The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1897-09-16
"CRAT'S."
80, WINS Introduced I'm New Or
o"ans SncietX 100 Years AGO

,man,ab Ga) News: VI there is n
% 10 which the Savannah negro Is
ttno,ed above all others IL is craps. CITY
" country, it is all alike. On Sunday
n, country negroes gather In llttle
s.o,ns I'm the shade Of trees, out OF sight
u he .big house, and play all day
n,s ar until the wages which they re-
"ojved on Saturday night are gone. In
,sa cities they gather on the wharves,
=. ~ the corners of 'yl 'ehouses. or any
%savorable spot out of sight of the cop"
and play for any amount they may pos
sess from coppecs 10 dollars.
Thu Savannah bootblacks and news
hovs, like those Of any other city, gamble
sway their earnings, n many a game
,s carried on IN the lanes. the players
oftrn becoming so interested hat they
iose all thought of the policeman until
that worthy appears in their midst and
nabs a couple of the players. White boys
NAV the game, too, but negroes OF all
sizes and ages hoo craps. There is
only one other game which equals craps
IN fascination for them. and that is pol
lev, and. as policy Is more liable to be
interfcred with by the police. craps has
all the advantage.
Thee are destinations about the game
peculiarly African. 1t is not without its
jntricacie;; the ordinary come seven
come eleven" plan of The game is simple
enough, but there is a crowd around the
piayCrs, and there may be a half dozen
jntcrI sted in the game and a dozen side
bets. How they manage TO keep the run
Of the game is a mystery to the ordinary
observer, but they do 70 with unerring
accuracy. Fights over rap games are
rare.
The expressions common 10 the game
are amusing. New dress for de baby"
s1claims one. See my gal Sunday
night" exclaims another. de little
number two" says one as the unlucky
number shows up. II eight you" says
another. meaning that he bets that num-
ber will not turn up before the lucky
seven" And so il goes.
The city council of New Orleans has
Just passed a law making the game of
craps illegal. 1t does not matter where
Is is played, whether in the streets. in
the club or at home, craps is specially
singled out as the most depraved of gam
bling games, not to be tolerated any
where. Tn game, according TO a writer
Ia Harper's, IS OF New Orleans origin,
and over one hundred years old Bernard
de Marigny, who entertained Louis Phil
lipe when he ca ne % Loui ,ana, and who
stood seventy years ago at the head of
the creole colony of the state as its most
wealthy and prominent ci:izen-he was
to call himself marquis in Fran g
was the inventor, or father. Of craps"
and brought II In high favor as the fash
Enable gambling of the day. When nc
hid off his plantation. just below the
then city IF New O~rlaans-it is now the
Third district. but was then the Faubourg
Nrigny md divided II up into lots, he
naned one of .he principal streets
Gaps and explained that he did SO
because he had lost he money he re-
eeived from the lots on that street in this
fayorite same Of his. 1t !danlined Craps
street until a .ew years pgo, when a pro-
test was raised against such a disrep-
utable name for Il very quiet and respect
able str.at, especially given to churches.
After Bern ,rd Ma:isny's death craps as
4 gambling "a me ie 'cended in the social
scale, and vas finally rn31opoliZed main
g t. negroes and street gamins.