Morning journal and courier., 1891-03-18

l AoA ihfCStc2 olC as LAEcc lO Ou6 hQdlusE
 him. The chances of winning one dollar
 and seventy cents on a one dollar ticket is one in nineteen; the chances of winning four dollars and twenty-five cents on a one | dollar ticket is one in one thousand two | hundred and thirty-seven.
 The chances in favor of the wheel seem
 to increase, and it has another percentage
 in it's favor in varying the programme. For instance, there is a separate scheme
 for each day in the week, the same combi-
 nation not being played throughout the
 week, as at the theaters The scheme of
 Monday is played on the next Monday.
 and on each succeeding Monday for two or
 three months, when the scheme is reversed,
 the Saturday scheme being reversed for
 that of the Monday-a general ''shake up"
 or change of days and systems. In the
 Monday scheme seventy-fve numbers are
 placed in the wheel, from which twelve
 are drawn; the capital prize is fifty-one
 hundred dollars. On Tuesday thirteen
 numbers are drawn from seventy-eieht
 the capital prize being forty-five hundred
 dollars. On Wednesday fourteen numbers
 are drawn from seventy-fve; capital prize
 thirty four hundred dollars. On Thurs
 day twelve numbers are drawn from sev-
 enty-eight; capital prize fifty-one hundred
 dollars. Friday eleven numbers are drawn
 from seventy-fve; capital prize forty-two hundred and seventy-three dollars. Sat
 urday twelve numbers are drawn from
 seventy-eight; capital prize ffty-one hun
 dred dollars. Thus it will be seen there
 are advantages in days. Mondays twelve
 numbers are drawn from seventy-fye and
 on two other days the same number
 twelve-is drawn from seventy-eight, be- ing great advantage to the wheelmen,
 and, in addition, the capital prize remains
 the same on each day
 The sale of tickets in these daily draw
 ings is unlimited, and the player, even if he understood the combination and 'sdoc-
 Urine of chance" could not for this other
 reason figure out the chances against him
 The drawing is conducted in private, and
 that is another advantage for the lottery
 people. The big lottery is drawn in pub
 lie in the Academy of Music, on the stage.
 in full view of gullible spectators. but the little daily lottery is drawn in the back room of the lottery companys building. In view of this all mathematical caicula- tions come to naught.
 There are about three hundred places in New Orleans where lottery tickets are sold,
 the ''shops" being mainly cigar stands where the young clerk buys a lottery tick ct, and instead of cigar economies by
 taking cigarette. Tickets are also sold at the saloons, beer halls, etc, and in the CuNsAlEAs ol llc IT ls me kTo- cery that displays the lottery ticket in the
 showcase with the bread, crackers, cheese, etc. In the markets the coffee stand has | them, and the butcher sells either a lot tery ticket or u sirloin steak The market woman takes a twenty-five cent ticket and | carries home lighter basket, for what is | the absence of a few vegetables or fresh | fish to the prize that she may win-but | never does. Before going to their shops | in the morning the lottery shopkeepers | have come to the market to get their cafe | au fait. They have brought along hand | full of the tickets, and outcry the news | boys with their good offers of fortune | for a mere bagatelle.
 About one hundred of these lottery shops are devoted exclusively to tn. sale l of tickets for the daily drawings. They | do not handle tickets in the monthly | drawing. And the reverse. The sellers | of tickets in the daily drawings also write | policies. And here comes in the display of the fancies and superstition of the l player. Should he dream of number he will play that number for perhaps all hs | is worth at that moment. The imagina- | tion of the player is racked for numbers | the date of his birth, that of his poor re | lations, the age of his lady love, which is | perhaps as uncertain as the lottery ticket all are invoked to bring him luck, 1 which never comes. The chances on writ
 ten policies ranges from twenty-two to forty-one per cent. in favor of the lottery, | and yet there are men, sane on all other
 matters, who play against this scheme day | after day and year after year.
 | 4 favorite scheme with the colored peo- | pie is the mystic 4-11-H-otherwi the
 'washerwoman's gig" An instance is re | lated: The colored element had played nobly for about two months for the ap- | pearance of this gig" and after all the | walters, bootblacks and barbers had be-
 come financially exhausted and disgusted
 at the tardiness of the washerwoman' s
 gig" it finally made its appearance. But
 as they had all quit playing it from dis
 gust nobody beat it," and for several
 days the colored element of the city was
 in the widest state of frenzy. It was a
 remarkable event in lottery history-equal
 almost to the debut of society rose
 bud"