The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-08
RAIN GAMBLING IN INDIA.
How Bets Are Made and Decided-Waeers
on Bird Fights.
From London It'd BIS


From London It'd BIS.
In India, and possibly more especially
In the large seaport towns, gambling 10
found in almost every conceivable form,
from the sweepstake on the Calcutta CUP
to the chuck farthing of the bazaars.
The rainy season, however, brings into
temporary vogue a particular kind of specu-
laCion which is about the simplest specimen
Of gambling TO be found anywhere, and
has the advantage or distinction Of allow
ing no opportunity to sharpers and birds
Of kindred feather to exercise their skill in
any manipulations which deceive the eye
of the novice.
This system of gambling is called sutta,
or rain speculation. The man who thinks
himself weather wise bets according to his
opinion, and it rests with the elements
only to decide who is the winner. The
betting may take place anywhere, 30 long
as there is a roof and spout, or a rain
gauge, reco gnized by both parties in the
betting transaction,
If the gambling takes place in a room
there will probably be a long, counterlike
table extending from one end to the other;
at one side OF this table are the bookmakers
sitting on cushions, and by their side a,
gorgeous brass bound box and native ink
stand and old fashioned sandbox, and
these men book the time at which a gambler
prognosticates the rain will descend. The
means of settling the question whether it
does rain or not are of simple description.
There are two classes Of rain gauges
one is a long gutter running along the caves
of the house or ~building-at one end there
is a small hole to which a spout is fixed,
and through this narrow aperture the water
triokles when the rain only falls in the form
of a slight drizzle, but when it rains in
earnest the rush of water is not able to
escape through the small spout, 80 fills up
the gutter mi pours over the end, and it
is on this desired event happening that
most of the bets are usually booked. The
other method is a rough kind of rain gauge
supported IN posts some seven feet high
and standing in the middle of a trough.
When heavy clouds gather overhead and
appear to be merely in doubt as to whether
to break and pour down rain or to pass
on to some other district, then the scenes
in the gambling dens reach al intense stage
of excitement as the gamblers rush in to
book their bets-that is, if the police don't
interfere. Many are the anxious faces
| which gaze up into the sky, for, like a
Derby day in England, some have staked
their all, and comparative fortune or total
loss and despair depends on the clouds
above. Rich buniahs or merchants, soldiers
and clerks, all classes risk their money in
the hope of increasing IL, with the conse-
quence that many are ruined. AS in other
countries, with some the passion for gam
bling Is so strong within them that 1t is a
species of madness, and they hesitate not,
in the intensity Of their %keenness, to indulge
tEas, R1aN1nnaity with rnnnATy TINT 10 mot
their own, and many are sent to prison
for losing other peoples money to the
sutta bookmakers.
Another somewhat uncommon form of
gambling takes more after the nature Of
cock fighting, insomuch that it is betting
on the fighting powers Of certain birds,
The particular kind of bird varies In some
measure according to the part OF India.
Chikor, which are larger than a partridge,
are found on the lower slopes of the noun
tains and are game to the extent of keen
fighting, and the cock birds are frequently
pitted against each other. Partridges are
more general than chikor, many being
so cleverly trained that they are expert
fighters, and a group Of natives may be seen
squatting in a ring and betting to the
amount of their money on the bird they
respectively favor.
Quails. however, are probably more ex-
tensively used for these bird fights, partly
because at certain seasons they are found
all over lndla, ana more especially because
there is no bird of their size more game
for a fight. When properly trained for the
ring or pit they give what the experienced
sporting gamblers affirm to be a most scien-
tifc display of bird fighting and a staying
power which is frequently game enough
unto dealt in battle, Quails are 80 pug
nacious that those which nave been Melted
in the corn fields and are to be reserved
for use at table have to be kept in specially
prepared quail pits until needed, the chief
essential being that the birds must not
have sufficient light to see each other, or they
would fight until but one cock bird was
left alive.
A couple Of natives may accidentally
meet on the road; possibly no one else is
in sight. They exchange a few words, then
squat on their launches opposite each
other, and their hands simultaneously
grope about in the folds Of their pugarees,
whence they will each produce a quail,
which will be placed on the ground, and the
birds will promptly begin to fight, while
their owners will bet on the result. II
other natives should happen to come along
they will squat to watch and also bet IL
they nave anv money. Then when the
fight and excitement are over they will
settle their accounts and quietly 60 their
respective ways.
Quinine, Drug In Most Demand
Erom fhc PHILADELPHIA Pecord