The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-06-10
GAMBLING In CHINATOWN.
HOW IT Is CARRIED OF N 1zW
YORK 8 CHINESE QUARTERS.

HOW IT 1s CARRIED OF N HzW
YORK 8 CHINESE QUAHTHRs. ..
Heavy Celestial Play In the Dens-
Methods Of Chinese Gambling Do.k
scrsbed by a Chinaman. Is;
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 arc hourly Y
inveigled and often times robbed. In !:
ono brief block no less than twenty-five
gambling dens are in full blast under the
very eyes of the police. In front Of
each place an almond eyed steerer and
a pig tailed capper stand tolure in cit.
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
nillans, Hindoostanese, Maoris, Hawai-;
ians, and even members of our own,race.
The vast commerce of our port brings IN
daily hundreds of seamen and passenger
from these Eastern lands, and theseserves
as prey for the gamblers of Mott street.
The dens begin at No. 4 on the north
side and end at 18; at No. 8 on the south
side and end at 81. Each is backed by;
from two to ten persons, and employs Z
from one to five ropers-in. Altogether :
the industry supports about two hundred
and thirty chcvaliers d'industre, and en-ss
riches at least twenty-five capitalists.
Each bank has capital running from
s., 900 to $50, 1000, and does businessa
of seldom less than $1,000 per diem,
Like the American institution il takes
some care of its customers and supplies
them las long as they are able to plsy)
with free meals, drinks sleeping accom-
modations and occasionally tobacco.
While the profits of these dens are
large the expenses are proportionate. (;
Each bark supplies three meals q day to-
employees and customers, pays good
salaries or commissions to its heelers; s
large fees to its "Melican" lawyers, o
heavy rent to its landlord, and other
items. The property is in vile condition, &
but is so managed as to bring in Target
rentals than many palaces uptown. OF
the twenty-five houses one.half IDEAL on
the square, aud the other half are 'sskin. y;
They are devoted chiefly to t.Fan:tau, s
but allow dominoes and other
short games. When you see one OF the
dens you see all. You enter warm,
close room, whose chief, if not sole furni.
ture is large and very high table covered 81
with polished white mating. At the &
head of the table stands the dealer, and
usually to his right either standing OF Z;
perched on high stool is the cashier. : y
On the table in the centre is square
tin plate, whose four sides are numbered
1, 2, 8, 4. The dealer sits in front OF &
No. /, the cashier before No. Q and the =
players before Nos. 8 and 4. The game
is started by the dealer putting on the &
table double handful OF round, fiat
brass coins, perforated with q square /!
hole, and covering the pile with q con-
cave metal cover. The players deposit 4
their stakes, either in money or chips, Z
upon any one or two of the four numbers.
When the stakes are deposited the dealer
removes the metal cover from the coins s
and with q long rod of the shape and
size of an old.fashioned knitting needle
removes the coins four at time. The
last pull of the dealer leaves anything
from one to four coins on the board and
so decides the game. If q player has
backed single number he wins three
times his bet, less per cent, the banks
commission. If upon two numbers he
wins the amount of bis bet less the same
percentage. In betting on two numbers
these must be adjacent; 1.8 and "a are 4
barred; 1.2, 2.3, g. and 4. are allowed. g
If fan-tan money were alone used II 6:
would be easy to suppress the vice ~
twenty-four hours. But John, in his In
genuity, has devised several schemes 3
whereby fortunes can be made or lost
without ''Slelican man" understanding
the why and wherefore. In each bank
is collection of "chips," which include
round, white and black pearl buttons e
ancient coins, Chinese dominoes, and &:
pink, white and yellow sticks. Thess
value of these is empirical and Is known e
only to the bank and its customs. No. S.
81 one day last week heavy I
game, in which thousands OF dollars z
changed hands, the only visible evidence 8
of the fan-tan was six saucers OF white
artificial pearls. Another system alto:
gether Chinese is the Chambers Beneyo-
lent Union" This is a trades union OF q
the best type. They rate all customers,
mark them as good, medium and bad. y
The last arc white listed when they re-
fuse to pay their 'debts of honor, and s
after sixty days notice are black-listed G
and tabooed by the union. Under this Z:
system "good" players win and lose
hundreds of dollars without using
money. If they win they draw upon ths I
bank the next day; if they lose they re- Z
NIT the amount due within twenty-four
hours. - ..zs.55
It would be difficult to stop the latter
form of gambling in Chinatown. There
are not more than ten Americans in 4
New York who ever see the game, and !
only about seven who understand the
language sufficiently to know what is
going on. AS most of these, if not all, Z
have business relations with the moon
eyed fraternity, it is barely probable
that they would ever consent to act. as
complainants against their friends: Tbs
small game and especially the sbrace@
game can be easily suppressed. It SIM.
Div is means of robbing hundreds OF z
newly arrived clerks and laundrymen.