The Red Cloud chief., 1896-11-27

W! N.pN ~ N'"''
NEt. go On Sundays the
e. Ss2)UNS 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
wharvCs. in the corners of warehouses.
or any favorable spot ont of sight of
the cop" and play for any amount
they may possess, from cOppcrs to dol
lars.
The Savannah b%oothlacks AMI news
boys. like those of any other city,
gamble away their earnings, aud many
a game is carried ON In the lanes, the
players often becoming so Interested
that they lose all thought of the po-
iiceman until that worthy appears In
their midst and nabs Il couple Of the
players. White boys play the game,
90, but negroes Of all ages and sizes
shoot craps. There Is only onc other
game which equals craps in fascination
for them, and that Is policy. and as pol
icy is more likely To he intCrfercd with
by the police. craps has all the advan
tagc.
There are destinations about the
game peculiarly African. 1t Is not
without its. intricacics. The ordinary
como seven, como eleven" plan of the
game is simple enough. but if there H.
a crowd around the players there may
he Il halr-do2cn Interested in the game
and a dozen side bets. How they man
age To keep run of the game IL a mys-
terry to the ordinary observer. but they
TO 50 with uncrring accuracy. Fights
over crap games are rare.
The expressions common to the gamc
are amusing. New dress for de baby
eNclaims one. See my gal Sunday
night" cXclaims another. "De little
number ." says enc, as that urlucky
number shows mp. IL eight yOu," says
another, meaning that he bets that that
number will not turn up again befor,
the lucky seven" And so it goes.
The city council of New Orleans ha.
jus; passed n Law making the game o
craps illegal. II does not matter where
IL is played, whether in The streets. IL
the club or at home, craps is especially
singled out as the most dcpravcd o
gambling games. not to be tolerate,
anywhere. The game. according to
modern writer, Is Of New Orleans orr
gin and Owe 100 years old Bearnard d
Marigny who entertained Louis Phil
ippe when he came to Louisiana, an.
who stood seventy years ago as tn
head of the creole colony of the state
as its wealthiest and most prominen
citizen-he was entitled to call himsel
Marquis In French-was the invento
or father OF craps. and brought IL int,
high favor as the fashionable gamblin,
Of the day. When he laid off his plan
tation, just below the then city O
New OrleanS-it is now the Third dis
trict. but was then the Faubourg Mar
igny-and divided II into lots, he name,
one of the principal streets Craps,
and explained that he did so becaus
he had lost the money he received fror
the lots on that street in this favorit
game Of his.
Ii remained Craps street until n fe,
years ago, when a protest was raise,
against such a disreputable name 70
a very quiet and respectable street, es
pecially given to churches. "The Crap
Street Methodist Church" sounded par
ticularly bad. After Bernard NarIp
ny's death craps rs IA gambling gam
descended in the social scale and wa
finally mainly monopolized b
negroes and street gamins. Some fv
or six years ago, however, some Chi
cagoans who happened to be on tn
levee In New Orleans were struck b
the game as offering novelties TO IN
faded taste Of dice-players and took
home with them.
II crept into favor at once In III
west, and craps now ranges from tn
Mississippi to the Pacific, and no wei
regulated gambling-house Is without
craps room" But, while It has -four
ished elsewhere, it has been tab0oed 4
its birthplace. And now, not confer
with the ordinary laws against a
gambling games, the council has dc
clarcd craps especially prohibited, an
not to be played for money even 1
ones back bedroom with the blind
pulled down in front.
A Good Reason.