Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-12-26
GAMBLING IN CHINA.
A Vice INDUCED In by Orientals of High
and Low Degree.

A Vice INDUCED In by Orientals of High
and Low Degree.
Gambling is naturally associated with
drinking, and all of the Eastern ma
tions are fond of games of chance. The
Chinese are the greatest gamblers in the
world. The man who works for five
cents day and who has one cent set
aside for his supper will go to the cook
stand and invest that cent upon the lit
tile lottery which the man runs in con-
nection with it. If he wins he may get
two dinners, if he loses he goes without.
At Tien Tsin every peddler of cakes and
boiled bread has bamboo tube as big
around as a tumbler and in this there
are number of sticks about the length
of knitting needle, and of the size OF a
slate pencil. On the end of some of
these sticks there are numbers, while
others are blank. The numbers
are on the ends of the sticks
which are stuck into the tube.
and the purchaser pays so much
a draw. If he pulls out a stick with
number on it he has the number of cakes
represented by it, if not, he gets moth
ing. A common game at Chinese din
ners is the guessing the number OF fin
gers one man thrusts out quickly be-
fore the eyes of his neighbors. If the
guess is wrong the guesser has to take
drink of samsha. Fan tan is the great
est Chinese game of chance. 1t is
PLAYED everywhere and it is usually run
by stock companies in houses called tan
koon. These houses have two rooms, in
one which cash or copper coins alone
are played for, and in the other of which
silver and gold are used. A fan-tan
table has four numbers on it, one. two,
three and four, and it takes three men
to manage the game. At the head
sits the croupier who has a great
pile of copper cash, each with
little square hole in it's middle, and
zach as big around as a red cent. He
FATHERS up double handful of these
srid puts them under a tin basin. The
Gamblers who stand around the table
EN- put their money on one of the four
bmbers, and as they do SO the shroff
cashier of the game takes an account
them and looks to see that the money
not counterfeit A third man con-
led with the game is also present to
over the money to the winners. AS
as t,,o game is ready the basin is
Eli Oh 'siiu IHc
Dry roll into the hole of the cash,
faws away four at time. The num-
Der last left at the last drawing decides
he winning or the losing. If the money
ZONES out even and four cash are left the
money on wins. And if three or two
&c left those putting their money on
e the amount of their stake. All on
fmber 1 lose. 1t is in the same ratio
the other numbers, and the gambler
one chance of winning, two of not
20 any thing, and one chance of los
Shis is one species of fan-tan. An
where the gambler. if he wins,
be times the amount of his
but If any of the other three
tswin he loses. There are other
IS games played on these fan-tan
are played on the roulette ia
the chances arc in all cases
who run the game. Even in
e winnings seven per cent. is
aiken out to defray the ex-
the proprietors, and. the
6na1s, as usual, make
honey. China has its policy
which is net much different from
known in America, and a great
7fof gambling goes on by means of
All sorts of games of chance are
yr 4Ht the law. but they are winked at
- omciAls, who. in some cases, get
1kts of their revenue from the
<| - At the treaty ports
6ably more playing than in
l4 It is fpot uncommon for