The record-union., 1899-07-18

16. Leao. Lion -. 81 81 63 ga
4 i h na.ao 49,. Monkey :. s s s S
dS Pavao Peacock -. ..73 IA 70 76
~ ~ Teru. .....--. Turkey 49,. II rs 70 so
81 y Touro- Bull -. Isl 50 SO 81
~ ~ T1gre Tiger -. SIS Sc 81 IS
- Irso. ......... Bear 49,. SO 80 81 90
q N1ado. Deer 49,. SO "a 95 Sc
20 Vacca.-... Cow -. .....s7 ss SO 90
the last two figures Of the first prize
in the Rio daily lottery decide what
blcho has won. Say the first prize at
Rio falls to No. 64,0S3; then the bicho
is Touro, or group No. p. The bank
ers give you twenty to one against any
group. The odds at first appear to be
In favor of the bank; and as a matter
Oh TACT the bankers make a lot of mon
ey. Inere is one drawback to the I'm,
limited success on the bankers side.
tnere is no limit to the stakes; so, il
person begins betting with a very
small sum, he can continue betting un.
I'll the particular group he chooses
turns up. OF course, he must continue
TO bet on the same group every day,
and after nineteen days must increase
MS stake. If the groups comes I'D
within nineteen days he loses nothing
or gains according to the time he has
been betting.
Some of the bichos do not come out
for months-the peacock did not come
up once for nearly five months: and a
small calculation will prove that a
long purse is necessary very often. Tho
"jacare," on the other hand, comes up
frequently and often appears two DAYS
running. The popularity of this kind
of gambling is almost incredible. From
highest n IL,
1orlty buy tickets every day.
The people of Brazil are superstitious.
and we'll educated people will back "co-
medicines" I have known cases O,
people who have given the correct group
day after day; two cases 1 knew Der
sonally. Strange to say, in both these
cases the prophets were given money
for luck by people who backed their
tips and invariably lost it. A good
dreamer will often dream the right
group; but l fear the wrong groups
dreamt of are not talked about. There
are many strange stories of winnings
and losses. Not very long ago sor-
fowful family had assembled to bid
farewell to dying man. 1t is stated
seriously that he told every one present
to buy "jarcare" at once. He died al
most Immediately after, and it Is a fact
that NO. 1o came up that day A young
fellow came to town very excitedly one
morning. He had dreamt that he saw
donkey walking along the roof Of
his house. The "cat" came up that day.
and he lost heavily over the donkey"
but he told every one he met that he
was the donkey not to have known that
cat was almost the only'bicho on tho
list that could walk along IA roof.
The Whole affair is, of course. yery
demoralizing; but the Government has
been unable to cope with the evil.
Agents meet you at street corners. and
all the small general stores sell tickets.
The bankers give a commission of from
III to 10 per cent. to their agents, and
the money is so easily earned that it
is almost hopeless to try to put an
end to the game. In some cases it is
said that bribery will insure the safety
of "a banker; and undoubtedly a lot of
bribery goes on in connection with the
game. IT banker oversteps his limit
and cannot pay up he merely runs
away, and the hackers are left with no
remedy. This is by no means a rare
occurrence. Theft and dishonesty are
on the increase among the lower
classes, and are said to be due entirely
to the gambling fever.
To towns at distance from Rio the
result is telegraphed as soon as known:
and about the time the telegram is ex-
pected crowd of agents collects in
the streets outside the cable Offices In
one town L nave seen the approaches to
the telegraph office cleared by the DO
lice, who had to be summoned to get
rid OF the obstruction. Every one
hastens to learn the result, and in a
very short time the news spreads by
word OF mouth and telephone all over
the town. At nearly every railway sta
ton on the different railways agents
arrive to receive kilograms containing
the result or to try to find out what
it is. The evening trains from town
are besieged by country people, espec-
Tally small boys, to hear the correct
result
The bicho game seems to have taken
hold of the people as the "rain-gam-
bling did in India, and 1 doubt if it
will ever be stamped out In Brazil
there is one lottery every day, except
ing Sundays and holidays. Often there
are two lotteries on the same day; and
in most towns the races take place on
Sundays and holidays. Gambling goes
on in every FORM, and the entrance
tickets to the racecourse are often num-
bered and lottery is drawn during
the afternoon for the pople who have
purchased them. With such a state
of things going on every day, and all
day long, the Government will have
big task if it tries seriously to stop the
bicho game. Almost daily you may
hear excited quarreling over the group
that is certain to come up and the
reasons are. Invariably given why the
cat or the Elephant must come UP
that day. These reasons, although, of
course, childish and absurd are debat-
ed solemnly by people who should
know better. An Englishman one day
backed the '.vacca" because he had
awakened in the morning to find he had
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