The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-13
NATION
AL MEXICO Affected WITH Tie MANIA.

Charles Washington Barton. who is
probably the richest professional negro
gambler in the southwest has Just re-
turned to southern California from the
CITY OK Mexico, Mex, where he has been
Tor nearly a year. during which time he
participated IN some Of the biggest poker
games ever known in the republic. He
speaks Spanish as easily as he does Eng
nsh- He owns a tract of valuable land
In the suburbs Of San Francisco: he has
a block of stock in the water company of
san Antonio. Tex: he owns one-half Of
a brewery at st. Joseph. Mo- where his
wife and children make their home.
Roughly estimated, he is worth Sl5000O.
The MeXcans are the greatest gam
blers in the world. said he the other day.
Even the most ignorant persons down
there seem to know the permutatiOus
and probabilities Of sets Of cards. Monte
ana faro are their great games, and thou
sands Of them set apart a part of their
weekly earnings for gaming every Sat
urday night and Sunday.
The Mexican women are the greatest
gamblers of their sex anywhere Every
body down there likes to take chances of
winning money, and the most exciting
games / have ever seen We're those about
the monte and faro tables in Vera cruz
and the City of Mexico. Thousands of
business men spend certain number of
hours each day in gambling, and one OF
the first questions they are asked upon
going home is how they Jared at the
green table that day.
Gambling Openly Conducted.
I'm all the large Mexican cities there
are several big gambling games that are
run a regularly as a national bank is in
the United States. The games open each
week at a certain hour and close exactly
on time no matter whether the game IS
running in favor of OF against the house
on Sundays the length Of the game is
doubled. but il is all regularly conducted
and has been for years, One game at
Monterey has missed but three days in
twenty-five years and a game i'm a great
gaudy hall at Guadalajara has been
opened and closed at the same hours for
forty years, except i'm times Of political
revolution and public calamity. Several
OF the big gamblers in Mexico are strong
political leaders and are the most es-
teemed citizens of their cities.
The greatest Of all Mexican gambling
is done at Tacubaya. suburb of the City
OF Mexico. I doubt if any gambling in
the United States ever eQualed that at
Tacubaya- The spot is a beautiful one
and tens Of thousands of dollars have
been spent IN beauufying il with art, ar
chltecture and landscape gardening. The
monte game there is practically unlim-
tied That is, it is limited TO the sum the
dealer Of the house has in front of him.
as $4,000 in value. You know that at
Monte Carlo all that a man can win by
a successful coup is $500. but at Tacu-
baya the limit is the ceiling.
Americans are always impressed by
the pOliteness of Mexican professional
gamblers. The old hidalgOs down there
are fine sports. Each of them is out for
q good time in the capital each is clad
i'm tn typical rich Mexican costume and
each is accompanied by "a couple Of poems
who trundle red wheel barrows. I'm these
are reoleaUs of 100 silver dollars with
leather or tarred canvas on the. outside
and tightly sealed with wax at the ends.
The wax bears always the impression OF
the hidalgO's seal.
A Privileged Player.
He seats himself opposite the dealer
and a space is cleared for him on either
hand. Habitual players drop slightly 70
the rear, because they know that duel
is on. The dealer decorously bows MS
head and says. i wish you good fortune
seEOr.' The hidalgo says: With an my
heart ] wish yours. The red wheel par
rows have been placed on either side Of
the player. He takes from one OF them
"a rouleau and lays il upon a card In
his dark face there is only mild interest
The battle will continue until all the rou-
leaus are gone from the gamblers pile
whether winning or losing, the OLD hloal-
60 never fOrgets his DOliteneSS. He asks
pardon when he is slow In placing his
wagers and he thanks the dealer when he
gets winnings
..How's gambling in the western states
nowadays? Very dull. except iu Mon
tana and San Francisco There are no
big games anywhere i'm the Union now
adays, except occasionally in New Or
leans. I have recently talked with gam
blers who have been everywhere ~ the
west seeking places where big games are
played. and they all say the stdgnatiOn
that has come over the western gambling
fraternity is the most general and com
plete they have ever known. The same
thing Obtains i'm the eastern states. /
know personally of hundreds of the olC-
time gamblers who are broke and cdnnot
even set a chance at a fOOthold To climb
into easy circumstances again.
a Lifelong Gambler.
How long have I been a gambler?
Practically al my life I was born a
slave on the Hambill farm in southern
Missouri about 1913. but J had an indul-
gent. kind master and mistress who
spoiled me by lCu.eucy- learned poker
from watching the games that my master
and his planter friends used 10 play day
after day for a week at time at the
farm. 1 must have been about II years
old when ] had a fairly correct idea of
how poker was played
when the civil war broke out ] was
gone into the confederate army, I ran
away and finally got TO Chicago. There
L worked I'm a saloon and my talent for
cards soon became known I worked for
s. a week for just two months Then.
with hacker who agreed to give me SJe
a month for year anG share half tho
profits. I became q professional poker
player.
"rhe most wonderful days I ever knew
for poker playing were iu tho first ten
years after the war. The soldier bow
cane home from army ana camp Use cx-
pert poker players aud the game had an
extraordinary revival. i believe 81 was
"a bout 1870 that General Robert C.