, 1888-06-08
BOYS GAMBLING EoR PENNIES.

The FaseinntIon of Such Games as
Liner" "Crack' and "Crap."
The l~uxuriance and magnifcence of
the gambling establishments of Monte
Carlo, Baden and AK have given the
Idea that they are the most costly gam
bling houses in the world. This may in
one sense be true, but there Is q building
in this city which cost more than n Of
the gaming establishments of continental
Europe and which is daily used by gam
blers. Players are daily cheated there
by chance out Of their last penny literally
and are forced to leave the place without
enough money to buy a meal.
Where is this great building and who
are the gamblers7 you ask. 1t is the
Federal building, the United States post
office in this city, and the gamblers are
the newsboys all around it. Who has
not seen them?
From early in the morning until it Is
too dark to distinguish heads from tails,
between the buttresses of the postoffice,
along Mail street and all over the side
walk, can be seen knots Of these little
street gamblers anxiously trying their
fortune. They have become one of the
institutions Of the city. 1t is just as
natural that a newsboy should pitch pen
MES as that he should sell papers, and no
n thinks of disturbing him. He has
taken possession Of the federal building
presumably with the knowledge of the
officials, and he considers it a trespass ON
his rights when a pedestrian pushes his
way through and interrupts his game.
he puts his entire capital into the ven
ture, and many an enthusiastic little
gambler, who never dreamed of systems
and who never broke a bank, has been
compelled to sleep at night in some un-
comfortable doorway because he lost his
little all at pitching pennies.
To be able to tell those who are inter-
ested and who do not know all about this
game a reporter hunted up a little chap
the other day who had ''gone broke on
der pavement" and who was anxious to
sell all his knowledge of the game for a
small consideration There are, accord
Ing to this boys story, two ways Of pitch
Ing pennies. The first game Is called
elmer" and it may be played by from
two to eight boys. In this game a line is
chosen and the players stand a certain
distance off and pitch their coppers as
near as possible to the line, but not over
1t. If five are playing they all pitch.
Suppose three of them put their coppers
across the line and two this side. The
pennies beyond the line are lost and must
be divided between the other two. The
n whose penny lies nearest the line
takes all of the pennies, shakes them in
his hand and drops them to the pave
ment. The heads belong to him and the
tails to his opponent.
Another and more difficult game is
played N is called ''crack." 1t Is played
just the same as the '1iner'' game, ex-
cept that the penny must first be thrown
against the wall and made to rebound to
that part of the pavement where the
chosen crack is situated. This requires
more skill than the other game, and only
those who are expert ever attempt 1t.
Another favorite game of these little
chaps is called crap" 1t is played with
a single die and is shaken In the hand,
and the opposite player calls ''odd" or
''even" for the number of spots on the
face of the die.
AS superstition is to be found among
all classes of gamblers, it is also to be
found among the penny pitching news
boys, n 1t takes some queer shapes.
Not a lad of them who sells papers will
pitch a penny until he has made at least
n sale, and the little fellow with the
box is just as determined and will not
try his fortune until he has had one
''shine." Again, nearly all of the boys
have their favorite pennies, In which
they believe, Inc they cherish it just as
fondly as the late John T. Raymond did
his pretentious 1904 dollar, and these
pennies are often the one thing about the
boys that are kept s~crupulously clean.
Another, and probably the most peculiar
superstition, is that they believe q woman
brings them bad luck. If, in playing on
the street, a woman passes before a boy
who is about to pitch, and between him
and the crack at which he throws, he
can. if he likes, refuse to throw, and the
game is given up and another crack
chosen. Why q woman and not a man
should be chosen as the omen of i'll luck
does not appear, but "Dey allus bring de
rocky wild 'em. New York World.