Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-03-20
GAMBLING.


From the day he evoluted from a
ringtailed monkey or a tailless ape,
be he a savage, barbarian, semlciyl-
lized and enlightened, mar has been,
and Is to-day an inyeterate gambler.
And women, II they have the cash
and the opportunity, are even greater
and more reckless than men. Instead
OF decreasing as we grow 0 ciyi-
|lized and enlightened, this most
aamnable vice is on the increase the
world over, and no class Of people
seems 70 he free from IL
I once spent half an hour In the
gallery Of the so-called Beard Of
Trade building reality IL is one
OF the biggest gambling bells on
earth-in Chicago, and hooking at that
seething whirlpool n infegnal gamblers
In the pit all wildly g%estielating and
shouting like a lot q mad men,itneed-
ed no stretch OF the imagination to
think I was in a lunatic asylum and
that every son-Of a-gun of them was a
raviug maniac and ought to be placed
in a straightjacket and locked In a
padded cell II there is any difference
between gambling in stocks, grain,
-four and provisions, than bucking at
faro bank or betting on a horse race,it
IS so exceedingly small thatit would
require the services of the mostpower-
ful microscope ever made to enable
me to discover it. Speculation is
nothing but gambling, pure and sim
pie. It is the selfish greed Of wanting
TO obtain something for nothing that
impels men 70 gamble, and there
seems to be a fascination in or about 1t
that they are unable to resist. Gamb-
ling, when once INDUCED in, soon be-
comes a habit, and If that habit is
persisted in it soon becomes a disease,
and when this d~isease-like the opium
or whisky habit-has once fastened
itself upon its victim, be is as power
less to resist or escape from it as a
pulling infant would be from the dead
ly coils OF a fullgrOwn python. And
why, you may ask, is this awful vice
not suppressed by law 1t is either
because the men that you send to the
Legislature or to Congress to make
your laws, do not, on account Of being
gamblers themselves, make a law
plain and strong enough TO cover the
case, or that your Proseeusing Attor'
ney, who was sworn to enforce the
law, has violated his oath and failed
to do his duty.
The Revised Statues Of Missouri
contain laws to suppress all kinds Of
gambling, and yet, in open violation
OF the law, bucket shops are allowed
to run wide open in eyer town Of an!
size in the State. There Is a screw
= loose somewhere and It is the duty O
every good and Law abiding citizen Z
} see to il that this screw is properl.
: frightened up and the sworn officers o
the law compelled to do their duty
: Dealing in options" in those balefu
hells-the bucket shops-is about th
b same as bucking at a dead open-and
a shut shell game.
7 IL was at half past one O'Clock p m.
: on the LIST day Of April, 1853, that "
Q boarded the steamer Norma, OF tn
Pittsburg and st. Louis Packet Line
at Louisville, KY, bound for st. Lou
is. James Kerr. the leader Of gu
lrafty, vas an old Santa Fe trader
/ having made eight trips TO New Mex
leo before the discovery Of gold I
California in 1913. He crossed tn
Z plains in 1919 and returned from Cal
%fornia in 1852.
! He was an intelligent and well il
: formed man, heavy set. weighing 2
i pounds, and was 40 years old. II
only falling was that be loved whisky
mot wisely, but too well.n His par
ner wa a young man from Louisville
whose name was Lloyd Gates, and IL
names Of the other members Of Il
I party were as follows: d. G. SaxtoI
from Cleveland, Ohio: Jefferson Kel
ms, George Thomas, Edward Hutchil
son, John W. Hite, Mike Hickma
lcoloredl and the writer, all fro
Bourbon county, Kentucky. Whe
the steamer entered the canal we we
told that Joe Porter, the KentucI
giant, was running a little whist
mill down at the foot Of the can
and that II we wanted to see him v
could easily walk down there, a al
lance Of three miles, ahead Of the boa
as it was slow work for the steamer
. pass through the locks; and four Of
: did so. When we got down there v
walked into the little house and lookG
around for Porter and felt greatly d
appointed at not seeing him. A b
= man was standing, as we thought, b
hind the little bar, and thinking tina
Porter was not at home, We turned Of
attention 10 bis gun and cane TIL
B stood in the corner Of the room b
q hind the stove. The rife was eigl
feet long and the cane about five ar
a a half feet In length. l never WI
more surprised In my life than when
u saw the big man behind the bar pu
himself together and get up out
his chair and walk out TO put son
wood into the stove / have sec
many specimens Of giants since the
but / think that Porter was the tai
est mar l ever saw.
70 At the supper table that night
met a Yankee dish that | bad new,
, seen before. 70 consisted Of shredde
cod fish and mashed potatoes, role
/ into balls about the size OF an Osae
a orange, nicely Drowned in hot greas
/ like a doughnut. AS the cod ifs
smelt and tasted like It bad been dea
many years, and ought to have bee
: buried, / didn't like It That stean
boat sas a floating palace. The fioC
Islof the cabin vas covered with a IN
Brussels carpet and rows Of ine bra
chandeliers hung from the center ,
the ceiling and around each lam
there was a circle q beautiful cut giai
drops that sparkled IN the light III
diamonds.
After supper vas over and the table
lfnlded np / noticed three men playIn