Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-02-16

or furniture. Beyond the safe, close to
the wall is the semi circular crap ta-
BILE. Ranged around this are men
and boys Of all ages, either partici-
pating in or watching the game. The
representative of the house, for only
one is needed for this game. Is sitting
on his high stool in little semi-circu
lar niche, where he can reach any
point on the table. In front of him
are stacks Of red and white chips
worth respectively 25 and 10 cents.
AS We approach the table we see
a youth, perhaps of II SUNNI throw
down a half dollar on the line and say
Shoot dime" "Shoot dime" re.
peats the house man, meantime doing
| what he can to stimulate the sporting
blood In the rest of the crowd. The
reading of the dice is called out in a
droning voice and IL by chance the
player throws his point he is paid In
chips, II he loses his bet the house
takes that and the dice go to the next
man in line along the table. Here
the minimum bet is a nickle, the max
imum generally $40, but % cents to a
dollar is the ordinary.
The Faro Table.
next turns to the faro table. The
game is somewhat complicated, but
has the reputation of being the quick
est game Of the lay out. That Is to
say q man can win or lose-mostly
lose-more quickly at faro than al.
most any other proposition the house
affords. 1t may suffice to know that
faro is game of cards, in which the
house man Is the dealer, and the
player bets on each card as 1t Is dealt
out of the deck, which after it Is shut.
| fed, is encased in a box with a spring
at the bottom by which one card is
released at a time. Faro is said to be
interesting to young and old alike,and
is full of surprises. In the house
where Bill reigns the faro table Is at
the south end Of the room while on
the east side are found the stud poker
table and the roulette wheel. Stud
poker is a game of cards which ] will
not delay you to describe, but in which
game there is always a house man or
! two to each "sucker" who sees to 1t
that the game is made interesting for
! him.
All this time the roulette wheel has
been whirling, and around the long
low table men and boys are interest
eddy grouped The wheel lies horl'
! zontal and has numbered compart.
ments. 1t is whirled one way while
marble Is rolled the other way in
groove above. AS the marble loses
it's momentum it drops finally on the
wheel and later into one Of the num-
bered grooves. II the groove Is num-
bered six, the player who was lucky
enough to have bet on that number
is paid thirty-five for one. There are
also grooves for star and double star
snecially lucky ones. The house man
manipulates the wheel and the marble
pays the bets and jollies the boys. Al
! first glance this game seems poor
one for the house, but someway tne
man behind the table always looks
happy, and is probably not there TOT
purely benevolent reasons. Roulette
/ is a great game for the boys, second
only to craps, for here small Wagers
are accepted with more readi'
ness than at either faro OF
poker, and less knowledge OF
gambling is required to play them
Locating Other Places.
But here the evening is far spent,
and the genial Bill Wagner has mo-
nopolized all our time. We have
given him undue recognition not that
he is any better or any worse than
any of the rest of them. but for the
simple reason that it was thought in
teresting once for all to give such de-
scription Of the operations which are
lin question, and which are permitted
i under thte eyes of the police force of
our city unmolested. But starting out
we will satisfy ourselves by merely
locating the rest of the places and
making such passing comment as their
special interests demand Passing a
little further up East Main street we
come to the institution OF Holmes and
i Pegg. which is conducted over the Ut
tumwa saloon.
/ Retracing our steps we stop
at Ottumwa's most represent.
alive hostelry, The Ballingall. Going
4 down Green street, we find a conyen'
lent door leading to the basement
Here we enter room and ma 1t per
fectly equipped in all the para
phernalia of the game. Looking
around we find this Is patronizeo
by q rather higher class OF citizens
and visitors. This is run by Mr.. Herm
Davis and Frank Erbacher. Mr.. Davis
is a gentleman who has done well In
the business and may be constrained
to pay him my further respects when
II discuss the Business Folly of Wide
Open City.
On Second Street Also.
Coming along East Main street
we pass three pool rooms or sa
looms that run games in the rear room
Continuing west on Main street VIC
find about three doors east of Wash
ington street place conducted by
colored man. Turning over on Secont
; street we find place in that poo
room located between two saloons
west of the Courier building. This !:
said to be one of the worst places II
the city as it first allures the young
!; fellows into the pool room, then en-
tices them into the back rooms behint
the pool room and saloon where othe
more vicious games are conducted
,1upad hv Thomas Sum