The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1899-08-25
WIDE OPEN TOWN
HOT TIMES WITH GAMBLERS
OF PHOENIX.
Thoy Make No Pretouae Of Hiding Their
Lights Under q nusheI or Behind
Curtaina-Eioganoo OF tho Gaming
neaorta.

furnished gambling halls in this town.
Since October there have been i've faro
games here IN ceaBeless operation. The
dealers and lookout men are on duty
IN eight-hour shifts. Day and night,
Sundays and all, the game goes on,
while roulette, poker in several varie-
ties, craps and policy games run
twelve and sixteen hours daily out OF
the t~wenty-four, and lottery drawings
take place three times every day and
evening.
The place is the American prototype
iof Monte Carlo. Gambling In any form
is licensed. The gambling halls are
run with doors wide open to the street,
and no one thinks anything Of 1t. The
treasury Of the city Of Phoenix receives
between $500 and $4,000 a year
from It's licenses for gambling games
and saloons, and the money goes into
the finest street p%avements in the
West. Just now a superb public park
is under construction at the west end
OF Washington street. When finished
II Is doubtful whether any town of like
population in the Union will have so
beautiful and artistic a spot. Yet the
expenses Of this park are scarcely
borne by the taxpayers of Phoenix.
The gambling licenses have this past
year yielded many more thousands of
dollars to the city treasury than ever
before.
The elegance of the gambling halls
here Is not surpassed and scarcely
equaled elsewhere in the United States.
There are two halls-the Palace and
the C~apitol-that have no equal in all
the southland. A mint of money and
a lot of artistic skill have been utilized
in making these palaces of gaming and
drink so attractive that the sight Of
them, when the lights are turned on, is
memorable. OF an evening these halls
splendid with rows and intricate de-
signs Of countless colored incandescent
electric lamps about the ceiling, with
the wealth of costly paintings Of wom-
en- in all degrees of nudity, with tow
ers and bulwarks of sparkling glass
ware at the artistic bars, with the
sheen of mammoth mirrors-are al
Turing. But added to the things that
charm the eye are handsome young
women in gorgeous and decollete
gowns, who sing ballads and snatches
of opera for the entertainment Of the
throngs of men, and intermittent
music by a string orchestra. Various
games are in progress all about the
halls. There is a crowd about the
roulette tables, silent, watchful knots
Of men are seated at the faro layouts,
a noisy set is over at the. crans4games
and Here and there are d half dozei
poker games in progress. Back in tn
rear rooms there are several privat
poker parties, and still further in tn
rear are the wine and dining-rooms.
Here are a dozen Mexican gentle
men, with enormous and h%igh-peake
sombreros and clad in garments o
reds, blues and blacks, who have jus
come in thirty and forty miles fror
their ranches to chance their rolls Q
money in roulette or mayhap fare
Over there is a knot of Cinnamon wit
their queues twisted about their heads
deeply absorbed in betting on APPS.
yard away is a party of New York an
Boston men in the pink of fashion
They are out here for a winter in tn
warm, mild climate Of Southern Ar.
iona, and they find that a flyer no,
and then in some Of the numerou
games in Phoenix helps to while ava
the time and lend a variety Of sport t
their lives they never knew beforI
Vaqueros with clanking spurs at the.
heels, business men of all description
miners by the cor and railroad lahol
ers by the half dozen are all here t
watch the gambling games or to ris
mone that is burning holes throue
inner pockets.
The faro games of Phoenix are prol
ably the heaviest Of any in the couI
try. The Palace backs its faro layol
Is by $4,000, and has a forfeit OF $500
for any unfair dealing done Their
One faro game is constantly in progrei
u at the Palace, sometimes three an
four. There are always players in tn
le all night long, and at hours whC
= n~inety-nine out Of every hundred PEI
lie pie are asleep there is often a croW
10 of pale, anxious, silent players wit
coin in their hands about Il
I; faro tables.
Last winter there were individu
p winnings Of $4,000 and $4,000 at Il
Palace. A widely known millionai
maker Of iron safes in New York r
Gently made winnings and losses
$1,000 n $1,000 in single evening
One afternoon at the end Of March
won $1,000 in three hours, but he 10
all that and 81, 500 besides before
went to bed that night Last Janual
a well known Tammany Hall leads
!, who came to Phoenix with a co
sumptive wife, played faro every eve
!, ing for two weeks. One night when
was s 1900 ahead Of the game he play.
on until 3 a. m. Then he went hor
$4,000 loser. But he tackled the gar
again the following evening.
M The lotteries Of this wide-open toy
- are unique. They are like the oil
time Chinese lottery schemes Of Ca
fornia, with some Of the principles
h the Eastern policy game adds
81 Drawings take place three times a da
HI One car invest any sum from ten Ger
N to $1,000 in these lotteries. The buy
q Of a ticket marks ten numbers out
the eighty printed on his ticket, and
record IS made OF his guesses by
lottery man. When the drawing TAX
place twenty numbers are drawn fro
the wheel. II the buyer OF the tici
~ has guessed and marked on 1--WE Of
drawn numbers he has his investme
rs back twofold. If he has guessed