The Osceola times., 1888-03-31
CHINESE oAMoLERS.
oms Of the Outiandish oupsrstitions m
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Some Of the Outieuoon ~stsn
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Chinese gamblers are more supersti-
tious than the mass of their country
men. All colors save white. are care
fully avoided by the owners in the
walls and decorations of their gam
bling-rooms. White. the color OF
mourning and Of the robes worn by
the spirits of the dead. always consid-
cred inauspicious. is associated with
the idea Of losing money. and is be-
lieyed to bring bad fortune to their
patrons, with corresponding gains to
themselves Even the Inscriptions to
tho tutelary god are always written
upon white paper, and white candles
are burned before his shrine instead OF
the red ones ordinarily used. Gam
blers on the way to play fan tan will
turn back If any one jostles them or they
happen to come in contact with any OBJ
struciion. If a players h md encoun'
ters anothcr's as he lays his stake on
the table he will not put his money on
the number toward which he was
reaching. Gamblers refrain from read
ing books before playing. and books
are not regarded with favor IN gam
bling houses from tho word ''She"-
book. sounding like "Shc'--to, lose
money. All inauspicious words are
avoided. Thus the almanac. .'Hung
she, Is always called .'Gut sing.l
through unwillingness to utter the ON.
inousl .She.' This book is Of daily use
among gamblers, for in its calendar OF
lucky and unlucky days there is special
mention of the days favorable for play
ing, and, besides. it always contains a
dream-book. and they attach much inn
portance to the Interpretation of
dreams.
Many devices are resortcd to in or
der to divine tho winning numbers In
the Doc hop bu. Some players dot tho
tickets at random, with the eyes clos
ed; others outline with the dots all aus.
picious character, or mark such char
acters as, when read in succession, will
form happy sentence. A young child
or stranger is often asked to mark
tickets At times tho player will visit
some shrine, or 'Kwanl te'-thet god
of war-the divinity generally swor-
SHIPPED by the Chinese in America.
and burn candles and incense and mock
money before his pictures, kneel and
throw the divining sticks, a box of which
containing eighty sticks, marked with
the characters of the lottery-ticket,s is
usually kept at the shrine for the use OF
gamblers. Asmany sticks are allowedto
fall as the gambler desires to play
numbers. The gamblers do much to
keep alive the tpaditions and ieli gious
ceremonies of their native counTyTTho
winner of large sum Of money ire
qucntly contributes literally TO The
support Of the local shrine, and sub
scription books FOR the erection
and maintenance OF the temples in San
Francisco. and even in China. milys be
seen in the shops connected With the
gambling houses in Eastern American
cities. Tho shrine in Philadelphia, I'd
which niany'of the resident Cinnamon
resort at the season Of the New Year,
was built by . man who won $500 in
tho boo hop bu. and hoped by ittopro1
pltiate the god to whom he attributesl
his good fortune. r. sr, s7a.sd bai
Among the questions asked nj The
New Years pilgrimage to, tho temple,
is whether the worshiperwill be fortu-
nate at play during the year The
worship of "Kwan to" by heigamblers
is regarded as presumptuous, by the
more Intelligent, as by them il is not
thought he looks with favor upon ille-
gal practices One Of the lower gods is
believed to be more appropriate OBJ
jcct for their alteration. md in tho fan
tan cellars tablet IL Invariably erect
ed to the lord Of tho land, the tutelary
spirit, who is supposed to rulo the
household ghosts, and whose worship,
no doubt, shares an antiquity as great
as the institution Of the game itself.---
~ T. Times. sf.fr sg7.H,ssirmue