Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-15

granite monument, with the inscription
Sacred to the Memory of the Right Honble.
Lord Henry John Spencer Churchill. 4th son of
George 9Th Duke of Marlborough. Captain of
H. b. NJ s. Druid and Senior Officer in the
China Seas. Departed this life in Macoa roads,
End June, 1910. This monument erected by
His Officers and Petty Officers in testimony Of
their Esteem and Affection"
GIVEN Up TO GAMING
Finally, Macao, as have said, is the Monaco
of the east, and from its gaming tables its i'm
pecunious government reaps $780, 900 a year,
the price said to be paid by the syndicate OF
Chinese proprietors for the monopoly The
game Is peculiarly Chinese one, we'll fitted to
afford full scope to the multitude of refine
ments and hypothetical Celebrations with which
the Chinaman. the greatest gambler On earth.
loves to surround his favorite vice. It is played
on a mat-covered table, with a small square of
sheet lead and heap of artificial gilded 'cash.,r
On one side stands the croupier, on the adjoln-
ing side sits the dealer, and between them. a
little to the rear. is the desk and treasury of the
cashier. The sides of the leaden square are
called one, two, three, and four. The
dealer takes up from the heap rs many
cash" as he can grasp with both hands
and places them apart upon the table.
Then the players who sit and stand round the
other two sides of the table, make their bets,
that IS, they place at either side of the square
any sum from so cents to $500. or at either cor
ner any sum up to 81, 500. When all have done
the dealer slowly counts the heap out In tours,
and the last remaining four or three or two or
one, as the case may be. is the winning num-
Der. Those who have placed their money at
the corresponding side of the square, which is
called playing fan, are paid three to one those
who have staked at the corner. covering two
numbers or playing tan, are paid even money
II either number wins. From all winnings the
bank deducts eight per cent.
OTHER WAYS OF PI AyISG
Besides the above ways, there are many other
OF infinite complication, scored with buttons
and cards and ivory counters, which no fellow
excepta Celestial can possibly understand.
But they play with the greatest eagerness the
coole who works a week to save his dollar the
shopkeeper who calmly stakes his watch and
Chain If he Is short of ready money, and the
Weil-to-do merchant, who watches the game for
half an hour to judge of the chances and then
laws down his hundred dollar bill and walks
lmpertubably away whatever the result may
be. Of course everybody asks, cannot the
dealer after years of practice take up fixed
number OF cash according to the sums
staked upon the table? 1t seems probable but
have watched him for long time and | am
convinced that if he could it would in nearly
all cases be impracticable, for many sufficient
reasons. And many people. too, ask them
selves II there Is not ''martingale" or ''sys-
tenn" by which the individual PLAYER can SO
enormously increase the odds i'll his own
favor against the bank as to make
winning almost a certainty? There is namely,
10 bet as much each time as will if it win re-
coup you for all previous losses and leave a
margin OF profit Thus you can play and win
II one number out of four turns up once in
twenty-five throws, when your stake will have
reached the limit of $500 and you must, per-
force, stop. To do this, however, a capital OF
over thousand dollars must be subjected to a
small risk, and few of the ordinary players al
fan-tan are prepared to do this. On the other
hand, 1t is common enough to see a thousand
dollars on the table for a single deal, on Satur-
day nights, when the rich Hong Kong brokers
come over Most gambling systems are pit
falls, but l am convinced that if twenty men
with large capitals were to come and play al
one table at one time on this system properly
calculated. the bank would inevitably be
broken. Therefore fan-tan would not work III
the west HENRY NORMAN.