Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-06-08
GAMBLING IN ENGLAND.
It Is Indulgod In Largely Among
Fashionable Circles
A Woo Into Which tho Gentler sex II Be-
coming lnltinted-The Card Table
Fast Becoming q Popu-
lar Resort.

Despite I'LL that has been done by the
legislature and the police for putting
down gaming in those forms in which
they can take cognizancc Of it, it is now
practiccd, under conditions which pre-
cludc the intcrposition of the law and
its cmisSarics, to an extent and in 4
manner which would have astonishcd
even the veteran frcQucnterS of Crock
ford'S and the Cocoa Tree in their palrny
days 1t is true, says the London
World, that cards have supplantcd dice
as the leading instruments of spccula-
ton, and that baccarat i1Istead of haz-
ard is the pastimc principally in vogue.
But for all practical purposes the first
arc not less effective than the second in
running fortunes and regulations, and
lend themselves quite as readily to the
transfcrcncc of large sums of money.
In many respects, indeed, the gamb-
ling of the present is far moro open to
objection than the gambling of the past.
In the old time, when gaming-houses,
whether in the shape of clubs or ordin-
ary houses, were tolerated, high play
was for the most part restricted to men.
No doubt few notorious women of
rank and fashion were in the habit of
playing hi~h at one another's own
houses, But nearly all the gambling
was practiccd at gaming-clubs, and to
them women were not admitted. In nd.
dition to this, no man either belonged to
n GaIning-club or entered except with
the full intention of joining in the diver
sion there provided for him, and,
whatever his luck might be, he in
Cured the risks to which he was
exposed deliberately and of malice
prcpensc. At gaming-clubs public
i3y generally, if not invariably, in
sured fair play, and, save in the way of
loans from the proprietary, there was
then no credit. between the gamestcrs
themselves every transaction was q
rcady-moncy one, and thus, while win.
ncrs received their gains at once, losers
were checked in any reckless attempt
that they might be disposed to make in
order to recover themselves. In private
gambling all this is changed, and, with
every disadvantage, not 4 single adj
vantage incidental to public gambling
is present. In certain wcll-known
London drawing-rooms, and at n host
of country houses, women ere not lesa
eager than men to hurry to the card
table, and neither in playing nor in
paying can mally Of them, it is to be
npprchcndcd, be held up Us examples of
rcctitudc and precision to the other Sex.
Whether people will or will not join in
the game, more especially in the scclu-
sion of n rustic retreat, docs not de-
pend upon themselves. They arc cX-
p2ctcd to do rs others do, and in certain
circles an invitation may be equivalent
to n command.
Moreover, it docs not seem to be by
any means clear that even in the Sc
lectcGt assemblies tho mistakes and
wrongs OF fortune arc always permitted
TO pass uncorracJcd or unrcpalrcd. And,
further, when everything is fair and
above board, it Is impossible among
friends and acquaiHtanccs to refuse
credit, and so to prevent plunging and
the importation of what may prove to
be impossible sums for the benefit Of
those who may have suffered from q
run of adverse luck. On the whole, in
truth, as the late Lord Lamington, the
last survivor of tho gaming committee
of the house of commons, whose repors
| suppressed Crocllford'3 and the London
bells generally, stated in BlaclIwoods
Magazine shortly before his death, had
they been aware Of the Dimensions
which private gambling WAS destined
to assume, they would never have re-
commended the abolition of public
gambling, which of the two is by far
the less injurious and liable to abuse.