St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-20
SMALL SUMS AT STAKE.
Boys Lured to Ruin by Gambling in Dimes
and Quarters.
How. They Play Small Combinations
on the Races.
Winning 1924 on 25 Cents--ssshoe-
string Gamblers.

If the statements of the booksellers be
true then Chicago must go before the world
as possessing more ''shoe string" and ''tin
horn" gamblers than any two cities this side
OF New York, says the Chicago Herald.
While this term, ''tin-horn gambler" fits
the man who loses his breath when he
makes quarter bet on faro layout, it is
especially appropriate in the case of the
racing crank who stands around ali after
noon I'D hot and poorly ventilated base
ment with ten-cent combination in his
pocket. And right here, j. may be said on
good authority, are the seeds from which
the little tin horn gambler grows, for it
must be remembered that fully five-eighths
OF the purchasers of these ten-cent combi-
nations are mere boys, who are lured into
buying them by the charming" prospect
they are said to hold out in the shape of
BIG RETURNS.
Io win one must pick out the winners in
three successive races. To lose one has
only to experience the misfortune of seeing
one OF the three horses on his card beaten.
AS this is much the easier task it has be-
come quite popular, if not remunelative.
But there are times when men and boys
''call the turn" and sometimes, it must be
said, they swell their original investment
hundred fold. If this were not so there
would not be much incentive to play.
Somebody is sure to win. 1t may be school,
boy who is not superstitious; and then again
1t may be a grizzled old sport who would
rather fast for week than meet crOss-eyed
man or black cat while waiting for the
races to come in. There are three dens in
GAMBLERS ALLEY
where these ten-cent combinations are sold.
The proprietors Of these places have dis
covered that this cheap system of playing
has become not only intensely popular but
nightly remuneratlVe. On every dollar
sifted into the wicket windows where the
ticket sellers sit the house scalps ten-cent
piece This is greater percentage than is
reaped from any of the other pools. The
combinations are wide open for everybody
save minors. Money will not be received
from them in person, but the minor in
Gamblers alley is a progressive youth. so
he gifts there" by a different route. He
hnds man much older than himself, gives
MIN his pennies and then tells him how to
play. Meanwhile the TX d.
PULLS HIS LEFT EAR
and does all manner of things to bring him
luck. Should his combination prove the
winning one the old man does the collecting
and then the boy stakes" him for the next
days play. In this way hundreds of bows
Clerks. messengers and boys who do no
wOrk-cultivate a mania for gambling.
which cannot help but prove disastrous in
the end. The evil Is a growing one and
should be crushed forthwith. The fact
that on last Thursday young man named
Wilcox of Springfield, H., won 1924 on
25 cent combination has inspired these
child gamblers with fresh hope. They saw
that if they can do as well as Wilcox they
Will quit the alley. Close observation has
shown the reverse to be the case A heavy
winning is likely to prove of more evil to
the boy than hundred losings. Flushed
with success ne naturally becomes extrava-
CANT in dress and
RIoToUs IN HIS PLEASURES.
1t was money easily earned, he argues,
and why not enjoy some of the sweets Of
life of which he denied himself while striv-
ing to make winning? That the boy who
has won large sum of money and
sqlandered it returns to the spot where
fortune favored him is but natural These
facts are patent to every right-minded per-
son. Why not. then, exclude boys from
the dens in Calhoun place? They are not
admitted to gambling houses and should not
be permitted TO step over the thresholds OF
pernicious pool-rooms. This has been a
great year for the pool sellers in Gamblers
alley. They report business better than
for many years past The betting in the
straight auction pools. the mutuals, the
books and in the combination corners has
been immense.
One pool seller alone figures up his profits
thus far this season at S12, 600. With any
sort of good luck he will double this sum
hafOrp HiaS
old Fox as the boys knew him. used to
make barrel of money every year. That
was when he was the big pool seller of the
alley and counted his customers by the
thousands. That was several years ago,
however and things have changed since
then. One day man named Riley opened
a pool room close beside FOX's den. 1t was
a small affair and received but little pat
ronage. But Riley was thrifty fellow
and made the most of his percentage He
pirated the result of the races and
BASE BALL GAMES
off Fox's boards and pasted them on his own
just as though they had been received at
the dummy telegraph instrument which
used to be worked by one of the hired men
about the place. Fox was all that his name
implies-sharp. He caught Riley at his
game and then set trap. One day he
posted some fictitious winners on his
boards. while the names of real winners
were suppressed. Riley's head pirate;
who, by the way. was mere boy. took
down the bogus winners on piece of
paper, from which they were afterward
transferred to the backbnards in Fox's
rivals den. The result was that Riley paid
out 81, 7O0 on tickets n hadn't won AS
soon as he saw through the trick he hon
ored every one of the winning tickets, and
thereby won the esteem and it may be
said, the trade of the alley. Sly old Fox is
now down at the heel, with nothing to
look forward to but pay day, while Riley,
his oIdtime rival, is making money hand
over fist is his own rooms just across the
way.