The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-27
THE CHAMPION CRAP SHOOTER.
4 Gambling Woman Who Wins from
$500 tn 5000 n Night.
Memphis Appeal.


A woman crap shooter is novelty, but
the deputy sheriffs who raided the game
conducted under the saloon OF Luke Lamb,
at the foot of Jefferson street, state that
the dice game in that place is patronized
by women as freely as by men. The deputy
sheriffs who participated in the raid on
Lambs dive are congratulating themselves
that they were enabled to arrest any OF the
negroes, as it Is claimed that the proprietor
of the place has pickets stationed night and
day to give warning in the event that the
resort is approached by anybody resembling
an officer The deputies say men are sta-
toned along Front street for several blocks,
and that approach to the place in daytime
is simply matter of impossibility without
the inmates of Lambs place being warned.
Inside the house there Is conducted sa-
loon, a restaurant, a dance hall and gam
bling dive. The latter is located In the cel-
lar and when the trap door Is sprung 1T is
next to impossible to locate where the en-
trance below is situated On the upper
floor there Is a saloon and restaurant. It
is under the ground that the dance hall and
gambling tables are the att actions.
A remarkable thing in connection with
Lambs place is the entire absence of fights
and cutting and shooting ARRAYS that gem
orally characterize resorts of this character.
When a negro enters the place ne IS
searched, and before being allowed to go
into the cellar he is relieved of any dam
gerous weapon that he may have on his
person. 1t is owing to this fact that no
fights occur. or If they do they are only
tisticuffs affairs, and are never heard OF by
the police.
In the cellar below, where the festivities
are generally at their zenith about o'clock
who enjoys the soubriouet OF 'Isong Lena.
is the dictator and chief entertainer Of
every assemblage. Other negresSes frequent
the place. but Long Lena rules with an
iron hand. Notwithstanding this fact. She
is a rather prepOSSesSing mulattO, and, pos
sessed of more intelligence than the ordi-
nary negress she uses 1t OF good advantage.
Her sway Is complete, and what she says
goes. Although quite young, the negress is
a thorough woman of the world, and the
Hurp-1py,il snirit she digpaVS and
tatorial manners fascinate the negroes who
patronize the dive. although they are the
toughest of the tough. Lena. dances di-
vineIy, so they claim. losses off brandy
and soda. like a man. and can outswear the
toughest rouster that ever went into Lambs
cellar.
Her chief occupation and pleasure, how
ever, is rolling the worries. She is not so
proficient as Dago Sam" who broke sew
eral gambling HOUSES in New Orleans a few
wears ago by his ability in manipulating the
dice, but she is as lucky a person well
could be at gambling. and when she. makes
chances are that she will break up the game
for. the time being, as Long Lena; is a
high roller. and when playing with good
luck the ceiling would have to be removed
if she We're allowed to stack her chips as
high as she desired. The woman has been
known to emerge from the place, after d
good night at the gaming table, with 500
or $500 In her pocket. and this she spends
lavishly, as she knows where and low to
procure plenty more when she so desires.
Some of the veterans around Lambs place
won't gamble against Lena $ money, as they
know her game, which Is conducted on the
principle of heads l win, tails you lose.
Whenever it happens that Long Lena
loses her coin she proceeds with great alac-
rity to borrow back all she lost. and the
winners are made to deliver the lucre,
whether it is their desire to do so or not.
When the deputy sheriffs visited Lambs
place last Saturday night Long Lena' had
not appeared on the scene, as the hour was
rather early. She seldom graces the cellar
with her presence before the midnight hour.
and with the first streaks of dawn Long
Lena" takes he departure.
Unlike various other gambling houses in
Memphis, Lamb does not bank the game
that is continually going on in his place.
His employees handle the money that is put
upon the table and direct the play, but
Lamb never loses. He simply takes cut q
percentage of the stakes played for. a Con-
servative estimate of the receipts of a crap
table conducted on this principle would fig
ure to net the proprietor of the game So per
hour, which is not bad income for an ig-
norant negro