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

There are 1900 lotteries in San Fran
cisco running in open violation Of the
law, says the San Francisco Chronicle.
They are of mushroom growth, having
appeared in the space Of only a few
months. Their disappearance will not
unlikely be more sudden, as c. r. Ben
nett, the secretary Of the society for the
prevention of vice. will today lay a for
NAL complaint against them before the
chief of police.
The games are all of the "nickel-in-the-
slot variety and have evidently looked
for exemption from trouble on the
ground that so little is staked at time.
There are many slot machines that are
perfectly legitimate. They offer a man
stamps, chocolate. a record of his weight,
a stump speech and ct ceteras of the
monograph in return for a nickel.
Against these nothing can be said.
About six months ago a device was in
PRODUCED in which a man. by risking
nickel, had Ostensibly two chances of
getting nothing and a third chance OF
getting three nickels I'm return. This
was the forerunner of the many ma
chimes that followed. A sketch Of the
It's maker is a San Franciscan. To
reporter who called ostensibly 10 buy
machine the man in charge said
cit is a good machine. you bet. The
winnings vary from So TO $50 day in
a good position. It's a dead sure winner
and you'll find it will pay the best of all
the machines"
When doubt was expressed as to its
paying heavily enough he opened the
back of the machine and showed two
levers: These alter the position
of the tongues A and Il, so
that the machine could be made to win
or lose every time. 1t could also be ad-
justed so that the chances OF winning
would be about even. Usually the ma
chimes We're found to have the tongues
turned so far to the left that the chances
of Il nickel sliding down the winning
slot were about three in ten. A ma
chine very similar to this is made by
the proprietor of a well-known resort.
These are the only machines found in
which the man running the machine
could change the chances of the gam
bler's winning. BY so adjusting il that
for a few hours it would win the saloon
man could advertise his machine very
thoroughly A seconds time would en-
able him to change 1t so that the owners
of the nickels coming to reap a harvest
from the mascot machine would leave
the elusive coins in the slot.
These machines are either sold out
right to the saloon man or worked on
percentage. The price is $35. When
WOIkeu Oh percentage lilC CdlOOn AAdAl
receives One-third Of the net receipts.
OF these machines there are over 800
in various parts Of the city. From bar
keepers ii was learned that the machines
often earned as high as $50 In a single
day. If the average was only 81 the
aggregate daily winnings of this one
kind of machine would be $500 monthly.
A higher average would put the gross
receipts at a correspondingly larger
amount.
There are two other machines that
return nickels to the man fortunate
enough to overcome the chances in favor
of the bank. They are both of the same
order, being on the principle Of the
roulette wheel. They are even more
popular than the box machine, since the
player sees that there is no bar to his
chances of winning.
one of them, the luck machine" is
the invention Of a San Franciscan. Up
on circular disk are placed the thir-
teen cards of a suit arranged so that
high and low card alternate. This is
true except at one place where two low
cards are placed together and furnish
the bankers percentage. There is a
copper disk within the machine, in the
edge of which are thirteen cuts. one for
each card. For cards above the eight
spot there are deep cuts. For those be-
low the nine there are shallow cuts. A
nickel is dropped into a slot at the top
of the machine. When the lever at the
left is pressed down the disk revolves
rapidly. II high card stops under the in
dictator placed at the top Of the machine
a lever within the box drops into one
of the deep slots in the concealed disk,
releasing two nickels, which roll out of
the box. If a low card stops under the
indicator the machine keeps the nickel.
This gives the gambler six chances OF
winning TO seven of losing When asked
il he could not fix the machine so that
the low cards would come under the
indicator every time the maker shook
his head. saying he did not know how