The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-04
GAMBLING AT FL PASO
PLounIsHNs WELL IN AMER
 TcAy MONTE CARLO.
Houses are Wide Open and Millions Change Hands-or ,er Types to be Found--Men Who Will
 Win . Victims Last Cent,
 Then Give Him Board and Lodging.

Louisville Courier Journal.
 Flight hundred miles distant, from any city of a size commensurate with it's own; the center of . desert fadiating situated on the boundaries of two States, one Territory and two repub- lies is the Monte Carlo of the United States
 In no city of similar population, in fact, nowhere in the United States-save in small western villages and mining camps-is wide-open gambling permitted as 1t is in Fl Paso. Perhaps in the larger cities and pleasure resorts more money changes hands at periods; at least in race-track wagering, but the original sport in Fl Paso is continuous. constant and uncurbed. And this Is in State that has more stringent laws relative to gambling-and more rigidiy ehforced--than in any commonwealth in the Union! But Fl Paso Is six hundred
 miles across an arid waste from TexaA proper and a community In itself A glance at the map will demonstrate that it is the most isolated municipality in the United States and the capital of the "Free Zone that extends from Yuma, Aria. to Eagle Pass.
 Twenty-nine million and two hundred thousand dollars a year, an average of sS0. 0.00O a day, changes hands in Fl Paso, a place of less than 5000 inhabitants. This amount does not include private gambling games. There are ninety-four wide-open gambling places within two miles of the customs house. In the su- burbs and just across the Rio Grande at Juarez, Mexico. there are forty-six more houses that carry on gambling in Its various forms. These 40 resorts con- duct poker. roulette, monte. faro. dice and other games There Is an average of four games in progress day and night in each place, or Q total of 560 games simultaneously and constantly in opera ton in Fl Paso.
 The amount of table gambling in Fl Paso is sixteen times greater than the total dry goods business. wholesale and retail. Moreover. 1t Is conducted entirely on a cash basis and none of 1t in prosnis- sory notes as in other lines of trade.
 In the gambling houses of Fl Paso alone there are a6O employees who operate the various games. and these figures do not include porters and other attendants The average salary of the operators of tables and machines Is 5 a day. making a total expenditure for salaries only of $2.300; almost a million yearly. One third of a million Is yearly expended for rents. With four exceptions, these nine- ty-four gambling houses have been att tached and the total investments in bars and gambling fixtures aggregate over two million dollars, many times greater than any other combined business in the town excepting smeltlng, and this indus- try there is the largest in the Southwest. including Mexico.
 The "Plunger."
 There are few games in El Pas0 that are able to stand losses from two to ten thousand in a single day and continue business. This does not often come to pass. however, as the business has been phenomenally successful from the start. and few games close each year for want of funds. The most dangerous man to gambling-hous interests is the plunger from the COW country and mining camps. He plays heavily. and If lucky soon makes a killing" Should he quit at this stage of the game, the house is out a big sum- This does not often happen, as he delights fin being game" The strongest six houses in the city carry from S, 900 to $20.000 on hand. as well as commen- surate deposits in the banks.
 There are no dives or low-cIass resorts in Fl Paso. as prevail in the cities of the East and Middle West, where this form of gambling is restricted or done away with entirely. In Fl Paso 1t is a business. as any branch of trade or com merce, the houses being on the lower IlOOFS anu btTeetS or the town, and conducted by men thoroughly re- sponsible in business affairs. Unlike places of gambling conducted secretly away from the border. the resorts there arc "square," to use the parlance of green-cloth patrons. The industry is guarded by the authorities and no game can be run that is not conducted on what they call there a legitimate basis. While its evils are far in excess of its virtues. 1t is a time-honored and accepted in- stitution. Again, for the reason that the gambler is honest. in the commercial sense of the word pays his debts. les liberal in his contributions to municipal affairs, charities and churches, he be- longs to different atmosphere sur rounding the table gambling operator elsewhere in the United States.
 The history of gambling in Ei Pa O within recent years Is entirely different from the popular opinion. There is, of course. the periodical suicide and story of a wrecked life. but the gambling hall hrawls and killings are practically of the past. It is not now men gambling with each other, but patrons playing against the houses which are known to be square They are business institutions, and, while they are resorts for sports, they are also the places of speculation for people who invest as one would in cotton fu- lures or next weeks grain market
 The frickerv folInd in the EaSt i,, ofr,o