Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-16
GAMBLING DEVICES.
Many Ingenious Ways Found In
Paris.

The Frenchman is an inveteratt
gambler, and any and every occasion
for trying his luck at games Of
chance Is sure to find him ready tC
challenge fortune. For some years
past the cafes of France have beer
encountered by automatic apparatus
Of a more or less honest description
which, in most cases, are little less
than artful devices to rob the public
Of their coppers. The public proba.
bly, knows that quite we'll, but the
persistent confidence or hopefulnes.
Of the man in the street in his luck
enables the makers of the penny ir
the slot machines to reap a rich har.
vest by trading on public credulity
I remember some years ago, on q
wet day, after lunching with some
friends In a suburb Of a Normandy
seaside resort, trying my fortune al
one Of these automatic catchpennies
1 seldom touch the foolish things
but 1t was too wet to venture outside
and there was nothing to do but to
sit in the cafe. So I put a penny ir
the slot, backed green and pulled the
lever. Out came two pence. I put
the money in my pocket. Then
placed a penny on red and out came
fivepence. The game began to be not
only interesting but profitable.
After two or three lucky shots, the
people in the cafe gathered round
me and handed me their pennies
with the request that I would play
for them. I did so, and in most cases
was successful. won for myself;
put in money for the children of the
proprietor, did the same for the
maid who had served us, and finally
as the landlord seemed to be looking
rather glum, 1 put in a penny fol
him and brought out a sevenpence
BY this time the rain had cleared of
and l left the cafe. l have since re-
fected that such prodigal luck as
was mine that day is not without
danger. 1t might have turned my
head, and if 1 had become a penny
in the slot fiend what a horrible end
might have come to! Happily
was saved from such a fate and in
spite of my phenomenal good for
tune in the Normandy cafe 1 have
never-or hardly ever-tempted the
tickle goddess since.
But there are others. Go into any
Of the small wine shops or cafes in
Paris and you are almost certain to
see in a conspicuous part of the es-
tablishment the familiar automatic
tempter. They are of three kinds:
First, the apparatus which distri-
butes counters-they are no longer
allowed to distribute money-in ac-
cordance with the intentions of the
individual who regulates It; second,
that in which the skill Of the player
seems to determine the result I say
seems" for that is only another
method Of quilting the good, confid-
ing public. In the machines of the
first type the player puts in his pen
ny-that Is an operation that Is indis-
pensable in all the apparatus. Then
he turns a handle and wins or loses.
The machines are regulated in such
a way that winning and losing series
alternate by turns. But the winning
series, by which the fortunate play
er obtains a counter representing
twopence, which he must spend on
the premises-that Is where the wine
shop keeper comes in-is much
shorter in duration than the losing
series. The automatic man is not in
the business for his health. Thus
you may play a franc and not win
more than one or two counters, say
fourpence, or you may lose. If you
strike a bad series you may play
twenty ''coups" at a penny a time
and come away with a couple Of two
penny counters, which you must take
out in liquor whether you like it or
not.
In the second type of these me-
chanical devices for cajoling the
public the player chooses in advance
a color, or a card. One system, for
on which are marked hearts, spades,
clubs and diamonds. You place the
hand of the clock on the card you are
backing, put a penny in the slot, and
turn the handle. If you have been
we'll inspired you win twopence or
threepence and the prospect of win
ming three pence has a wonderful ef-
feet in stimulating the energy Of the
gamblers. The result is that the TAX
ings Of these machines are very con-
siderable. A modification Of this
system prevents even fewer chances
of success for the backer. 1t con-
sists of an arrangement by which the
"joueur" backs one of three colors,
and If successful, wins a penny, two
pence or threepence. But the su-
preme attraction is that the stake is
only. half penny, instead of twice
that amount, as in the other ma
chimes. Nobody minds risking a
halfpenny, especially as he stands to
win a counter, or even two counters,
worth threepence each. So 1t often
happens that a customer plays twen-
three pence or sixpence. He has in
reality only one chance in four and
occasionally his bad luck is aggrava-
ted by the appearance Of device
reading: "Persevere and you will
make your fortune" or, more ironi-
cal still: Beware of thieves
The third type Of apparatus is
one in which the players vanity is
pandered to by the illusion that his
skill has something to do with the
result. After dropping his penny in
the slot the player presses on a
spring which when released sends a
metal ball spinning around a circle
in a sort of looping the lop move
ment When 1t reaches the vertical
plane on the top it runs along and
falls into one of five holes marked :