St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-20
DEVOTED TO LUCK.
A Glimpse of the Gambling Hells Of New
York. Where Fortunes Are Won
and Lost.
DemOralizing and RuinOus Influences of
King Faro-What It Will
Lead TO.
An Aristocratic Uptown Game
Where All sorts of Wines and
Liquors Are served.
NIiIIiOnnires, Ministers, Brokers, Mer-
chants, Actors and Other Glasses
az the Faro Table.

New York Correspondence.
l have been asked to tell what know
about gambling After twenty years of
newspaper life in New York il was perhaps
natural on the part of the publisher To sup
pose that / knew something about this
particular feature of metropolitan life: but
10 tell il all would be not only 10 violate
the confidence which professional gamblers
invariably TepOse i'm newspaper men. but
mot an important consideration b. the
way) tO find m self one of these particular
line evenings repOsing under the shadow OF
an ambulance. the victim OF certain bruises
which al the inquest the surgeon in attend
ance would describe with great professional
JUNCTION in Latin pOlySyllaOles-
No; what 1 know about gambling it has
cost me a great deal of money 10 learn. but
1 dare not get even in that way. have
been induced OF divers occasions 10 attempt
10 ''thump 'em lust once. Old Eel, in the
words of an esteemed contemporary cele-
DRAFTED for his humOr and his admirable
comedies for the stage. but the encounter
generally ended in my discontinue. You
may chance To -'thump EN- now and
again. but it is CHASTITY fact that as a rule
they ''thump" you. And this in a per
fectly
SQUARE GAME
There have been times, however. when
the long green table with its cheek rack
and cue box has seemed 10 me a veTitable
Tom Tiddler's ground. when every bet
would seem necessary 10 win. and when 1
have gone over the ferry To the suburb, in
which. "a Mr.. PecksniIf might say. take
the liberty to live in i've coaches, stuffed
in every pocket with too much money 10
count. On these rare occasions the wife of
my bosom would complacemtly indulge the
belief that must have written some eX
ceedi9giy brilliant articles during the cur
rent week. But more often has that eSti-
mable lady had reason to marvel that her
spouse should write 50 much and Tn her
own terse languagel have nothing TO show
for it," low many ingenius pleas have
not husbands been obliged Ia fabricate, |
wonder, after an attempt 10 ''thump 'eHl
Just Oncc?" The cashier was i'll, my dear:
they have changed the pay day, cOnfOund
them. there was q terrible iire on the block;
the senior proprietor of the lirm dropped
dead; and what not.
In speaking of gambling" / mean faro.
OF course there are many other forms OF
gamblng-rOulette rouge ct nOir. German
sweat" poker. poker dice. keno, alias
lotto. spinning the top. short cards of all
description; all these are rife in New York
city, but
FARO Is KING,
and when a gambler speaks of touching a
card" it is that alluring recreation that ne
means. Everybody" said Ira Janre,
popularity known as Old January (who. by
the way. is writing a history of his life that
will astOniSh the natives. for this redoubt
able gambler has done many more wonder
full things during his checkered career than
to win so. 600 from a lOzenge, which is {
fact, everybody plays farrer." (FOr 81
he prOnOunces it, And so it used to seen
TO me-(fOr be pleased TO observe tina
nothing set down here about gambler
goes i'm the present tense; we will con
cede that all the men and places l MAJ
mention are long since dead and gone.
l have seen generals in the army
sons of mighty milliOnaires, min
listers of the gospel. physicians in flOurishins
circumstances, bankers. brokers, staid meT
chants deacons, celebrated actors and ora
tors-aye, everybody" except women, a
the faro table. Capt Mayne Reid, III
his ludicrously incorrect description of TN
game in The QuadrOOn," speaks of havinl
seen woman eXcitedly stalking her dia
mOnds at the game; but neither At Lon:
! Branch nor Saratoga, the most likely place
for such a phenomenon TO occur, have
seen woman at the table. Bank-keeper
rarely take collateral" The dealer, i'm
perturbable as the Sphynx, with his straw
hat drawn over his eyes human machin
, apparently without tinge of human emo
! ton, turns for checks" In most cases
: indeed. il is the rule not TO allow even In
money itself TO be placed on a card-far les
diamonds or watches.
The down town games were all ''da
Ill 4.
/, go yards from st. Panls church, at The to
/. of Fulton street on Broadway. Before tn
, new Evening Post building was erected. O
its site stood an old wooden rOOkery, de
! voted in all its tOrtuous alleys on every foo
! to ''shOw cards" and faro. This buildin.
S was celebrated then as 200" Nobody VIII
1 knew ANYTHING of New York life dreame
! of saying ''2O6 Broadway" 1t was simpl
''205'-as il is sis" or ''616," or mo
l." Here at ''206," room \. the biggeS
/. day game down town. with the eXceptiO
, Of that at the aristOcratic No. Barcla
street, was carried on from morn till dew
\ eve. In partnership with ''0ld Jan" :
f zoo" were Eddy Klein.
: THE COOLEST GAMBLER
e with one exception, in New York city;
d tall, thin cOnsumptive. apparently careleS
: whether the bank won or lost, or whethe
N
? brother, who still lives TO make a turn fC
e the boys, but whose occasional rheumati
. twlnges may be distinctly traced 10 tn
: birds and Burgundy of days OF yOre; All
Il Garry Moody, a handsome fellow, VIII
= knows more funny stories than any otht
4 man have met AT l o'clock. in room 4
. or the adjoining parlOrs, dinner was serve
!. free TO all. and ''206" became celebrate
for the excellence of its cookery. / Nigh
whisper i'm confidence than nowhere els
have / tasted such cOrned beef as here wa
placed on the table in the shape of a nObl
r round. or, rs Fielding called it. ''chine,
flanked by all the vegetables
season. every Saturday. On Othe
70 days the dinner was equally good, but Oh
Jan was punctliOus on one point. On Fr
70 day lac served fish only. Hard by this Ol
rickety building turning sharply TO II
W right on coming out, one might Tin thOS
N DAYS. OF course; l say nothing of the pre-:
y enf) have come upon regular nest of fan
banks The block on Fulton street, b,
o tween Nassau and Broadway, was hone,
combed with them on both sides of the wal
70 Invariably the games were situated on ii
second floor the character of its inmate
W being disguised by show card advertise
N mentS, stencil plate cards and jewell
" cases. Here the lowest checks were 5
70 cents; the highest 81 each. One shO
block from here. or straight through Mo-
70 Quin's restaurant. is the historical home {
down town games, Ann street. Con
" mencing with No. 1, on the CO
u ner, this Ubiquitous little Thorough
" fare at one time-again L sa
n. | nothing of tho nrpSenf-yUaS cir,