The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-23
CRAPS THE DARKEYS GAME.
1T Is A GAME, TOO. OF ANCIENT
AND HONORABLE DESCENT.

Invented by "A Wealthy Louisiana
Planter for His own Amusement,
IL Has Come TO BE Recognized n
the Special Game OF the NeErO-A
Popular Game Around savannah.
II there is one game to which the Sa-
vannah negro is devoted above al others
It is craps. City or country it is all alike.
on Sundays the country negroes gather
in little groups in the shade OF the trees,
out of sight OF the big house." and play
all day long or until the wages which they
received on Saturday night are gone. In
the cities they gather on the wharves, IN
the corners Of warehouses. or any favor
able spot out OF sight Of the cop" and
play for any amount they may possess.
from coppers to dollars.
The Savannah bootblacks and news
boys. like those Of any other city. gamble
away their earnings. and many a game is
carried on in the lanes. the players often
becoming so interested that they lose all
thought OF the policeman until that
worthy appears in their midst and nabs a
couple of the players. White boys play
the game. too. but negroes OF all ages
and sizes shoot" craps. There is only
one other game which equals craps in
fascination for them, and that is policy.
and as policy is more liable to be inter-
fered with by the police craps has all the
advantage
There are destinations about the game
peculiarly African 1t is not without its
intricacies. The ordinary come seven"
come eleven" plan Of the game is simple
enough, but there is a crowd around the
players. there may be half dozen inter-
ested in the game and dozen side bets.
How they manage to keep the run of the
game is a mystery to the ordinary OBJ
server, but they do so with unerring ac-
curacy. Fights over crap games are rare.
The expressions common to the game
are amusing. New dress for de baby"
exclaims one. See my gal Sunday
night" exclaims another. "De little num-
Der q" says one as that unlucky number
shows up. Il eight you" says another.
meaning that he bets that number will
not turn up again before the lucky
seven" And so It goes.
The city council of New Orleans has
just passed a law making the game OF
craps illegal. 1t does not matter where 1t
is played. whether in the streets. in the
club, or at home craps Is specially singled
out as the most depraved of gambling
games, not to be tolerated anywhere. The
game. according to a writer in Harper's
is of New Orleans origin, and over
a hundred years old. Bernard de Marig
ny, who entertained Louis Philippe when
he came to Louisiana, and who stood,
seventy years ago, at the head OF the Gre
ole colony of the state, as its wealthiest
.a1 .0Fe no
tied to call himself Marquis in France
was the inventor, or father, Of CRAPS"
and brought Ii in high favor as the fash
ionable gambling of the day. When he
laid off his plantation, just below the then
city Of New Orleans-it is now the Third
district, but was then the Faubourg Ma
rigny-and divided 1t up into lots, he nam
ed one of the principal streets Craps"
and explained that he did so because he
had lost the money he received from the
lots on that street in this favorite game
of his. 1t remained Craps street until
few years ago, when protest was raised
against such a disreputable name for
very quiet and respectable street espec-
tally given to churches. THE Craps
Street Methodist Church" sounded partic-
ularly bad After Bernard Marigny's
death craps as a gambling game descend
ed in the social scale, and was finally mo-
nopolized mainly by negroes and street
gamins. Some five or six years ago. how
ever, some Chicagoans, who happened to
be on the levee in New Orleans, were
struck by the game as offering novelties
to the jaded taste Of dice-players, and
took 1t home with them. 1t crept into
favor at once in the west and Craps"
now RACES from the Mississippi to the Pa
cific, and no well-reguIated gambling
house is without a "craps room" But
while it has fourished elsewhere It has
been tabooed in its birthplace. And now,
not content with the ordinary laws
against all gambling games, the council
has declared "craps" especially prohibit
ted, and not to be played for money even
in ones back bedroom with the blinds
pulled down in front.