The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-11-24

willing 10 take desperate CHANCES,
iMiteratc haIoitues OF cheap amusement
Joints with all the words IN me Siais
vocabulary at the fingers chdS, anu,
indeed. sinners who sin when to DO rlsh'
would little incommode them, were seen
in a. vast swayin- mass of human iniqui-
~ at Jackson City for years during itS
nalu,iest DAYS 1t was harbor Tor al
who wished to enter the chuck-a-l1lck
game Of wrong-doing. They focked there
from Alexandria. and the Virginia slde,
from tho gambling dens of W Washington.
Baltimore and even points larther Ioi III.
Dissipation was clearly pictured on thou
sands of faces. anxiety and recllessness,
suspense and dread, hiarity and horror,
detection and hope. anguish and ezilll-
aration-al mingled in the picture, and
human passion in nearly every form was
witnessed from day to day as the gam
blers and victims won or lost. Hundreds
of suicides cam be traced TO the place,
forgerieS, theftS, debts. loans, hraWls. ar
rests, hatreds. intoxication, skin games
Of every description. and young lives
i,lighted with stairs of dishonor-are some
of the products of Jackson City. 1t was
a little hell of its own. The devil had
special quarters there. and he did his
work effectively.
POLICY TLOURISFED.
washington ana IaieHSnlIld "SlS lUilo
the headquarters of policy sharks. BY
degrees they drifted to Jackson City and
daily drawings were made il this
little Virginia settlement. The policy
shops We're distributed broadcas.
in Alexandria and Washington, and even
other places. every day through d num-
Der of branch offices. These Offices
were usually nothing more nor less than
what are Familiarity known as joints.
a word which carries with it the idea
o. general cussedness. For long time
the main office of these iniquitous forms
of amusements. located on the little
wicked reservation was undisturbed by
the city and county police. They were
eitlser poweress to interfere under the
conditions Of the law, or they dared
not antagonize the desperate gang that
carried on the business there 1t came
to be regarded as q. dangerous business
TO mix up with the bunch. and a. man
who attempted to swoop down on the
gang was regarded as q desperate tel
low-not a. frad of d buZz-saw
Now. policy as conducted these days
appears TO be a lucrative profession,
combining voluminous revenues with a
form of excitement, which appeals to
those who worship at the shrine of For
tune And so it came 10 pass ltlat
the stockholders and general managers
Of the policy establishments at jackson
civ bid fair TO become bloated pond
holders in a reasonable time. 1t was
financial cincl, and, despite the secrecy
maintained as to the bulky earnings on
small invested capital, the other sports
.'eot on to- the theory that Jackson CITY
was a, boom town for their line OF BUS
mess. Soon they pulled up stakes ana
journcyed thither.
OTHER SPORTS.
Their, came the merry rattle of the rou-
Lotto table, the tempting click OF the
faro game and the fascinating assur-
arces of the three-card monte man, with
a big cigar shooting diaGcnally from the
left corner OF his lips. a monster dla-
lnond casting its rays in all directions
and a shirt front that would arouse the
spirit of antagonism in any bull that
wasn't color blind. Merrily the fun and
excitement went on from night to night,
ana hundreds going over the bridge from
Washington, with their hearts in q 1lut-
Ter. caught sight of the dim. trembling
lights of the little Virginia Monte Carlo
Then came the games of sweat" draw
POKER and The systematic roll Of the
wheel of fortune. Sports OF every de-
scription Swelled the gang, and on went
the various games in full blast. Black
legs elbowed their ways about the place
and preyed upon the lambs and tender
feet who ca1ne over in the spirit Of adj