The sun., 1894-03-17
THE NICKEL GAMBLERS WOE.
,rR,Es pROSCRIBEs THE FtSCINI1-
IN0 SLOT NICHINE.

Thu nick .in.the-slot mschine-as = means
=, nottV gambling thing Of the past The
S.,. " tie prosperity are over. and the slots
,h., ravned in saloons. cigar stores, restau-
-. and even barber shops for the niekeis OF
a.. unvary have closed up. like sensitive
.I.,,s at the approach OF the police. The
,,ouble was that the odds against the public
I'd In favor oi the machine we're too great. go
,npsrintendent Byrnes sent out general
.si.r the Sergeants told II to the patrolmen.
~ patrolmen told II to the proprIetors OF the
n.cblnes or Of the places where the machines
.,ond and tho tinkle Of the nickel as II pur-
.nod il tortuous course into the wrong hole 10
heard no more.
These machines had fairly taken possession
,,,be rity. and you could daily with fortune
h, means Of them for rtizes varying from
svetent cigar up to any such amount OF
nancy as you can win from or lose to your
,,isnds on the turn OF dice. card or wheel. all
these coin .in-thc-slot investments being. 1t 10
hardly necessary to add. greatly to the pc
,upI.ry advantage OF the establishment into
chose til the slot em ptied its earnings
The machine Is either bought outright by
An. proprietor OF the place where 1t stands.
ar Is put there by the manufacturers. who
rive to the proprietor a percentage Of tho
earnings. Tho wise proprietor buys his own
piekel trap. for In q good location It Is
,ure to pay for Itself In . few days.
There are many varieties OF these cur
teucy absorbent devices. but none Of them
falls to turn In large earning to the owner II
they are even fairly we'll patronized. and the
sporting blood OF tho average man Is guar
.n,ee that " set in q suitable place the ma
shines will catch plenty OF money.
one OF the sim plest devices. aud also one Of
the nrst invented. Is the poker hand. one cent
being the toll claimed by the machine. Origi-
paIly this was merely n payment for the priv
Iese OF gambling with your friends. The
cards arc set on separate revolving wheels in
Al the conclusion Of the whirl and these con-
ttitutlng the poker hand; The cent is dropped
Into the slot. the .eitors having previously ar
ranged among thsmsely as tn the stakes:
then q knob If pressed down. and the cards
whih rapidly finally coming to n standstill.
was amplihed some lime after its invention
so as to AFFORD ,rntrons an opportu-
pty not only TO bet among themselves
better. or for three OF a kind tie player gets
S Sne hs. vs.seH, Wins esa o eissrs tcuS nf rsh
brings in i've cigars, ana u any individual ever
turned up q straight flush. he would be pre-
poker player will know how seldom even two
cqr Of = Kind Or a STRAIGHT nn;h. the s.iab:
lshment would lie reasonably safo In Offering
q $40 gold piece for either OF these hands.
The poker dice thrown out OF n box at the
pressing Of a knob oiled by II one-cent piece IL
smother machine SO similar TO the pokrr-hand
Invention ~ to require no distinct d escription.
More popular than the cards or dice. because
Il Ia more exciting. Il the horse -raring ma
chine. 1t has this advantage over the others.
that in these games the trial Is all over in a
sutirs % com contest I Is apparent ana the iossrs cam
see their chances fading away in the stretch.
while the winners hopes brighten as his horse
pokes Its nose nearer and nearer to the goal.
As in the original card game this machine is
merely chance for an opportunity OF betting.
Thereis circular track under g lass case. and
distinguished By different color. The bet
in the slot. u knob is pressed down, and they're
on. Around and around whirl the little
s,eeds very swiftly at tir,t, then slower and
and when all are still tho horsd whose nose is
sssrest tos eetiaiD line. marked as the goal
known resort near the Pennsyivania station In
Jersey City stands one OF these machines. The
that was played there and and v won"or ' rather @
lost -by fraction OF an inch. Incidentally tho
naehIne r.. was wrecked, hut the gamblers set
From the looks Of en-. said the bartender,
" the crowd was from the West. They came In
and each one paid for a round. Then they
caught oato the machine and wanted to know
~ about it. explained and they had a try
thing spun. and a Zig chan with Il breezy man.
nsr anil sort Of all.Chicago way about him
they play ior orr stake. The othsrs nHn na%ed vari
cus sums, and finally n youngster not old
enough to grow moustaehe pulled out wad
- ri back the blue horse against any other
Ior an even hundred
LET'S LET'S @aEo 'sr hunderd all round.
froaked withered:up old sport. who might
have been the grandfather OF the speaker.
!, They. were dead game that crowd. and
nv hands. $500 OF it. The youncster took the
blue horse, the Chicago man selected red. the
old coiGer, chose a yellow racer. a business
took green for old Ireland. he said and chap
lhe others called the Colonel .elected purple.
Bsiors the % race began "a the news That there was was
big deal on haf spread around. and u big
stowd came IN. Men stood upon the bar, and
on 81 they could see the snort. was to give |
y ,hs wort and the younCster, as the originator
9th o. The sSheme wa: 70 put the penny In and
Let 'er GO yelled the other nve and the sur |
Ioandlng crowd all In one breath. Then he |
,vsryboiy says They're on Just like il was |
ne tut Well sir, that was a thing worth |
'seln. There was those six chaps dancin'
70 the chairs and on the bar yeln' like deyils. |
Pretty soon the horses began to slow up. |
hs dnisE BSsted'' Gays s',S The youSgsser' @ ter Next
hlag the green horse stopDed little further |
10, old Ireland gets II in the neck once |
nore,' SAYS the man who'd backed the green.
Done dirt by dog puts In the Chicago |
nap as his red horse shows up between the |
dher two, by this time the old cOdger. tho |
.olonsl and the business man had gone clean |
numb crazy. Their horses were all goin' |
'fetty lively yet. but the black was gettln' a |
lttle lazy. and presently mp he comes short |
ust past the three-quarteE Ills backer gives |
kind Of snort. Lose hundred in the |
trsIsh; Hell OF note. Gimmse whisky
ua!ght,' says he.
That lett only grandpa and the Colonel In
itsment was runnin' high. The CoIoneIs |
mn his nose lust about an inch behind the
asTE: II looked like sure thing. but grand;
as as nag Was COMM np SLOW and easy, and
eght have heard the old codger talkin.
Get AZ. there; get Ap.' he yells like he
Ias drlyln milk wagon an was late on his
cute. Why don't y get move on, D yAllsr-
VSe[si Vhde, son.oi-a-skate. G'wan, y dog. Whist
,ho0p. Get move on. Whee- ee-es! Yer
est eAst I'M, HurrAh! MhuTIyo! IlOopla! Heyl |
nut Oh. hell! Well. I'm double-damned
ne am gone past he markP
and he had He'd passed the purple as IL
~ Vas on his last legs. and then he'd taken a
lIie extra swing and pOked his head Just an
iShth OF an inch beyond the line. That's
,Ihat call hard margin to lose 500 on. The
" lellow thought 80. too. | Teek on. for when
= heard the yell that the crowd gave he gave
NE ne Walt with his leg-he was lively for an old