The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-21
The wickcdnc.. of Cards.

II is said that Mr. John D. Rockefeller
was recently found. during a journey il
his private car. Willing away the tim,
with curious game, played with coloreI
cards He explained the game 10 tn:
friends who had encountered Kim, ant
asked them If they had ever played it
They said that they had. a great man,
times. but not with colored cards: and
they explained that it was generally played
with playing cards.. and was called soli-
taire. Mr. Rockefeller said:
Solitaire? 1 never played with PLAYING cards
in my life. You must be mistaken"
One would infer from this that Mr..
Rockefeller actually did not know that
! there was a game. similar to the one in
which he was Interested. but played with
ordinary cards instead of these which he
used. 1t also appears that he never, in
the whole course of his life, engaged in a
| game of poker. or whist, or euchre, or
casino, or seven-up, and that never. except
in the most casual way, had he come in
contact with what the old-fashioned Free
Kirk Presbyterian used to call 1.-The devils
books" His sole gambling diversion seems
to be that of the stock market
There has been general change of SEN
timent In this country during the last
twenty-five years, in regard to various
games of cards. People not past middle
age can remember when card-playing was
considered a passport TO perdition by a
large class of more or LEES educated and
intelligent men and women. They con-
demned not only gambling in all its forms,
but the most innocent game of cribbage,
played in the sanctity Of ones own home
The very sight OF the cards was unfamiliar
to thousands Of children of well o-do fami-
lies. and many OF these learned to play
with some twinges Of conscience for which
they could not account in the least. They
had been taught that card playing would
become an overmastering passion with
them. that it would lead them to destruc-
ton, and cause them. by some mysterious
hypnotic force, to become gamblers, no
matter how good their intentions. The
curious feature of the situation was that
most of these people who were SO afraid of
cards belonged to the sex which does not
play for money. 1t has never been fully
explained, how they expected to be drawn
into the net of the faro dealer and the
poker sharp. through indulgence in
harmless game of whist. but that was what
they seemed to suppose. They also argued
that II they played 1t would countenance
gambling In young men, by creating taste
for cards: though, as matter Of fact. not
many gamblers owe their moral downfall
to games played in the safe seciusi0n of
of them learned the game of cards in very
places.
The truth is that this. like many other
prejudices, is an echo OF a long past de-
nuncation which had some reasonable
basis. During the last century gaming
in fashionable society, and the wild and
adventurous spirit of the age found an
outlet In reckless betting and desperate
skill with the fascinating pasteboards. 1t
is not much to be wondered at that |
sensible religious reform |
ers. seeing the misery and dissipation
which was partly the cause. partly the |
OF overindulgence in this |
pastime, should have condemned II in no |
terms. The lingering prejudice of |
hose days. which really had some founda-
lion, did not die out until comparatively
recent date: In fact. 1t is not yet alto
yether dead. But there is really no I'M
.anny fascination about cards. and one can
nave just as stupid time over poker as
,ver tiddle-dy- winks. II the company hap
ious games Of cards. being the scientific re-