Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-05-19
IN YucATAN.
Further ACCOUNT OF THE
EASTER FESTIVITIES.
Gambling Scene Among the First
Society"-StrikiDg Fashions of
Classes-The Dance Arena.
Correspondence of the RECORD UNION
MERIDA, Yucatan. Nav s. 1888,

correspondence Vi the hEtOkD-ONlON.i
MERIDA, Yucatan, May s, 1888.
Hardly had the sun set on Easter Sun
day before our Merida friends came to show
us the rest of the sights, for there were
balls and gambling fetes yet to be at
tended before the festival could be salts
factorily completed. The streets were
brilliantly Illuminated, and amid rockets,
fireworks, drums and guitars we followed
the crowd.
Not far from the cathedral-which was
still ablaze with candles-was large
house, also dazzlingly illuminated, whose
door stood wide open to all who chose to
enter-or rather TO all who were strong
enough to force an entrance through the
surging crowd. Waiting the motion OF
| the struggling mass before us and pushed
! by those behind, it was impossible to es-
cape from the human vortex, and we were
finally pushed into the sala in breathless
condition.
We found ourselves in an immense
apartment extending the whole front of
the house-hot as hades, and jammed to
sutocation by clamorous crowd. So
great was the confusion, it was for some
time impossible to form any idea of what
was going on. Through the thick clouds
of smoke-for ali the men and not a few
of the women were putting away at the
inevitable cigarettes-we dimly recognized
the faces Of many ladies and gentlemen OF
the first society. 1t was a public gam
bling house, and the game was La Loteria
1.-THE lottery"
| Down the entire length of each side OF
the hall extended rude table, supporting
candles, set about two feet apart IN small
tin receivers. Before the tables were
benches made of rough boards, upon which
sat gentlemen and ladies-whites, half
breeds and Indians-crowded together
cheek by jowl. On the table in front Of
every person was a square piece of paper
covered with rows of figures, small pile
of grains of corn and stout stick about
eighteen inches long. In the midst Of
the heat, smoke and confusion, the eyes Of
all were fixed intentiy upon the papers
and, sticks in hand, they looked like SC
many necromancers practicing the black
art. Upon platform stood young man
rattling bag of balls and screaming
something in shrill, sing-song tones, which
could be distinctly heard above every other
| sound. The passages were packed with
spectators, who leaned over the heads Of
those sitting at the tables and eyed the
mysterious papers as intently. There were
husbands and wives, parents and children
masters and servants, gray boards, babies
in arms, men high in Office and half-naked
Indians, patrician danes bedecked with
ljewels-the best and worst of Merida's
population.
But gambling in Yucatan is not what il
may be in other portions of the world, and
La Loteria, the tavorite amusement in this
Acadia, is a harmless one. The game is
authorized by the Government, and was
formerly employed as means Of raising
money, either for the public treasury OF
some other worthy purpose. Its scheme
consists of different combinations Of num-
bers. from one to ninety, written on
squares of paper, nine rows to each side
and five figures to the row. As ninety
figures admit Of an indefinite number OF
combinations, any number of papers can
be issued, each containing a different
series of combinations. These papers are
stamped by the Government and sold at a
real ~! cents) apiece, aid every player
purchases one of them and sticks it to the
table before him with wafer. A purse
is then made up, each player putting in q
certain sum, which is collected in a
hat. The youth with the bag of balls
then sings out the amount of the purse
and, rafting his bag, draws out ball and
shouts the number drawn. Every PLAYER
marks en- his paper, with grain of corn,
the number called: and the one who is
first able to mark FIVE numbers in a row
wins the purse. This he announces by
rapping smartly on the table with his stick
and standing up in his place. The youth
yells over again the numbers drawn, and
if, on comparison, all are found to be cor
rect, he delivers the purse to the lucky
! winner. Mistakes often occur, and then
great is the clamor and confusion, and if il
does not end with a CLEAN of daggers or
fash of pistols the spectators may con-
slider themselves fortunate.
The amount played for is always mod
crate, varying from medic (6f cents) to
dos reaLes, which is the highest limit. The
largest purse l heard proclaimed was $50,
and that, made up among several hundred
players, could not be called very heavy
| gambling.
In fact it is hardly fair to say that La
Loteria is ruled by the spirit of gambling,
and it is looked upon rather as an accessory
to social Intercourse than anything more
serious. Yucatecos are fond of amusements.
and there are very few in this isolated cor
ner of creation. All ages and classes col
lect at the tables Of La Loieria to meet
acquaintance, rather than to win money.
There rich and poor, great and small meet
on footing of perfect equality-yet no.
body forgets his place, though the utmost
good feeling is cultivated. Whole families
go together, and young people, whose
chances of meeting are rare as angels WIS.,
! Its, play secretly at the more desperate
game where hearts are at stake and ewes
the weapons.
OF course, as in every country, there are
other forms of gambling, conducted not
quite SO publicly-thoug here no one
cares to conceal it. There are swell club
rooms, we are told, where nothing less than
doubloons are the stake and gold and silver
are nightly piled high on the tables.
There were number Of balls in progress
that evening, and our programme was to
look in upon one of each of three classes
aristocrats, Mestizas and Indians. Some
body has said that male society in Yucca
tan is divided into two great classes those
who wear pantaloons, and those who do
not. The latter class, which are by far
the most numerous, go about in white
drawers, with remarkably short white
shirts, worn with FLAPS" outside.
The highest circles of Merida tripped the
light fantastic in the Casino Going into
this club-room from the street, you enter a
spacious courtyard, where bananas, palms,
oranges, and flowers are growing, and
which tonight was everywhere hung with
Chinese lanterns. 1t is two-story build
ing, and extending all around the court
are wide corridors, with doors opening
into the rooms Of the building. Three
| sides of the whole upper floor are devoted
| to the ballroom, the third being used for
refreshment and dressing-rooms.
The orchestra was stationed outside. at
one end of the corridor, and as the ladies
came out of the dressing-room, they were
| escorted to seats in the ball room, where they
remained ranged in rows against the walls.
In this country gentlemen Away lead the
lady in by the hand, which seems much
more graceful than our fashion of hitching
her on his arm, especially where there are
| two ladies. While the senoritas sat there
| like wall-howers posed for admiration,