Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-10-29
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! LOOKER.ON In IOWA !
Observation-Disclosures

Belmont, Oct. 29.-In an Iowa town
the other day much complaint was
heard of the scarcity of nickles, e.,
five cent pieces. Merchants frequent
ly came to the bank for this small
change, and the general explanation of
this state of affairs was that they
were in the slot machines" "Why not
open the machines and take them out?"
was the natural question. Because"
was the reply, many of these slot ma
chimes belong to outsiders, concerns
who are in the slot machine business,
and whose agent comes around every
thirty days, restocks the machine with
gum, candy or cigars, and takes out
the accumulated money!
In a depot one day in a town Of $50
inhabitants the writer saw the railroad
agent emptying the gum and choco-
late penny machine, and his word for
1t is that that machine in this small
town takes I'M from $40 to $50 each
month. Said he never emptied it but
put in by mistake
Few realize the business the slot ma
chimes are doing, this especially in The
cigar line. From good authority
comes the statement that hotel in
Fort Dodge receives $240 month (not
Year, for their cigar stand privilege,
and the man who hires this privilege"
is cleaning up over $4,000 a year.
There are big figures, but not surpris
ing to those Watching their sales. It's
the most common thing in the world
for a travelling man on the munifiicent
salary of $50 a month and expenses to
buy a dollars worth of nickels and
elbow them all in as fast as he can
pull the lever. Where he plays for
cigars, If he wins his friends get the
benefit; if he loses he smokes his pipe
till next pay day. If he plays the
as profitable, for the owner of the cigar
stand privilege, for the manufacturer
guarantees 40 per cent profit in the
long run"
OF course the moralists can get their
work In by knowing of this universal
slot machine business Once this
scribe heard a temperance lecturer
say, 1.-THE young man buys a cigar;
smoking it he creates an artificial
thirst. then he drinks the whisky, be-
comes drunkard, and finally loses his
immortal SOUL" Maybe he said
youth goes to hell, the writer will not
attempt to be exact. but the idea was
the whole trouble commenced in buy
ing and smoking the cigar. And so
watching the fathers and mothers in
our railroad depots, lifting the two
RI n ~,
the temperance lecturers illustration
came to mind.
And If one can expain why 1t Is that
nice, respectable young women, when
they Ego to the lakes" every summer.
see nothing out of the way in playing
the slot machines not for gum or cloc-
olate but for cash returns the ma
chine If it works right, that gives YOU
twenty nickels for one it will be inter-
esting. OF course they do it for fun,
but just the same that kind of "fun"
does not go anywhere else, but at the
lakes.
All this easily suggests the univer-
sal game of smear" "ten cents cor
ner" and five cents set up." This too
suggests a. fine point where fun ceases
and gambling commences. For the
wealthy banker who sets in to make up
the game losing two dollars and TWEEN
ty cents at sitting it's fun The trav-
cling man in the same crowd whose
large salary has been mentioned win
ming "eight dollars ut smear yester-
dav," "25 cents corner and 10 cents
set up it's gambling pure and simple
A gain the temperance lecturers words
arise,
And if this is bod. how about those
deals in the hoard of traaeo How
oho,-lt the buc1sof shons co we'n natron-