St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-22

OAi bllt lllt NiSilOl 10 COii-
frOnted by a thirty-foOt bar. behind
which stand several liquor dispensers.
who are doing lively business. Stroll
on he passes down the center aisle, to
the right and left of which are stud
poker tables. roulette wheels and faro
layouts. Although so early in the even
Ing, the games are well patronized.
while constantly moving throng
brushes eareleSSly along-representa-
tiveS of all nations and of every color on
the face of the globe. 1t is Monaco on
a small scale. A draw poker game is
the first attraction, six players par
ticipating.
Next to a grizzled sinner of sixty, who
SqueeZes his cards like the old profess
sional he is, sits a beardleSs youth of
not over eighteen, whose flushed face
and eager eyes proclaim the novice.
a third player is the typical miner,
bearded like pard," who smokes a
short pipe, and in his blue 0verallS
splaShed with mud, rubs up against the
well-dresSed young fellow who clerks
for a mercantile concern at MiSSOula.
A Jew drummer for cigar house and
tin-horn gambler in his shirt-SleeveS
complete this strange assortment. Five
hours later they are still playing. The
miner Is out OF luck and inclined to be
QuarrelSOme; the novice has painful
rings under his eyes and a hard express
sion about his mouth; the Jew drum
mer is half-shot while the old sinner
hugs a dozen stacks" of chips close to
his breast, and peers cunningly from
under his bushy eyebrows. He
and the tin-hOrn gamester are the
only winners. Not pleasant spectacle
to contemplate. The crowds are thick
est around the faro tables, where all
sorts and all conditions of men are en-
gagged i'll trying to best the bank. There
is the man who bites his checks and
gritS his teeth when he loses bet, and
curses everybody, from the Almighty
down to the dealer, because of his hard
luck. This variety of player is well
known, he is ubiquitous. The profess
siOnal gambler keeping leases" who
plays system and scarcely ever speaks
except to give directions regarding
bet is a also familiar character. The
ignorant Irish labOrer who tolls ten
hours day in the damp mines for $3.50,
not content with this pay. better than
he ever earned in his life before, in
some way has drifted here, become
"Stuck" on the game and elbows in"
every cent he earns. Clerks, transfers,
miners and even bank cashiers JOstle
each other in their eagerness to place a
bet. while occasionally voice is raised
in angry protest against a player who
has miSappropriated some checks.
If the "kicker'' wakes Obstreper-
Gus the lookout makes a sign, the
head bOuncer of the establishment APP
pears and the disturber of the peace is
Summarily elected. Imperturbable and
impassive the dealer sweeps off the los
ing bets, regardless of the groanS from
the unlucky players or the denunciatiOn
visited upon him. He is an automatOn,
and his long, thin fingers insensibly re-
mind one of the claws of an octopus.
Everybody CANDLES at Butte, and the
combination is the Mecca. Through
the long room on the right, under the
arch opening INTO the second saloon,
table after table. surrounded by eager
players, meets the eyes, and after doing
the grand rounds the visitor passes an
other thirty-fOot bar, fac-simile of the
one first seen, gives backward glance
at the Kaleidoscope view, and with the
rattle of the chips ringing in his ears.
pushes open the swinging doors and
draws long breath of fresh, smoky air.
A "club room" upstairs. whers there
is another bar and more tables, is util-
lied as poker retreat, it being less pub
lie than the resort below. Unless man
have $500 in his pocket 1T would be
waste of time and money to sit in any
game on this floor: the players are all
high-rolleTs. The combination, it is
perhaps fair to state, bears the reputa-
ton of dealing square" game.
JACK DOwD'S DEN.
Not so the gambling house across the
street on the farther corner, however.
of which the notorious Jack Dowd is
proprietor and the infamous Boston
Charley" known to every chief of
police in the United States, one of the
dealers. Down claims to be giving
square deal Just now, but "skin game"
is indelibly marked on every feature of
this establishment. Senegambians.
Greasers and Chinese affect this resort,
together with low white trash
who have been 'barred" from
the more respectable (?) gambling
room in camp. To the Eastern pilgrim
this queer mixture presented curious
study. A fat Mongolian trying to call
the turn, his little almond eyes eagerly
watching the movements of the man at
the box, was unique spectacle. A still
funnier snap was a row between col
ored gambler and Chinaman over a
BET of four white checks on the ace.
John claimed the bet as his, while the
coon was equally sure the bet was
placed there by him. While the war OF
words was being waged the greasers
drew back from the table, first securing
their checks. then, rolling and lighting
cigarettes, began putting clouds of
smoke and unconcernedly awaited the
termination of the dispute. just
as things were assuming seri-
Gus aspect Boston Charley, who had
hitherto remained quiescent, placed a
heavy hand on the shoulder of each
angry player, forcing him into his seat,
and then without a word divided the
bet, giving each one two checks. The
waShee-washee chartered and the negro
muttered, but both knew too much to
protest at the decision. In small back
room greaser. two Cinnamon, coon
and one Chinese woman were enjoying
quiet game OF poker. The pilgrim
from Chicago watched the female
gambler bluff the rest OF the players out
on a siX-bit raise, and then exposing her
hand show queen high, at which her