty-five capitalists.
Each bank has capital RAINING from
1000 TO $50, 900, and does business
Of seldom less than 81, 900 per diem.
Like the American institution it takes
some care of its customers and supplies
them (as long as they are able to play
with free meals, drinks sleeping accom-
modations and occasionally tobacco.
While the profits of these dens are
large the expenses Sre proportionate-
Each bank supplies three meals day to
employees and customers, pays good
salaries or commissions to its heelers,
large fees to its "Melican" lawyers, a
heavy rent to its landlord, and other
items. The property is in vile condition,
but is so managed as to bring in larger
rentals than many palaces uptown. Of
the twenty-five houses one-half Ideal on
Nthe square, " and the other half are "skin. s"
They are devoted chiefly to "Fan-tan," "
but allow dominoes and other
short games. When you see enc Of the
dens you see ALL You enter warm,
close room, whose chief, if not sole furni-
ture is a large and very high table covered
with polished white mating. At the
head of the table stands the dealer, and
usually to his right either standing or
perched on high stool is the cashier.
On the table in the centre is square
tin plate, whose four sides are numbered
/, 2, 3, 4. The dealer sits in front of
No. 1, the cashier before No. and the
players before Nos. 3 and 4. The game
is started by the dealer putting on the
table a double handful of round, fiat
brass coins, perforated with a square
hole, and covering the pile with con-
cave metal cover. The players deposit
their stakes, either in money or chips,
upon any one or two of the four numbers.
When the stakes are deposited the dealer
removes the metal cover from the coins
and with long rod of the shape and
size of an old-fashioned knitting needle
removes the coins four at a time. The
last pull of the dealer leaves anything
from one to four coins on the board and
so decides the game. If a player has
backed a single number he wins three
times his bet, less z per cent, the banks
commission. If upon two numbers he
wins the amount of his bet less the same
percentage. In betting on two numbers
these must be adjacent; 1.3 and "a are
barred; 1.2, 2.3, 3.4 and Al are allowed.
If fan-tan money were alone used it
would be easy to suppress the vice in
twenty-four hours But John, in his in
genuity, has devised several schemes
whereby fortunes can be made or lost
without ''Melican man" understanding
the why and wherefore. In each bank
is collection of ''chips," which include
round, white and black pearl buttons,
ancient coins, Chinese dominoes, and
pink, white and yellow sticks. The
value of these is empirical and is known
only to the bank and It's customs. At No.
21 one day last week heavy
game, in which thousands of dollars
changed hands, the only visible evidence
of the fan-tan was six saucers of white
artificial pearls. Another system alto.
gether Chinese is the Gamblers Benevo.
lent Union" This is a trades union OF
the best type They rate all customers,
mark them as good, medium and bad.
The last are white-listed when they re.
fuse to pay their ''dcbts of honor" and
after sixty days notice are black listed
and tabooed by the union. Under this
system ''good" players win and lost
hundreds of dollars without using
money. If they win they draw upon tn
bank the next day; if they lose they re
nit the amount due within twenty-fou
hours.
1t would be difficult to stop the lattel
form of gambling in Chinatown. Their,
are not more than ten Americans il
New York who ever see the game, anC
only about seven who understand tn
language sufficiently to know what i
going on. AS most of these, if not all
have business relations with the moon
eyed fraternity, it is barely probabl
that they would ever consent to act a
romplainants against their friends. Tn
small game and especially the "brace
game can be easily suppressed. 1t sim
ply is means of robbing hundreds O
newly arrived clerks and laundrymen.
The Physiology Of Presentation.