Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-09-13
THE YICE OF GAMBLING.
WHAT A LOCaL SPORT Has TO SAY
ABOUT IT.
&c Presents Sons Original Views, and Insists That
the People Who Frequent Gambling Places are
Worse Than Thoss Who Run Them.

"How much money changed hands on
the Fair Grounds during the week?"
was the question propoundcd by REG
IsTER reporter to very prominent gen.
tlemen of sporting proclivities, yester-
day evening.
The gentleman reflected for mo-
ment, as he pulled at cigar, and then
said:
"That's hard question 10 answer;
but can say. generally, that there was
a great deal more cash floating around
than during any previous five days in
the history Of Wheeling"
"And the gamblers got their share?"
"Well; they handled a big lot OF
money, but l haven't heard that any OF
them have grown suddenly rich, or
have taken to champaign as steady
drink. OF course said the gentleman,
wsth a quiet smile, "some folks from
ont Of town dropped few dollars TO
the boys, and some OF the young bloods
about the city have been borrowing
money to-day, as / understand IL, but
the gambler has TO give up good deal
OF his stuff TO various people, on one
preteXt or another, and II they make
expenses and lay up little for bad
weather, its about as much as they can
get out Of 1t. The gamblers are bled at
a pretty lively rate, you know. Let me
tell you something. All this stuff you
hear about the profesh robbing people,
and doing up greenhOrnS, and that sort
OF thing, is pretty much stuff. The boys
about town don't do business that way.
When man opens game, whether It's
on the Fair Grounds or in his room, he
doesn't compel anyone to play at 1t. You
can set it down as right that every
man who tackles another mans game
has a notion he can't beat it, or he
wouldn't try it. They want something
for nothing, and to my notion they're
worse than the gamblers, as they are
called. Yes, sir, the player is the worst |
gambler of the two. Take those wheels |
running on the ground this week. Ev
cry man who bought d paddle knew
what the wheel was, and that the legiti-
mate chances were with the game. Why |
did they tackle it then? Simply because
they thought they could beat it, or that
luck might favor them, and give them
two or four for one oftener than they
lost. They wanted to gamble, an( the
boys were there to accommodate them, !
and they did. A big howl has been
raised because there was gambling dur
Ing the Fair. OF course there was. 1t
wasn't the first time, and it
won't be the last. There's famb-
ing in Wheeling all the time,
Fair or no Fair. The only thing which
made this week different from any
,ther, was there were more people in
own who wanted to risk their STUFF, and
If course, We got the lay-outs lScated
where we could accommodate them. Some
olks would think, from the racHbt CO. {
ng on, that wheel was never Sen in {
Yheeling till this week. BlesE your
md hsHo ave. dohee # ff b6t Years Oatk;; t@Aaer
various circumstances. This is 10 new
hing. There was more poker eighteen
,ears ago, in Wheeling, than there has
)een since. We old timers can iemem-
Der the dress parades Of the ganS, on
Saturday afternoon, away bacl in rs
md &c, as being one of the sights OF
the town, but ! don't member that 1t
,ver excited any special 1emark.
rhere'll always be gamblers, ant where
they exist, in community, you VIII
always find some one with business
enough to accommodate them.
People want to- bet on q horse race, and
there are pool sellers to acctmodate
them; they want to buy base bal pools,
and there are pool rooms; they want TO
play poker, and there are places where
thew can be Accommodated. II a gentle
mau's inclination runs to faro, he can
find layout. If the newspapers and
others would let up on abusing he peo-
pie who accommodate the gamblers, and
lump on the real gamblers-the players
IT would suit ne; but
this thing OF giving us the wort OF it,
all the time, occasionally fatigles me.
No one wants TO break up the dug bus
mess because some gentleman wants to
poison himself; or to mob the furnish
ing goods stores, because dudt wastes
bis substance in trousers and full dress
shirts, or jump on the restaurants, be-
cause some fellow has contracted the
dyspepsia in riotous living. That's the
way look at gambling houses. Lots
of gentlemen in Wheeling like to play
poker, for instance. Now, considered
as an abstract moral matter, playing
poker is wrong. I'll admit that. So
are lots of other things. But gentle
men will play poker-and some of them
stand pretty high, too-aud they come
to our places TO do it. II there's a
horse race, they want to buy pools, and
pool seller, who is only in business be-
cause there is demand for his services, |
accommodates them. Some of them |
like TO have SHE at wheel, occa-
sionally, and we give them the chance. |
Now, my point is that the howl about |
gambling, the past week,is not so much |
the fault Of the sports as IL is the pub
lie, who want 10 squander their cash. in
the hope of doing the boys up. Now,
there were lots OF people in town this
week, who wanted to gamble, and they
lost lots OF money trying to beat another
fellows game-and that's all there is to
1t. Good night"
ONE hundred dwellings will be needed
before December 31st for the large
number OF persons who will remove TO
Moundsville.
To Carrie Ihiers, Late Wife OF Louis
Rentch.
sosfiv