The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-02-20
FORTUNES DeeeITful WHEEL.
Inside Working Of tho Louisiana Lot
terry at the Time Of q Drawing.

ings Of the Louisiana Lottery, gives
the following, description Of the
manner in which the drawings are
conducted, which may be of special
interest to the gudgeons of Chicago
who patronize the bunco concern !:
The monthly drawing is held, in
the Acadamy of Music. It begins
at II o'clock and lasts about two
and half hours. Admission is
free and usually there is a large,
unappreciative and disguised audi
ence present. At the door stands
a man who acts as q kind of master
of ceremonies in the place of the
usual ticket taker. By II o'clock
the parquet is crowded with the
poorer classes, also with q large
sprinkling of saloon-men, gamblers,
pool. sellers, bunco-steerers, and
other types of the rough element,
who come with the ''high chances"
of making a scratch" and win
ming q prize. The dress circle. is
mainly occupied by women, with a
slight sprinkling of visitors at
tracted from curiosity. To this
charmed" circle men unaccompa-
MED by women are not admitted
Just as is the case in some free-and-
easy beer saloons. Up in the gal
lery the "gods" hold high revelry,
and it is crowded, for the gamins
have each saved a dollar for the
purchase of a coupon, with which
they expect to win a fortune. There
are no ushers and the auditor finds
his own seat. There is no orchestra
to play an overture; the curtain is
already up, and upon the stage is
seen near the left entrance large
glass wheel about eight feet in d.
ameter; on the right is small glass
wheel about three feet in diameter.
In front of the big wheel there are
ten white canvas sacks-each sack
containing 10000 tickets. In front
Of the little wheel there are four
smaller canvas sacks. These con-
tain the prize tickets-3,6O in num-
Der. The tickets or numbers are
about an inch in length and are in
cased each in an india rubber tube.
In the center near the footlights
two dudish young men are "discov-
cred" at a table. Their part in the
game is to write the winning num-
bers in the Book Of Fortune. In
stead of the usual stage servant girl
opening up the performance by
busting at the furniture, strapping
colored man "comes on" from the
second right entrance, and this is
the cue for the entrance of the stars,
Beauregard and Early. They walk
upon the stage by means of a spring
board extending from the stage
about twenty feet into the parquet.
These once-f famed Generals present
comical, yet humiliating appear
ance. Early, with slouched hat,
bumped back, faltering step and
long gray hair, steps stagily up, as
if he were going to attempt Richard
III. Beauregard, a little, wiry,
weezened-faced, gray-eyed creole,
gray hair and pallid features, walks
up the spring board and on the
stage as if he were about to do
something of which he might be
proud, yet doubtless conscious that
be has lost the respect of those who
followed his blundering leadership
in the lost cause, which gave him
reputation that he might sell for
$4,000 a year.
Without any ceremony or wait
ing for the applause that usually
greets star, especially from the
claque, Early takes his place by
the large wheel and Beauregard
marches to the little wheel. Early
opens the glass door and the darky
empties into the wheel the ten sacks
Of tickets. The door is then locked
and the darky turns the crank of
the wheel for few minutes 30 as
to shake up the tickets. The darky
is thus called into requisition be-
cause it requires considerable mus
cular power. Beauregard opens the
door Of the little wheel, and the
same business" is gone through
with. The darky then resumes his
place by the big wheel. Two boys,
Juvenile comedians, then enter
without much regard to stage tech
nique. They are blindfolded by the
stars, in plain view of the audience,
and one is placed at each wheel.
Without any PREDATORY remarks
whatever, the drawing begins.
Beauregard opens the door of the
little wheel, Early that Of the large
wheel. The boy at the big wheel
takes out q ticket, or tube, and
hands it TO Early. simultaneously
the boy at the little wheel takes out
a ticket and hands it to Beauregard.
Each Of the Generals valiantly re-
move the tube from the ticket,
throws the tube into property-box
in waiting, unrolls the tickets and
reads them to the audience thus
Early shouts: "Ticket No. 414p
Beauregard shouts back: Zone
thousand dollars I" Another ticket
from the big wheel, and q prize