Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-23
GAMBLING.
GamesterS of New York Agitated to a
Degree Never Known Before.
Tts state Legislature Inquiring Into the Police
Protection They Enjoy While They
Rob Their Victims


rneciaI to the Gazette.
vryr YORK. March 22.-Never has the gambling
.r,,ernitv Of this city been so agitated as it is
now The perturbation extends TO police circles,
and even affects several reformatory societies.
For instance. Cornelius Vanderbilt has given
$4,000 10 the society for the suppression of vice,
stimulating that it shall all be used against
.-,mbling establishments; and his railway exec
ntfve chief, Chauncey NJ. Depew, has issued an
inDerarive order that every employee caught
Gambling shall be dismissed, no matter how
ysrusbl- his services may be. Detectives are to
beer.ployed to discover culprits, and the rule is
70 be enforced all along the Vanderbilt lines.
..Ir is not true. this statement which you
ling 70 me. - said Mr.. Depew to your CORE
erondent. that we are going to enforce religion
,,ar our employees. Probably the rumor arose
,-,r, the fact that Mr.. Cornelius Vanderbilt and
his mother have given the money to build fine
.~issior- house near by the Grand Central depot
j. Fortv-second street. It was said that our
,--r,1oves we're to be not only invited but
--se-e5 10 take advantage OF this proposed
Garafcence. OF course, that is all nonsense.
ri Il is emphatically true that we are down on
Gambling, and that none OF our men shall be
Tba main cause of disturbance among the pro-
rassional gamblers is the Glamorgan iron COM
nv
~rg-Tas B. Wigton, lost $50 600 in three New
Vo-s gambling houses. Suits have been in
sriruted for the recovery OF the money, and the
yo'ice authorities Will be brought into the Ge-
80 The ground viii be taken that the gam
iriro houses which flourish in the famous hotel
-,recinct are under police protection. The
iIarao-can lawyers win claim that as the police
gii NOT enforce the law against gambling, the
i+,. is financially responsible for all losses arts
ing from either corrupt or lazy laxIty. Inc
-b7ce concerns in which Wigton lost money are
+Eose kent by John DAILY, Dink Davis and Luce
k,.n1ebv ali camsters whose business has never
--tts+.rei auv police interference, and whose
s-.,-C,-s are hard 10 safely nam O., although they
IRE men of money and Influence 1t IS
tfouobt that the three establishments might be
,.iIIing on account of the officials who Will be
eyrosed to trial, 10 quietly return the Wigton
,adnev But there is another peril and it is this
one which in view of the general situation, that
,arfgIlts the gamblers and their allies. A COM
,rfttee of the state legislature has been sent to
trrcn TO investigate the conduct OF city affairs.
The police department Is to be oYerhauled, ana
he protection enjoyed by the big gambling
ILLS inouired into. All this testimony will be
rT.iIahle for use in the Wigton case, and by the
society for the suppression OF vice
once in awhl lie raids are made on certain gam
Ming houses in New York. AS a rule the I'M
+orfuuate shoTs are those at which only small
c-a7r,as are rlayed. The largest gambling houses
and the best known are never raided. No one
srnears to know why this order of things pre-
y-aiIs but the fact remains that 1t does. A week
or so ago, while the police were Tushing through
r half dozen resorts on sixth avenue, the
heaviest gamblers in New York were sitting
connlacentlv around tables within pistol shot of
the fracas and from present indications they
viii continue to sit there as long as they please.
One of the very strange things ABOUT Jne gam
Hing business in New York is that all the out
ward semblance of prison like privacy IS sus-
tanned TO shut out the police, while the doors
are swung open to almost anyone who has money
in his pocket and cares to bet II An absolute
stranger would probably be denied admittance
NJ most of the houses here, but after being at
orc Of them once, and learning how 10 call the
door guard by name, no one VIII nave tEouole
sr1nf heavily bOlten doors.
The intoxicated young man who stumbled up
the stems of famous uptown resort on one
recent night and lett the house Few hours later
relieved Of $1,000, his savings for year wishes
he might have been mistaken Tor poncehlan
and kept ont of the place. But those door
keepers appear to know their business wonder
nit we'll. and il is the policeman, never the
csIIow youth with money, who is shut away
from the mysteries and charms OF the game.
A group of well dressed and sedate looking
men sat conversing in the parlor OF the principal
gambling establishment in the upper part OF the
city The room and surrounding mans had the
respectable air of a fashionable cup mouse
Through rich portieres could be seen banquet
ing table laden with dainty ylands ana oeautl-
ful china and glass. The walls were huil l WIN
raintiugs here and there was marble or bronze
fgure the carpets were soft, the furniture
solid and luxurious. Not a sound broke the
stiffness but the casual voices OF tne men, as
thew pulled their cigars and chatted on the news
OF the day When the heavy bolts OF the street
door dropped nearly every one IN the room
glanced ont to the hall to see who hao entered.
Tyro tan shrewed appearing men looked In at
the parlor, nodded to the party wlthln. ana
r5assed upstairs. Three flights were trayersed,
until & solid oakeu door on the very top OF the
holse was reached One OF the men knocked,
and the sound of a shooting bolt was heard:
When the door swung back the visitors founu
themselves in q dim hall where tai muscular
colored man peered inquiringly into their faces.
A word Of recognition was passed between guard
and visitors, and then the oaken door was
oDened This time upon a brilliantly lighted
room The two men crossed the threshold and
were than indeed IN the tigers lair Ihe green
bsize spread like lawns OF grass on al sides ana
the click of chips with the whlzz OF the roulette
bail made the merry music to which so many
men dance to victory or the grave. Inc STEADY
tramp OF the policeman as he plodded ABOUT on
his beat below did not appear to alarm the play
There is a youth with bright, handsome
Countenance who has stood against the roulette
table every night for two weeks. Not long ago
he lest his heart to beautiful and worthless
society girl, who encouraged his ardent atten-
tons, but made him understand lhal she never
could marry a man without fortune. With
fatuous en1 huSiasm he gathered up rev thou-
sand dollars and declared that II would be make
or break with him He stuck to roulettee, play
ING three fayorite numbers without break.
Occasionally he was ''ahesd OF the game, ana
stood upright elated, confident that toltnne
and the girl he loved were both TO b9 ms. But
the result of all such blind gambling as his crept
closer and closer, and now he leans across the
hoard with trembling hand ana palhd lace,
placing his. last stack of chips on his precious
numbers The bail flies round, there Is a
hreathleSs pause, and the girl Is lost. Down the
sort Of effort at indifference, an invitation to
step IN and partake of the excellent lunch that
is spread in the dining room, and then goes into
the street perhaps to the river. He has layed
an important game, but the money and the girl
were neither OF them worth the candle.
The most famous of all the New \ ork gam
bIiag-houses stands on Broadway more than
mile away from all the others. 1t Is q large,
Cld-fashiOned dwelling house OF granite, with a
facade Of heavy. iuted columns, and 1t IS here
that the biggest games IN the city take place
One NIGHT this week an old man with the face
and hearing of a minister Of the gospel sprang
up from The faro table at this resort and swore
long and loud while his companion players us
tened TO him with serious faces, as though he
had the privilege Of expressing his emotions
with all the profane emphasis that he wished.
This was a gambler who had sat at this same
table during the greater part of fifteen years,
had ssgoae broke'' once each year during that
When successful and affiuent there was never a
word escaDed his lips besides the necessary ones
used in asking the dealer about the state OF the
game But when he had PLAYED his lastchip II
was his annual custom 10 rise up and curse long
and loud after which he stayed away from the
game for a number OF weeks, returning lneYl-
tabIy sooner or later. .
On many of the corner saloons on the SIDE
avenues there are rooms provided with complete
gambling lsy-outs. Some OF hese are patron
ized bv many bright and well-born young men,
because there is an unusual atmosphere OF
5ollitv and good ccmradeship in the circulation
there But they are particularly unsafe places
as the experience Of . young Eel low VINO started
out which a few hundreds the other night
amply shows Instead of seeking one of the