The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-12-24
Effective Way to Rid the
City of Gamblers.
Suits Brought for Money Lost
Will Drive Them Out.
A Gold Mine Craze in Which the
Legislature Took a Hand.

Benerhl ~ viii De Out snort time until
there Will not be gam bling den in Prov
idence. The Burlingame case, in which
judgment was given yesterday against
the reDuted owner of an Olneyville Joint
furnishes precedent that is likely to be
pretty widely followed in future. The
man who squanders his substance Of
someone else's substance at the gaming
table is never man OF very fine sensibili-. I.
ties aud when he finds that il is poss BILE to
recover his lost lucre by resort to the
courts he Will not be deferred from doing
so by any squeamishness as TO the expos
ure OF himself in a quest ionable lignt
that must necessarily follow. The suing
of the gambling house proprietors may
therefore rid the city OF disreputable
business good deal more effectively than
the police, however Jealous their efforts
might be, can possibly do.
This is certainly not the kind OF weather
one expects at Christ mas time. 1t is alto
gether too bamy and the absence of snow
and sound OF jingiing sleigh bells robs II
OF some OF its old time accomplishments.
But IL IL isn't as cold as we would have
IL, the weather IL neyert hehsss d9lhsbtfui.
One would be difficults 10 please Indeed il
be hnds fault with what the weather clerk
Is supplying, but if there are any who
are ismenting the lack OF snow and the
absence OF zero weather, let them possess
enough OF both before the flowers bloom
again. Nature is pretty even handed in
her distribution OF cold weather and while
she seems to be very niggard of il now
she will make up later on with a lavish
ness that will make the present grum blers
growl in another way.
Gold mining crazes are no new thing.
The early settlers in this country were
smitten by them often ana history 10
full OF cases whero good money has been
spent in a futile effort TO make iron
pyrites tnrn out gold in paying quanti-
ties. IL one had the time and inclina-
tion to search for instances in the his
tory Of Rhode Island, alone, where its
sober minded citizens have been deceived
by glittering but valueless piece of rock
into investing their sevings into what
they believed would be gold mine of
vast wealth, he would probably he able
10 find that in this chase after an
ignis fatuus more money had been squsn-
dered than in the establishment of some
OF the most important and best paying
industries of the commonwealth. Human
nature does not change much in a CEN
tury, or any number of centuries. There
Is today the same consuming greed for
gold that led the people of bygone ages to
subsidize the fakirs of past ages who
were known as ale chemists and who pre-
produce gold from various and mys-
terious metals. The modern method
of deception Ia different In kind.
only; in degree IL is the same.
We have the ''salted' specimens which
are 60 produce untcIu wealth and which
some cunning speculstor oil promoter has
had prepared with special care as a bait or
e-eFeasieas and unwary wealth seeker.
TaE Ea ha Ia KaH
crazes which are lust at present causing
such a breeze in the financial circles OF
two continents as an instance. Now at
South Africa as well as at Cripple Creek
gold undoubtedly can be found in pay
ing quantities, but no one who has not
gone yellow metal mad will for an in-
slant believe that the total output will
ever be sufficient to pay anywhere near
the amount that foolish and sanguine
people ere now paying for stock under the
false impression that they are going to
ge; in on the ground floor and be made
millionaires in short order Talk about
The South Sea bubble Why, II wasn't
one whit more foolish than the present
rage Tor mining stocks. But some fell
lows will make money out OF the craze,
bat they will not be the poor deluded
ones who have paid good money for their
stocks. The winners in this lottery will
only be the fellows who turn the wheel,
not the ones who hold the tickets. rhe
Barney Barnatos and men of that iIk W ill
pock II the profits and the ueluded public
VIII have nothing to show for their out
lay but sundry holes in, the ground of
about as much value as an excavation in
the shore of Narragansett bay after the
clam digger has made bls rounds.
Rhode Island had had attack OF the |
gold fever a good many years ago. Ii has
had several since, but none of such Sc
verify as TO warrant the the interference
OF the General Assembly as in the first
instance was found necessary. The col
onists bad hardly got well settled in
their new home when a report spread !
through these Plantations that golu had
been discovered. This was in 1649 and
the place where II was claimed the prec-
ious metal had been found was on Rhode
Island. A wave of excitement swept over
the colony. Every man was preparing
to make a descent upon the money pro-
ducing mine and all was excitement and
expectancy. Now in those days the legis-
lators we're very shrewd as well as exceed
ingly paternal. They saw clearly that II |
the excitement was to continue ali busi-
ness would be abandoned and the colony
consequently ruined, even though gold
was there and could he extracted from
mother earth ii would be bot a mocking
substitute for bread IL the fields were uu-
titled and harvests were not gat hered.
Wise In their generation these legislators
took the bull by the horns and settled |
the whole question at once by passing n !
formal vote taking possession OF the gold !
mines In question ana forhidding any
lnhabitant to touch or In any way med
oI, with the ore. This was very wise |
policy in more ways than one, as must
be apparent to the most obtuse render; |
but IL the legislators themselves believed |
in the value OF the mines, and |
hoped to reap big income for the coll
ony treasury by working them, they were |
sadly deceived, for II turned out that IN |
stead OF OF gold there was not hing more |
valuable to be obtained from the mines |
than iron pyrites.