The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-23
SOME MONTANA CHARACTERS.
Typical Gamblers, Miners aud Gulch
Maids Who Are Conspicuously Alb

From the Chicnao Tribnne.

Maids Who Are COnSpicuOusly Alb
sent.
From the Chicago Tribune.
HELENA, MONT, Aug. 6-Faro bank is
an established institution in Montana, an
is openly dealt every day in the year. The
laws of the territory recogn re the game,
and make it legitimate in that they allow
the licensing of gambling houses wherein
faro and rOu !d-the-table poker are played.
All other games of chance, such as hazard,
roulette and stud poker are ta-
booed The law requires the keepers
of gaming houses to keep over the
street door Of o building in which the
games are run a sign on which appear the
40 DIS Licensed gambling house" The use
of Cheating devices are prohibited, and in
fringementS of this provision work for
fixture of the lice Use of the paroles offe ID
ing, and a perpetual junction against
them as keepers If any house Of a similar
nature n the territory as we'll. The games
are conducted on the ground floors of
saloons, usually in full view of the street.
Every town has its gambling institution.
and there must be at least twenty of them
in Helena, the Chinese operating one or
two.
The western gambler, as depicted by
novelists, playsfaklrS, and some newspaper
men, is usually IS or 40 Years Of age, alway,
tall and erect. He IS at,ired in a frocK
coat, low cut vest, and trousers of black
br ladcloth. His boots, for the gambler in
fiction ne er we rs shoes, are highly poi
ished, a ID the indi idual is made TO carry
with him a varied assortment of strange
oaths, bowie knives, marked cards and
pistols, The gentlema is the defender of
fe lale virtue, and the personification of
physical courage He deals Off fabulous
sums of money with great nonchalauce. and
II the VIII ers are to be accepted at al, the
ga nbling in the west is of mammoth pro-
pc tons. There never was greater fl ght
of fancy
The faro banks out here are remarkable
for their low limit. 30 g hundred dollars
to ca es and $500 to double cardsn is matter
of no moment in the east, but $50 25 aud
Sl2 80" is aJout the run of the game in the
territories The white hecks are issued at
1919 cents. and anything like high gambling
attracts quite a crowd. 1t would seem as
If ma ure had made men for the express
purpose of dealing the bank, as the ge tie
men on the other side of the table all look
aiae. There ISN'T one of these story paper
mountain life gamblers, with big wa CHI
chain and cluster PIN, between Bismarck
and Tacoma. If there ever was the I'M
written hi tory of the country does not cor
rob1rate the statements of certain monu-
men-al romancers who have ma iufactured
haracters of this species. The JACK Asa
tons VIII crumple up thousand dollar bills
and bet them as it they were but sin gle
dollars are not out here this year.
Notwithstanding the inhibition against
the use of cheating devices there are in
stances where the law is defed. Only the
other day the dealer in gambling house at
town not far from Helena was observed
to be manipulating a pack containing fifty
three cards, instead of the usual M Der,
fifty-two. These he carefully shuttle and
put into an ''end-squeeze" or cheating box
The gentleman was dealing what is KIN WA
as the odd card" which by the way was
the tray Of spades. 1t was a slim game of
c ,rds at that. There wasa't over Sc on the
layout at any one time, a ID at the last turn
the dealer applied his thumb to the spring
and took ia the biggest bet on the board,
about So 50.
Neither is that conventional old miner to
be seen-that honest old red-shirted miner
who said: "Yar, thar, squar and whar. y
Like the gambler, he rallied to tle defense
Of FINALE virtue, and wore a big Dad
leather belt with a buckle that weighed a
pound. In the aforesaid belt was one six