The evening times., 1896-12-04
c0NSiIl TAIl0N IN PERSON OR ERFE

| dozen or so strong players not long after
monthly money has been served out, and
| the tuSsle betw cen these giants for the final
| possession of the bulk OF the crew s money
Is often a prolonged affair, absorbing yinter-
esting to the entire ships compan ny forward.
| The Uen who have dropped out broke"
do not stand around and watch this con-
| test, however, for if they did they would
| draw too much attention to the game
| something they are exceedingly careful not
| to do. But all hands know what is being
| done in the battle right along by means
] Of little signals only understood among
| man-of-%arsmen, and this Information is
| quickly disseminated throughout the ship.
/ Notlntrequently the money which has been
/ earned and haZarded 10y great ma iOrity
| OF the crew finds its way into the pockets
| OF sincleman. This happened on boardone
! OF the vessels ON the South Atlantic sta
/ ton a few years ago
I \ marine playing with perfect squareness
I gathered together nearly $4,000 OF the
I crew ; wages-thc ship had been for some
/ time i'll quarantine and money was plentiful
/ forward-aEd promptly deserted at Per-
I nainhucO- II has not yet justified the pre-
| dictIou OF the officers that ne would even
/ tually turn up again and board one OF the
ships, brnke and under another name.
LOSING THREE YEARs'PAY.
I Blueiackets who have just been paid
.
/ To- as much-as 81, 600 after a three years
cruise, often hazard the entire amount
| In these gamrs, and II they get cleaned out,
1 Immediately ship over and begin the accu-
| mutation Of another hoard They make no
whimper over their enforced foregoing Of
| rides on palace cars and other Joys OF life
ashore, which they had pictured for them
selves at the close Of their cruise. but go
on shining their bright-work without
murmur.
Gambling is also scientifically carried on
By the enlisted men of the army. You will
not find many soldiers stretched upon their
hunks in the quarters on the night OF pay
day Those that are not to he found at the
canteen are generally not to be found at all,
unless the searcber knows the ropes. In
every army post there is generally at least
one unusedbuilding Of some sort or another
paint or carpenter shop, an abandoned
stable or a quartermastcr's storehouse
These are found Of the greatest convenience
to the men on the days ard nights directly
following pay day.
In On artillery post there is ALWAYS a
saHyport thatis out of the range OF the off
Ger OF the day and of the sergeant of the
guard. For a few nights following the pay
masters visit these places are fitted up
in regular Cripple Greek "hell'' fashion.
GAMES PREFERRED IN THE ARMY.
The soldiers are not particularly partial
consider that the game Of draw gives them
sufficiently rapid action on their money and
many of them having Soliiered in frontier
posts, where, in the nearby towns, the
tiger table games are the fashion, the
men III blue ordinarily prefer not to play
against each other, but To buck the bank
Thus, portable faro and Mexican monte
layouts, generally Of OilsSin. painted with
the proper figueS and represcntations are
commonly seen spread out upon improvised
tables in the unused Enclosures when the
payday fever is on. Mustang" a kind OF
chuc-a-luck, is another of the games af-
fected by the soldiers, especially those
who have seen service in the West Small
roulette wheels are occasionally seen
But the great game of enlisted men in the
army is stud poker. They may take few
throws at all the games but is plainly to
be seen that the combined business and
JOY OF their evenings when their pockets
are a-jinele are found around the stud
stable. Half dozen of these stud tables
are often in operation for a week or SO
after pay day at every post-ordinarily
one for each company, troop or battery.
The men commonly risk their money in
the layout o; the dealer who belongs to
their own outfit Every company has its
good stud dealer and it has been observed
that this soldier has lots of creature COM
forts during the month that the men who
are mere players in the stud game generally
lack. The rake-off keeps the stud dealer
of the army four-square to the winds of
adversely.
RISKS THEY RUN.
OF course, IL these soldiers were caught at
their games the Y would be confronted by all
sorts of unpleasant possibilities the first Of
which would be their double quick march to
the "nlilf' or ''clink," and the second their
trial b a summary or ralcuurt-martial,
with the likelihood of receiving good round
sentence at hard labor and "bobtail," or
dishonorable discharge, in addition.
But the y very rarely get caught. Look
outs are institutions that have been known
10 enlisted soldiers since the da Us OF the old
Egyptians, and they are of the greatest
value oil these occasions. Any officer OF
the day or sergeant of the guard, who, on
mischief bent, tries TO make his wa Y to the
suspicious shack where the game is on does
SO without due Consideration to the chain OF
unseen but all-seeing lookouts, who are
paid for their services by the general con-
tribution of their 'bunkies'' engaged in
play.
And when such a sergeant of the guard or
officer of the day does ciank into the room
expecting to create general CONSERVATION
and fear, he is exceedingly likely to find an
orderly, sedate congregation OF soldiers en-
gagged in earnest debate as to the various
lin the ne W tactics, or comparing notes
stothedifferencesbe bet ween nkrag-Jorgenson
and Springfield rifles. Vestige of gam
bling paraphernalia there is none
The sentry of the guard, whose post may
be directly outside the door has certainly
seen no gambling going on anywhere near
his post, and that is all there is to it.
The most thorough search of the room in
which. two minutes before. gambling had
been in full blast, would not discover the
trace of any sort of gambling gear,
and this the officer of the day knows full
well Fl clanks out beaten, and before the
echo Of his footsteps has died away the
game is on again.