The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-15
GAMBLING AT SARATOGA.
A Pleasure Resort Where There Is
a Great Display of wealth.

a Great Display of Wealth.
Under date of Aug. Julian Ralph
writes from Saratoga to the New
York Times about the various fea-
lures of that famous resort. He says:
There has been too little humor here
to befit an American crowd. We have
gone to the extreme with our betting
and our making of money out of pleas
ure. 1t will be too bad IL we Guido
the English, who take their pleasures
sadly, and come to taking ours seri-
ously. One sees how we are tending
when there happens along such fig-
ure as that of "Pittsburg Phil" 1t
was only eight years ago that he was
considered a wonderful betting man
He plunged like Juggins at the jubilee
but whereas Juggins threw his money
away and had none left, Pittsourg
Phil threw his away only to make the
more.
He is here to-day. You see him
standing in the line where all the
chaps with tilted hats and diamond
scarfpins congregate. a feverish row of
young men with hard-strained faces,
on Broadway near one of the great
hotels. He is pointed out to new
corners who look at him as they would
look at w. j. Bryan or the body of
q deer in front OF a butchers shop =
for what he has been, not for what he
is. Why, a quiet little woman won
more money yesterday on one horse
than Pittsburg Phil bet in the whole
day, and in the face of such betting
as was done by John w. Gates, j. A
Drake. and several others. who lost or
won by the tens of thousands -.s25.n5O
on one race, in one instance--what
does Pittsburg Phil amount 70?
National prosperity the activity of
the young heirs of great estates (who
know how to spend what their fathers
knew how to make), the sudden inter-
est of great Wall street operator in
the field of sport, these are factors in
the present situation which make
back numbers" of the Pittsburs pills
of old and crowd them out of consid-
era ton. But, just as it was serious
work to the smaller men of ten years
ago to risk $1,000 on race, now. it is
still more serious TO gamble with the
far larger sums of to-day Therefore
the element of fun is disappearing and
the sporting men are turning Saratoga
into as serious a place as the Chicago
grain pit.
Still. fun has not altogether lost a
place in each days happenings. Yes
terday l overheard this dialogue be-
tween two well-clad Irishmen of the
mechanic class:
Hello, Mike! Where were you to-
day?"
"Oh. don't ask me. Sure, had the
divils own bad luck. l was to a
funeral, twas of an old friend but
twas a bad days work for me. 1
had intinded to bet on that Pepper
horse and thin the funeral came up,
and twas me old friend, you see, and
| had to go to 1t, so had to lave the
races be, and, - my rotten luck If
the odds agin that Pepper horse wasn't
90 to l, I'm told, and / meant to bet
as high as five dollars; yes, 1 name it,
I'd have bet IS on that Pepper horse,
and I'd have won $3.50. oh, twas a
sorry day for me-"
This episode had not been we'll d.
Sested when 10 o'clock came and the
stay-at-homes in the hotels began their
mighty sallies out into the village to
take their bedtime glasses of the wa
ters of the springs. This habit is so
methodical with such a great number.
who fill the springhouses and the wa
ter shops for an hour after 10 o'clock
each night, that one thinks nothing
If IL as he hears man after man and
woman after woman say each night:
We'll, l must go and get my two
glasses of water and go to bed" But
last night the stereotyped words were
lroken by one lady who sat very close
o me. She was white haired. yet not
bove forty, with full and rosy face
nd sparkling eyes. A gentleman was
With her.
Well" said he what spring wa
ter shall we drink to-night?"
For goodness sake!" the lady ex-