The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-09-21
LOTTERIES or EUROPE
The Way French and Italian State
Drawings Are Handled.
PRIZES PICKED IN PUBLIC.

S~N~HS 0ut ikaitdU EpEAOs
A year or two ago Manchester pub
hcan, although he heard that city OF
Paris bond which he possessed had
won $1,000, was so skeptical of the
genuineness Of French government
lotteries that he refused to believe he
! could receive the money, even when a
! check for the amount came to hand.
| At last he was persuaded to cash the
| check. Accompanied by few friends,
who were going to get the money "or
know why he set out for Paris.
| They invaded the Hotel de Vile and
came away gaping with establishment
/ because the check was cashed the mo
! ment he handed it in.
/ The French state lotteries are
worked on a system which, while put
ting fortunes into the pockets of lucky
individuals, enables the country to
raise loans when required Each stock
or bond besides earning a small rate
Of interest, entities the holder to par
t1cipate in a series of drawings for
prizes ranging In value from SOW
erelgn TO several thousand pounds.
The bonds range from 16 shilllngs to
EGO and, being made payable to bearer.
can be turned into ready money very
easily.
The drawings for prizes must, &C
cording to law, take place in public.
and no one, whether bondholder or
not, can be refused admittance to the
Credit Foncier, where the drawing
takes place At every drawing the
governor Of the bank and other high
officers are present, whose duty it Is
to superintend the whole proceedings
At the commencement one Of them
reads out list Of big prizes to be
drawn for. and also states the num-
Der Of bonds which are to be redeemed
at par.
Each number is drawn by boy from
a revolving wheel or drum, varying in
height from four to eight feet, accord
ing to the number Of persons partlci
pating ia the lottery This boy Is usu-
ally obtained from a neighboring or
phanage or similar institution, and the
sum OF 10 francs is placed to his credit
in his savings bank book as payment
hand in the aperture the boy faces the
audience with his hand in the air, fn-
gers outspread, and his arm bare to
the elbow, to show that he is conceal,
ing nothing before making the draw.
AS he draws each little scroll from
the wheel of fortune the presiding Of
fcer takes Off the copper covering and
reads out the lucky number. afterward
passing it round to members Of the
press for verihcation And so the
drawing goes on until the whole of the
prize winning numbers have been
drawn. After this the drawing OF
those bonds which are to be repaid at
par takes place the boy drawing them
from the wheel in handfuls and empty
ing them into a crystal bowl From
the latter they are taken, sorted out
counted and entered by clerks.
The italian state lottery, or lotto az
1t is called, is conducted on somewhat
different lines. Each week, at eight OF
the principal cities in Italy. Eve mum
I bers are publicly drawn from the mum
bers one to ninety. People have in tbs
meantime been busy taking tickets for
the lotto, on which are specified the
+ numbers on which they are playing
i, II any two numbers selected by q
. player appear among the five drawn
he receives ffty-two and a half times
his stake: if three numbers appear
$3.50 times his stake, and If four mum
bers, 10000 times his stake. The low
!, est stake IS II centesimi. equal to abou
= penny Of our coinage.
!. Seeing. however, that there ar
, 1905 combinations of two in ninetl
!. numbers, III $50 combinations o
q three and no fewer than 2,5J5, 100 com
binations of four. 1t is obvious that tn
, odds are very heavy against winning
, In spite of this. however, the lotter.
is very popular, as may be judges
from the fact that on an average tn
Italian government draws $4,000
every year from this source.
In their selection of numbers tn
Italian gamblers are guided to a yer.
great extent by dreams and events
for no people are more supersttOus
Dream books are largely publishe'
and bought, while any untoward even
Is looked upon as furnishing a cle7
to lucky numbers.
Some time ago. for instance, a ser
Gus accident occurred at Genoa. Tw
horses bolted. fell headlong from a
elevated piazza into a street belo'
and were killed. lamp post being NJ
set IN tbels fall. Immediately thos
who witneSsed the tragedy decided
play the following numbers: Tw
number OF the horses, Eve (equivaler
Of horse. ninety (meaning aecideni
and sixteen and forty 1.-THE numbe
painted on the lamp post which wa
upset. By a curious tiuke every on
Of the nambers came out. and owe
r 100000 ira E252 OCo-was wgn-
y In Aus.ria and Germany. too, g0'
ernRlent lotteries are fiourishtng II
D. situations What Is known as d
6 Royal ryussian lottery has MONTH
. drawings and the number Of ticke'
=.