The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-02

he could conJrive it. lie said, though.
that he could decrease the banks per-
centage. This. he thought, would be in
judicious. Il have only five machines
he said, but am making more. My ma
chine has twelve patents. There are
others infringing on them. This 1 will
soon stop. The price is $50. I can self
all 1 can make at that figure. After
supplying San Francisco L will begin
work in the eastern cities"
A machine that has been character
lied as an infringement upon the luck
machine is made by a Berkeley resi-
dent. This is made with twenty-six
cards on the disk. Twelve Of these have
horseshoes on them. A thirteenth is the
joker. When the horseshoe cards stop
under the indicator two nickels slip out
of the machine into a little pan at the
base. When the joker is the winner the
player gets a drink. This gives thirteen
chances Of winning TO thirteen OF losing
There are at least six different ma
chimes that use dice to decide whether
the gambler wins or loses The most
elaborate Of these is known as the
New Automatic Fortune Teller" 1t is
"A handsome machine and costs SO It
can be rented for SIS a month or two
months for S25. These figures give a
slight indication Of what the winnings
must be. The machine is a box about
three feet high with a glass case in
in motion clockwork. which causes two
red-painted tin cups to cover two little
pans containing three dice each. This
then slowly revOlves once, the cups raise
and the throw has been made. Adding
I'D the spots on the upper surface Of the
dice tells whether the player has won OF
lost. Six wins twenty-five cigars. seven
wins ten cigars. eight wins eight, zine
wins six. In this way the size Of the
prize diminishes as the chances OF win
ming increase. II the spots add up
l3. Is. II. IS. 20 q. %. "A. Is cor q moth
mig is won. Six SIS, or thirty-siX, wins
thirty cigars. A combination summing
thirty-five wins ten cigars. Though
there are only ten numbers that lose and
twenty-one that win the percentage Is
heavily in favor Of the machine or bank.
There are many devices similar to
this The one most largely distributed
contains two glass cups. each OF which
covers three dice. A nickel Is placed In
a slot and a knob at the side turned.
AS the knob revolves the platform on
which the cup rests sinks. 1t continues
lowering to a certain point, when IL Is
released and is forced violently upward
by a powerful spring. In this way the
throw OF the dice is made. on this ma
chine the prizes vary from bottle or
whisky TO zone beer" or a 5 cent cigar.
Some OF the dice games have three
CUPS Some have only one cup. All are
worked on the same principle, though.
Another thing worthy Of note is that
each kind of game is made and owned by
a different company.
Another class Of machines is that
in which a nickel is dropped into slot
and after many and devious windlngS
finds resting place in one OF the vari-
ous stalls. The first Of this kind TO ap-
pear was labeled: Drop a nickel In the
slot and get a chance for one, two or
six cigars" The entire front Of this ma
chine is a heavy mirror. In consequence
the gambler cannot see his nickel till it
it drops. As il generally disappeared
from view in one Of the six 20" stalls,
the game never became very popular.
A machine very similar was made by
San Francisco man. In this glass win
dow of circular form allows the player
to watch the reflection OF his nickel In
the first of these machines there were
six chances TO lose against five OF VIM
ming. In the latter there were only four
blanks. But the bank always got the
best Of il just the same.
third device comes from the temper
ance town Of Pasadena A nickel Is
dropped in at the top of a pyramidal-
shaped box. It drops through intersect-
ing lines Of pins behind a pane Of glass,
landing in one Of nine compartments at
the bottom. 1t entities the player TO as
many cigars or cigarettes as are indl-
Gated by the number in the compart-
ment. Four Of these are naughts.
The three machines described are typ
ical. There are at least five other kinds,
varying from them only slightly.