The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-04-11
GAMBLING BY MACHINERY.
Old seWheel of Fortune" Superseded
by Money Paying Slot Machines
in Topeka

Few people are aware of the multi
plicatiOn of the slot machine and the
growth of the slot machine" habit in
Topeka.
A few years ago few innocent look
ing slot machines made their appear
ance here. They were imported and
from their arrival they were money
makers for the cigar dealers who kept
them. Before long other business pla-
ces adopted them. In different drug
stores, tobacco stores, and restaurants,
those afflicted with the habit can have
the choice between half a dozen differ
ent styles. In some you drop a nickel
and always get one cigar and perhaps
i've The popular machines are the
ones that are played to win or lose. In
some you win five or none and have one
chance in five of winning. In others
you have the chance of winning, one,
two three, five or if you strike 100" you
win ten. The playing is not always
confined to the chances allowed one
nickel but the machines are played ION
the side for anything from five cents
TO dollar and more. If the player
places a dollar on the side and strikes
''00 he is entitled to 210 chips or $1,000
in trade, each chip calling tor what Is
marked on the face, from five cents to
fifty cents. The slot machine players
carry in their pockets the script" is
sued by the owners of different ma
chimes. These checks come very near
being legal tender among the sporting
fraternity. The slot machine business
grew SO rapidly that one enterprising
man in the city started to manufactur-
ing the machines and has worked up
good trade. Some uptown boarders
play the slot machines in the restau-
rants and take their winnings in meal
tickets. One man recently won more
than $50 worth of meal tickets for S.
The habit is not confined to the in
nocent slot machines that pay cigars
and other merchandise but with the
coming of the joints came the slot ma
chimes that pay money. Most of the
larger joints in Topeka are furnished
with one or more slot machines of var
tous descriptions that pay the winners
sn cash. One popular form of machine
is a wheel with colOred sections, 40 sec
lions or so to a wheel The yellow pays
81 or 81 according to the amount put in
the slot, white pays so and 10 cents, red
and black pay ten cents each and the
other colors are winners for the prOpri-
etor and losers for the player. Other
machines pay ten, five and two times,
the amount put in if you strike a win
ming number. In other machines there
are small pockets filled with nickels.
No one is supposed to know how much
is in the pocket. A nickel is dropped in
and it zig gags downward through a
net work of pins. If it falls in the win
ming pocket the money is automatically
dropped into a draw and the draw
opens and the winner takes his money.
Some of the machines are small and
stand on the counters. During large
gatherings large slot machines with
gaudy colors and complicated mechan-
isms are imported for the entertain
ment of the rural cousins who wish to
buck the tiger.
There is money to be made for the
one who invests in the slot machines
originally, for the one that buys them,
but like all gambling games it is a los
ing investment for the one who plays
them One man in Topeka owns several
slot machines that pay money to the
winners. He has them distributed
around in different joints. He pays the
joint keeper so much a week for keep
ing them there. Each day he makes
his rounds and collects what the ma
chine has earned. In one week he clear
ed over 5000.
L don't see why any one wants to go
to the klondike to dig gold and freeze
to death, said one man who knows