Evening star., 1898-07-14
AMUSEMENT VILLAGE
How 1t Struck Star Reporter Last
Sunday.
GAMBLING GAMES OF ALL KINDS
Men Who Are We'll Known in
Police Circles.
BLOT ON GLEN ECHO

| This way to the Amusement Villaget,
| A sign bearing this notice, Just to the
right of the amphitheater at Glen Echo,
with hand pointing down shady path,
! attracted a reporter of The Star last Sun
day. Joining the constant stream of visit
ors, and having been given the tip by a
| suspicious-iooking individual that there
was a good chance down there" to win
some money, the reporter was soon in the
| village. Pleasing enough to the eye is the
| location, for 1t is in the midst of a we'll
| shaded dell, but most repulsive, both to
| the eye and ear, are the inha abitants and
| the language they speak. For here had
| congregated the scum of Washington, and,
as the reporter wended his way along the
one street in the village. he recognized
men whose faces are familiar to the ponce,
and who have been shipped out of the city
| time AMI again. The Amusement Viii
| lage sounds innocent enough, and the
| initiated, pleasure bent, is readily de-
| ceived- But the village is a gambling lell
| of the very worst description, and on of
| the visitors there facetiously Temarke' to
| the reporter that it reminded him of Monte
| Carlo in two ways. First, 1t was diff
| ferent, and. second, at Monte Carlo there
! was a chance to win.
The Star man talked to a number of the
, visitors who escaped from the village with
| their clothes, and not one recalled man
who ever won anything but experience.
| Dame Fortune is evidently a stranger in
the village Perhaps, as the gentleman
said, She is afraid to venture there, for
| fear of losing her good name"
| Because of frequent complaints from
| visitors who had been fieeced in this place,
almost within the shadow of the national
| capital, reporter of The Star was sent
last Sunday to visit the place and not his
| experiences.
| The Cafe.
| Immediately inside the big gate at Glen
Echo is the cafe, but this is decidedly Sc
| lect- Only bona fide members of the Glen
| Echo Club, or those whose applications are
pending, have the open sesame which ad-
| mits them within its portals. 1t is said
| the waiting list of the club numbers some
| thing like 2S,6G1 Whether this is correct
! cannot be positively stated. although Sun
| day, while the reporter on hand, 1S2
| men filed applications. To make applica-
| ton one must subscribe his name in a
| book. 1t is not necessary even to subscribe
| your right name, as was demonstrated Sum
day when one of the party gave three
| different names and received many
caros OF admission which entitled him to
| the privileges Of the club. One of the pro-
| prietors said to the reporter later that
| every one of the applications would be
voted on and regular membership cards
| sent to the addresses given in the book
| Three of the cards will surely go wrong
| for the places of residence given by one of
| the party only exist in his imagination
| bdl N4idl dIt the privileges lldI tnlS card
| offer? There is a chance to get something
| to eat, golden opportunity to get plenty
| to drink, and place to gamble. The diff
| ference between these amusements is that
you get something for your money in the
first two. The gambling consists of four
| slot machines and one wheel of fortune
| The slot machines were evidently the fair
| est things on the grounds. In the amuse-
| ment village there are no slot machines
| But The Star man and his three fellow
| members of the Glen Echo Club fingered
| about the cafe for a while and watched
| the thirsty crowd violate the prohibition
| laws OF Montgomery county and the gam
! bling laws of the state Of Maryland
| brief description of the slot machines NAV
prove interesting. They are operated on a
| percentage basis, and while the bank in
! the end always wins, there are times when
| a lucky fellow gets five or ten nickeIs for
| one invested. Five colors are represented
| on spinning wheel, red, white, black
| green and yellow. At each place where
| color occurs there is a SLOT and those who
| care to try their luck must deposit a nickel
| here When all is ready large handle is
suddenly pushed down. This move reyolves
| the wheel and it spins away, subject to no
| other control but its own mechanism That
| is what makes ii honest. 1t stops on one
| OF the colors marked on the wheel and if
that color has been played there is a
| JinsIing OF money and into tiny cup IS
| poured the winnings, which range from 10
| cents to one dollar. The machine did a
| thriving business.
| Inc "hcci OF Fortune.
over in one corner of the room is the
! Wheei OF fortune. Two American flags or
| nament a sign bearing the thrilling an
nouncement Admiral Schley's Fleet"
| From the appearance of the numerous SOL
| 6lers playing the game it looked as if they
were being weaned from the army. The
| wheel rested an innocent looking plat
| form back of counter. On the latter was
| painted IN squares the name of seven of
Admiral SIMPSONS famous battle ships
while on the body of the wheel were paint
| ed duplicate names. The players bet on
thelr faVorlte ship, while the spinner gave
| the arrow a whirI and called out the win
| ming boat The announcement of the win
ner was usually coupled with some patriot
{ ic utterance, such as We'll, the little Glous-
ter has won again. Amt she a peach" or
THE Iowa wins. There goes Fighting Bob
Evans. You can't beat him.
The man who turned the arrow is a well
known local character whose record
long since been made in police history
| Is in connection with games of this Gle IS
| that the words pinch and ''plugger'' ha, e
| enriched the language. The pinch is ex-
| planned to be an ingenious contrivance
| operated in such way that the revolution
| of the arrow is constantly under the con-
| troll of the operator who thus decides the
| winner. And the ''pluggersr' What an in
| terestinS coterte of crooks. Their mission in
| life is deceit. They are the real actors in
| this daily drama of vice that is going on
| just across the limits of the fairest city in
| the world. They all have money, but it be-
longs to the firm and they simply use it
| to tempt the poor fools who imagine there
is chance TO win from such crowd.
They range in size and age from dwarfs
end children to old respectable looking men
whose sun has nearly set. They are known
of course, to the manipulation of every
game and when they bet, they are per-
mitted to win. But they are not allowed
to hold d:the money long, for there is a tall
slender individual with hungry eyes who
moves among them and collects. He re-
turns the money to the game keeper in a
surreptitious manner,
After seeing two soldiers and one boy
lose all they had in the room the party
| with The Star reporter visited the "Amuse-
ment Village
The Amusement Village.
Following the narrow path which leads
along the rear of the amphitheater and
| with the strains of hymn from the chorus
ringing in their ears, the party kept on.
| The path runs a sharp decline, and,
stripped of its picturesque beauty, with the