Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-29

tan. while a very pretty American widow
loss more than $500 In the same way
This woman. as wei dressed and nice
looking any girl YOU will meet In SIX
months. squatted down in her Paris-made
dress on the deck of the steamer with pies
of silver dollars before her, risking from
$40 to SO at d time on the cash under the
bowl.
Gambling is forbidden by law in China.
There are many people who denounce 1t.
and many who would more think of
gambling than a Presbyterian parson would
of betting a horse race. Gambling. how
ever, Is tolerated by the officials, who make
money out of 1t by levying blackmail upon
such houses. Indeed there are gaming
shops right at the doors of some of the gov
ernment offices. They TO be found in
the back and side streets and sometimes in
the business streets.
Gambling for Meals.
Nearly every other cook shop in China
IS gambling shop. Here you risk your
money to whether you will get double
the portion you pay for or nothing. Upon
some of the restaurant tables are bamboo
tubes as big around tin cup, and about
a foot high, each containing several long
sticks of the size of a crochet needle. On
the end of each stick little dots of ink
spots similar to those on dice. The man
who wants a meal pays so many cash for
a chance The tube is shaken and he pulls
out certain number of the sticks If the
dots on these are the winning ones he gets
double the amount of his money in food; II
not he gets nothing. l have seen cake ped
dlers juggling such sticks on the Wharves
Of Tien Tsin among the coolies who were
unloading the vessels. 1t at lunch
time and each Of the laborers had perhaps
a cent or two to spend for his lunch. In
nine cases out of ten he would bet with the
peddler, taking the chance of getting two
big cakes or going hungry:
Another method of gambling is with three
toll. y -
money to the end of one of the sticks and
graSpS the three sticks in his hand so that
the money IS concealed. The gambler fast
ems an equal amount to the other end of
one of the sticks. II he puts it on the stick
on which the money of the dealer is he
wins; otherwise he loses. In this the
man who runs the game has two chances
at winning.
here is with oranges. You see this go
iEg at the fruit stalls and also in pri-
vate houses. The bet is the number or
seeds in an orange. sometimes 1t is as TO
others to the exact number Of seeds the
orange contains. If at a fruit stand the
dealer will pay the lucky guesser five times
his debt, but the loser must pay the value
of the orange and also tive times much
as he has wagered.
They Fight QuafIs and Crickets.
There is little gambling on horse racing
except at the open ports and at Hong Kong.
Bird fights and insect fights take the places
of bull tights and races. There Is some
chicken fighting in the interior, and almost
everywhere there are quail fights and
cricket fights.
Quail fighting is done on table with
little fence about its edge. The fighting
quails have been starved for some time As
they are put into the pen a few grains OF
rice or wheat are laid before them and they
at once begin to fight over them. They are
trained for the purpose, and a good fighter !
is worth 500 and upward.
1t is the same with the crickets. Their |
prize rings are little bowls. The crickets |
have been trained They seem to under
urged on to the combat with straws. Some |
of them are very fierce, and many will fight |
until they die. Those which chirp the most
loudly are considered the best fighters.
The Chinese understand how to feed and |
groom the cricket for the fray. They give |
them honey. boiled chestnuts and boiled |
rice and certain kinds Of fish. They do not |
allow any one to smoke near them, for they |
think that tobacco Is injurious to them. II
the crtckets grow sick they feed them upon |
mosquitoes. and, in certain cases, red ants |
In cricket fight the insects are weighed |
before they put into the ring. They |
are mate he'd as to size and color. The bet |
ting is done just as carefully as at an |
American horse race. The stakes are held |
by committee, which deducts a certain
percentage for those who own the fighting |
houses. During the fight the gamblers grow
excited They scream and yell and hop up |
and down as one insect gets the better OF |
the other and go almost mad when one |
wins.
Queer Chinese Games.
The Chinese have all sorts Of games but |
mostly games Of chance. Even In kite flying |
the boys and mentor even the men here fly |
kites-will try TO see which has the strongest |
string, forcing his string against the string |
of the others so as to break them. In such |
contests the strings often soaked with |
glue ana busted with powdered glass, that |
they may cut or saw the better.
AT every feast there are games Of guess |
ing, upon which money is staked. One is |
guessing how many fingers a man throws |