Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-04-26

Of the owner dictates. but when backed by
humanity it takes 10 Itself all the attri- |
butes of man.
Il can then walk or run with speed that
puts to blush the best PAGES of a thorough
bred. II is made to talk. the same as
money, il can see a raise or call pot. In
fact. it becomes endowed with more
senses than half the owners or winners,
for. with rare exceptions, it never gets
broke
The poker chip is a great institution, for,
although it is money in disguise, the iden-
tity is so well concealed that TO bet a blue
bone is an easy matter, while to lay out
s. bill is another condition that might stag
ger man.
Ii will be a surprise TO reformers and
those who believe that the world, and es-
peciauy that part inhabited by United
States citizens, is putting off the evils of
Monte Carlo to learn that at a conserva-
tive estimate here are held in his land
enough chips to give TO every inhabitant
one red. one blue and two white ones.
This calculation is made on the basis Of
the last census. and is merely put out as a
suggestion to the men and women who are
looking for something 10 reform.
II is worth Mentioning too that since so
many gambling houses have been shut up
and saloon games suppressed. the demand
for chips has increased so fast that the
manufacturers have hard work 10 turn out
enough to fill the orders.
Where, when or how the poker chip orig
mated is a mystery. The name Of the ge-
MUS who discovered 1t was easier to lose a
colored bit of metal or bone than to part
with a portion of the universal circulating
medium is lost 10 history, but his wisdom
is still recognized and his example fol-
lowed The poker chip industry is not an
adjunct or side line 10 a manufacturing
establishment. but a business that is recog-
nized as legitimate, productive and profit
able.
The gambling instinct must be natural to
Americans. for they have made possible
the poker chip factory.
one firm in Newark says that an order
was received this year for 100000 chips
from New York jobbing house, and that
extreme impotence was manifested when
a reply was sent stating that time was
needed TO fill The order. Then came an
other order for 100000 to be got out as
soon as the original order was filed.
To the average mind the units included |
in million are just so many ciphers, and !
the mere augmenting of the single mineral !
is no further tax on the Imagination. But !
here is a comparison that viii be useful in |
estimating the bulk Of poker chips made |
every year in this country.
If these chips We're piled TO the height of !
30 feet. or as high as Trinity Church |
spire, they would cover an area of 1875 i
square feet. The Eiffel tower would be |
hidden beneath the shadow of the pile of |
poker chips if all those in the world could |
be gathered and heaped up beside that !
great structure.
The railroad tracks from Jersey City 10 |
Pittsburg would be covered with the chips; |
all the branches. too, could be put under |
the reds whites and blues.
II a boy of Y years should begin TO |
count the product of the chip factories !
and live to he 100 years old, counting stead |
lily 10 hours every day he would die with |
out having numbered those turned out |
in any one year at the present rate of pro- |
duction. The comparisons might be con-
tinued indefinitely; the possibilities of the |
poker chips is unlimited. In its own quiet |
way it is ubiquitous. tits all about, yet |
unseen: but its influence is felt in trade and |
social life.
The chip is one of the simplest things TO |
make imaginable. Ivory chips have had |
their day; so have the bone ones. Men |
will not pay the price for these articles
when the substitutes do as well.
The time was when old school gamblers
Played with square, oblong and octagonal !
markers, but now the devotee of chance
stakes his fortune on the circular chip. |
and cares not whether il he expensive or |
cheap. as long as the banker is honest in |
the redemption of il. To make poker chips
is as easy as the chld-like pastime of
making mud pies and the process is some
what similar.
The Prince Of Wales is the possessor of |
a large set of real ivory checks. each |
adorned with the three feathers and the
motto, Itch Diem" These he carries with
him, as the testimony in the "baccarat
suit showed.
Robert Hunter. of ST. Louis. has an
ivory set that cost many hundreds of dol
lars. But the great majority of card gam
blers use chips of cheaper materials.
The dimensions of the standard chip are
one and one-eighth inches in diameter, and |
oue-eighth Of an inch thick. and there is
seldom a call for any other size than this.
II is not TOO large to be handled conven-
iently, and it can be seen readily when it
rolls on the floor.
Down in kentucky, however, where the |
"Kernels" vary the monotony of drinking |
whisky by playing poker, the chips are
all bigger, so that man can make no
mistake In counting. and can gauge the
size Of his pile Alright without taking his
eyes Off his opponents cards.
Where do all the chips go to? That is
question that the manufacturers cannot |
answer They know that the demand is |
greater than The supply. but as 10 the uiti-
mate disposition of the chips they are ig-
uorant 4 large iobber. who handles mil |
lions of the articles, said that the orders
came from all parts Of the country. par
,icularly The West and South. The South |
was the heaviest buyer.
New England buys annually chips most
n from the big department stores In the
South the chips have an honored place he
side the family tobacco jar and the plug
Of chewing" and the gradual waste is ac-
counted for easily. The children and ne
-roes make off with many thousands an
nually, but where greater care is taken /;