Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-11-27
RsUttRIT Ar tLIRs.
The Wholesale Evil To which Thr- Game 4.
sure tn Lead.


From Tho Sew York Tribune
case recently tried in tho London courts
disclosed the ex istence of a large number of
fashionable gaming clubs at the West End.
1t WAS an action for slander brought by an
army officer named Alexander against an
under graduate of Cambridge named Wind
ham. They were members of the Road club,
and played bsccarat with party OF friends
When the Cambridge man had become IN
debted to tho soldier to the extent of SL,7jO,
he demanded a large increase OF the stakes.
Alexander having refused 10 risk all his
gains in a single pool, the loser retired from
the table and charged his antagonist with
having cheated at cards. This accusation
having damaged the officers reputation and
forced hun To Withdraw from the club, he
sued Windham for defamation OF character.
The evidence prod ucei in court consisted OF
statements Of various members of the club
respecting the ordinary methods OF playing
Daccarat and tho honesty or dishonesty OF
AleNandeT's performance on the night in
question, This evidence WAS so conflicting
that the jury were unable to agree upon
verdict Justice Denman in summing up
the case denounced the transaction as a low
and dirty one conducted in a disreputable
CLUB existing for the purpose of promoting
black guard gambling.
The testimony ot the experts called In this
case proved that 1t WAS not an unusual thing
neither income nor visible means Of support,
To in $500 in one evening. 1t also ap-
peared that there were other West End cluUs
where $4,000 could toe carried oil In a single
night and that these clubs had country
branches at Brighton and on the race tracks.
where financial operations of this sort were
conducted on great scale. Justice Den.
mans black guard gambling" apparently
il one OF the recognized recreatons OF the
gilded youth Ct the West End. University
undergrad uates are regular patrons of these
baccsrat clubs, and wards in chancery, like
the unsophistiCated Windham, are enticed
into these fashionable dens and systematic.
ally duped and beggared. The 81. James
Gd=Ctc Ia led by the revelations of this trial
to deuounce the fashionable clubs where bac-
carat aud similar games are played night
after night by professional caTd-sharpers OF
excellent social position who never lose at
table because they invariably cheat These
clubs arc not suppressed by the police, al
though their character is well known. Their
social prestige is SO dazzling that the high
toned card sharper is screened from molesta-
ton.
This subject has attracted little attention in
London OF late years because the powers OF
Parliament have been already exercised in
legallZing the suppression of gaming houses
For thirty years tire police have been author
lied by special act to arrest the proprietors
OF gaming establishments. The credulous
public has believed that loo and baccarat are
| abuses OF the past since the old-time gaming
houses have disappeared. But good so.
| clety has succeeded in frustrating the pur-
pose of the Lawmakers by claiming the i'm
| munities which are ordinarily enjoyed by
| regularly organized social clubs. The prac-
| tical remedy is prosecution for card sharping
| and cheating as a species OF swindling,
| whether practlsed in a professional gaming
| house or "A social club.