The herald., 1898-01-09

If you want to enjoy quiet little IN
tellectual feast just ask the dineren
kinds of women you know the question
do YOU ever gambler" and then pom
der on the replies. Compare what they
do with what they say. 1t is particu
larly diverting process. 1t is limities'
in its possibilities as food for reflection
II has the spice of variety and is apt u
n; wholesome in its ultimate effect fol
all concerned.
will warn you that nine hundred ano
ninefy-nine out OF every thousand
women will instantly roll up their eyes
niously. assume a rigid demeanor ol
righteous wrath and say with an en-
nhasis intended to annihilate you ano
your presumptuous impertnence'
Most certainly do not!" But don
allow yourself to be dishearteneo VIII,
that. Just put on your thinking cap ana
contrast their manner of living WIN
their words. You will be surprised 10
see how few people practice what they
profess in this matter of gampllhg'
OF course the abstract term is SYM
bolic in the average mind of the STOCK
market, the race track, Louisiana ana
Chinese lottery tickets, bucket SHOPS
and those other riotous devices or the
Evil One for the downfall OF weak ana
sinful humanity-poker. roulette, rouge
et-noir. etc. But there are as many va
rieties of gambling as there are types
of human puppets, and about as many
degrees as there are needs, for any rea-
son, to invent the same.
Our reliable and unprejudiced friends,
the photographers, define the verb TO
gamble as the act of playing for money
or for any other stake or prize" which
indefinitely extends the scope of the
definition beyond its ordinary accepta-
ton. Yet the impulse, the spirit OF
gambling, is the same in the wider as
in the narrower sense. In both the ele-
ment of luck or chance usurps the place
Of legitimate returns for effort ex-
pended. 1t means play rather than
work. 1t is all demoralizing in direct
ratio to the amount in which it is prac-
ticed.
Taking up first the narrower or more
restricted significance, the legitimate.
so to speak, methods of gambling-what
do we find? Newspaper and other rec
ords show that women here and else
where play the races, buy and sell
StOChS, TAKE d Htuu dt pohOi' iiSh tiiOiA
money on the roulette board and patron
ize the tape game with the same zest as
men. They do not do it as openly, be-
cause the same conventionar1ty that re-
stricts the sex in other ways forbids, and
then women as a rule have not a private
exchequer, as men have, upon which to
draw for their amusement or whatever.
But the spirit of gambling is as inher-
ent in one sex as in the other. Its prac-
tice lends the same zest to amusement,
the same excitement to an even more
dull and prosaic existence. And a diff
ference in temperament in women man
ifests itself in playing for stakes, ex-
actly as it does in men. A game of polk
er will demonstrate in one hour more of
the true inwardness of a woman's dis
position than a years ordinary associa-
tion with her.
AS A POKER PLAYER
If she be naturally penurious her bet
ting is careful, close, usually on pref
ty "sure thing" If she is selfish she
plays q ''stingy" game while she is
winning and takes desperate chances
when she begins to lose. If she has a
reckless or generous nature she is happy