Mexico weekly ledger., 1907-01-31
THROUGH A TRAP.DooR.

uftft al Dubtct , mili w utainnoiii
up to the middle OF the f~ifties, Califor-
MIA was a veritable gamblers para
disc. There was not a miners camp,
village, town or city in the whole
country that did not have gambling
sheds running wide open, day and
night, and foolish men fiocked to them
like flies to a butcher shop.
1t was during the early ffties
that a merchant from Sacraments had
q thrilling adventure in a gambling
house on the water front In San
Francisco, and / will give his story in
bis own words as near as l can re-
member It.
THE MERCHANTS STORY.
~ left Sacramento on the steamer
Senator at l p. m. for San Francisco,
to purchase q new stock Of goods, and
reached the city at nine O'Clock. When
the boat landed at the wharf | got
into a bus and rode up to the hotel,
where l engaged a room and went to
bed. l was up early the next morn
ing and as soon as the stores were
opened / went around an soon pur-
chased all Of the goods that l needed,
and ordered them shipped on the boat
that would leave for Sacramento at
4 p. m. Looking at my watch I saw
that / would have many hours to wait
for the boat to leave and to kill the
time, / thought / would pay a visit to
an old time friend that ! had not seen
for a long time. When l reached his
house he met me at the door and
almost shook my arm out Of joint, SO
glad was he to see me, We had been
playmates when we were small kids;
schoolmates and chums later on. When
the gold fever broke out We were In
the forefront Of the great tidal wave
that swept across the continent, in
search OF the golden fleece, and when
we reached San Francisco my friend
concluded to remain there and | went
to Sacramento. He took me into the
sitting room, gave me a fragrant cigar
and lighting one himself we sat down
and began to talk over old times. His
wife prepared a splendid dinner for us
and after the meal was over we re-
turned to the sitting room and soon
became so interested In our converse
tion that the time slipped away much
faster than l thought, and the conse-
quence was that l reached the wharf
Just In time to see the boat for up the
bay on her way to Sacramento.
II was greatly disappointed when l
found that l was not there In time to
catch the boat and would have to re-
main In the city until 4 p. m. the next
day. l returned to the hotel and got
a room for the night and after dark
that evening I.concluded to take a
walk and see some of the sights Of
Frisco by gas light. Walking down
Montgomery street l heard a splendid
brass band playing downon the water
front and I .went down there to see
what was going on.
sat that time the bay from the
foot Of Pacific street extended up TO
Sansome street and then made a
horseshoe curve around to the bottom
OF Market street. The street were
nothing but long wharves, being built
on piles and covered with heavy plank
ing, being at low tide, nearly twenty
feet above the water. In many places
on these streets there were large holes
where the planks had been broken
through by the heavy loads that we're
daily hauled over them. These ugly
holes were called imam holes," On &C.
count Of so many drunken sailors fall
ing through them and being drowned
In the deep water below, when return
ing to their ships late at night. The
houses along these streets stood on
piles level with the street.
when | got down to where the
band was playing l found that it was
a large gambling house and l went in
to see how big games were played. The
musicians being seated on a raised
platform on one side and at the end
Of the room there was a fine and well
stocked bar. The tables stood all
over the room, where every gambling
game ever invented was being played.
A crowd of men were seated around
every table and at the end Of every
game the dealer would order free
drinks for all who yer bucking at the
game. After watkins around for a
while l stopped at a faro table and
after watching the game for awhile :
became so fascinated by 1t that l was
suddenly seized with an Irresistible
impulse to try my luck.
"Thrustlng my hand In my pocket
I took out a FIVE dollar gold piece and
placed it on the nine of diamonds won
Crupier who sat on the opposite side
of the table from my dealer placed
another five doller gold piece Of mint
and let 1t remain. The next time th,
nine Of diamonds was the winning
card and a twenty gold piece wa
placed on the too fives. did moi
touch it, but just sit there as thongl
my feet were glued to the floor, an(
watched the pile grow, for every tim,
that the ca<ds r~anlthrough the boxIthI
nine OF diamonds won and my pill
numbered in size.
"When the pile had mounted up IL
the hundreds men began to gathe
around the table and watch what the,
called my great steak of luck. At las
l grew tired Of watching that pill
grow and on looking at my watch
saw that il was getting late In th
night and was time for me to returI
to the hotel. Taking a new silk hand
kerchief out Of pocket l placed th
pile Of coin on itand tied it up frml
than l took IL and started for th
door. Before I reached the door
man placed his hand on my shoulde