Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-01-31
WHAT A LOTTERY is.
The "Mlsslus Word Puzzle Is No Violation o
me Law

New York Tribunc)
Tho "misdng-word" craze reached sueb
Dimensions in England before the cour7s
held these contests to boz illegal. that he
fear is expressed that 1t viii reach This
country. Interesting question, iu view
Of the impending situation Is whether
the United States statutes would rot for
bid the use Of the mails in connection
with such n scheme The problem Is to
hll uut sentence in which one word IL
left out rs for instance. Richard Roe
rs blnck . The contestants try TO
supply the commission. sending certain
sum, usually a shilling with each guess
The winners divide the total receipts
Periodicals have conducted those CON.
tests. Sometimes the sum going To tho
winners Amounted 10 thousands of
pounds or course great care had TO be
exercised 20 prevent any outsiders learn
lug what the missing word was
The pOstoiicc authorities. or some of
them, inclire to the belief that these conn
petitions would not violate the United
States postal laws The lottery act
reads; NO letter. postal card on circu-
lar concerning any lottery, so-called gift
concert or similar enterprise Offering
prizes dependent upon lot or chnnce or
concerning schemes devised for the put-
pose nf obtaining money or property un-
der false prptences, ana no list Of draw
ings at any lottery on similar scheme
and no lottery ticket or part thereof. aud
no check, draft, bill money postal note
or money order for the purchase of any
ticket, tickets or part thereof or of any
share or any chance iu any such lottery
or gift enterprise. shall br carried I'm the
mal nor shall any newspaper. Circu-
lar. pamphlet or publication OF any kind
containing any advertisement of any
lottery ~ gitt enterprise of any kind of.
HaHH ~. d
chance. or containing any list OF prizes
awarded at the drawing Of any such
lottery or gift enterprise. boz carried iu
the mail The maximum penalty for
ench violation OF the law BE- fine Of 5000
or imprisonment for one year. or both
No periodical carrying ON such u con.
test would be admitted to the mails if the
guessing were dependent upon lot or
chance. But some OF the puzzles pro-
pounded w EnglHud-and perhaps most
of them-called on the gucsscr tn ca.
crcise his judgment IF instead Of Rich
ard Roe the name Of some widcly-kuowu
man were used. intelligence aud study
would increase ones chance of hitting
upon the correct answer Even II the
mythical Richard Roe wcr' the subject
ot the inquiry IL might still he held that
ingenuity would aid person I'm deciding
Alright Whnt the missing word was.
lf however She sentence was Tie
NflIl lN N court IflANI nUlU lilNI
the competition was dependent upon lot
or chance aud was therefore n lottery.
On the other hand q judge might de-
clare that the element of skill and
thought played q part even iu this ride
die and might grant the use of the mails
10 the periodical. In short, federal
court alone could finally udjudge the lc.
galty of sug.Wori" contest
There are many distributions of prizes
ff.f lsf II. ha
may depend upon the mental ucumeu
knowledge and colculutiye genius of the
competitor A newspaper has u right
to offer plf ~ for the best gupsses ON
the mnjuritles ut an election. 4 man
who Is Informed about the previous votes,
the natural Increase of votes and the
probable effect of the various issues,
would bee most likely 90 win. Such %
competition would no more be- q lottery,
according 10 the legal definition, than
one IN which prize was offered for the
best poem on certain subject Other
contests which are allowed under the
federal law are those iu which rewards
are given for the best guess of the NUM-
Der of hcuus or shot In q jar for the
largest list of words formed from the
letters of q word. and for the solution
of rebus or mathematical problem.
| I'm ul those cases the result rs not de-
| pendent purely ON lot or chance, hut In
| part or entirely upon ingenuity, talent
or hard work. II the prize goes % the
one sending in the first correct answer,
| his speed is an element
On the other hand if all the correct
answers were numbered placed i'm hat
| aud one drawn out by blindfoldcd
/ person, the scheme would become lot.
| terry Mental qualities would increase
| ones chances. but the successful person
might br the one who sent In the Inst
| solution Promptuess would po Wrc.
| warded uud the law would interfere
! Prizes for the persons securing the most
| subscriptions 10 a journal or the greatest
! number of orders for book would OBJ
| vously Dee legal a. the contest would Boz
| of industry and ability.
| n merchant udvcrtises that every
! customer at his store will receive d
| ticket emitting him To q chance In certain
| prizes, and the lucky numbers are ST.
| leded at random, the enterprise is
| lottery The sO,yullpd watch clubs
come under the ban also Ia these eucl
member paid certain SUM week, an,
| drawings were held weekly The win
| uer received his watch without further
| payment In all the eases mentioned
the federal statute applies only whcI
the mails are used IN furthcrance Of
| the scheme.
The authorities do not concern them
selves with the question as to whether
the lottery Is honestly conducted un,
the prizes are awarded in accOrdanc,
with the rules described The law denei
the use of the mnils 10 everything relat
ing to contests dependent upon chance
aud treats fair ones just as IL does fraud
ulcnt ones. The fact that tickets {,
drawings are given with purchases o.
goods or periodicals makes NO difference
Numerous decisions hold that this doe
| not affect the nature of the lottery