Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-02-10


small proportion of the visitors are
real gamblers. Most of them are sight
seers, guests of the nearby hotels, TAX
ing the cures, and young people out
for lark.
After l had spent an hour watching
the various games the roulette table
attracted my attention. The rattle of
| the marble, the reckless helter- skelter
of the chips charmed me. The money
in my pocket began to burn. I went
to the cashier and bought SO worth of
| chips, and In burst of reckless reso-
, luton put them down on the black.
won and moved the $50 to the red and
won again, and so on until I was $3.50
ahead. Then I began to lose. My
evening cost me about $50.
The bookmaker's wheel Is perhaps
the most popular gambling game at
French Lick. This wheel Is made up of
bills Of one, two, five and ten dollar
denominations. On the table, under
glass, are ten, five, two and one dollar
bills, where the bets are placed. You
play ten for one, five for one, two for
one or one for one. On the wheel,
which Is tipped at an angle of
As degrees, is rubber ball. After the
bets are placed the wheel Is spun, and
wherever the rubber ball lies when the
wheel stops settles the winnings or the
amounts lost. saw one woman win
800 eight times in succession. The
ball stopped on a ten-dollar bill eight
successive times. However, that was
an extraordinary run Of luck. Usu-
ally the game runs much in favor of
the house.
Except for the monotonous song
cries of the croupiers urging the crowd
with: Make your bets, gentlemen. In
a minute she spins. Are you all down?
Make your bets-then here she goes
jumping and singing-slower, slower,
slower-2S and black 1t is!" there Is
scarcely any noise in the gambling
rooms. Walters move about silently
serving drinks. Nobody speaks above
a whisper.
| Another favorite game at French
Lick is hyronomous-"Old Hy," as II
is called. The lowest stake is $5. And
few who visit Browns can resist the
fascination of "Old Hy."
| For a moment there is the rattle ol
chips and then again comes the song
Are you all down, gentlemen? Are
you all down? Then up-up she comes
with a four and pair Of fives!"
There were three faro games In
progress during the evening I spent In
Browns" At those tables the men
(no women were playing there) played
in that silent and tense manner pecu-
liar to the game. One Of them was q
well known Chicago banker. Another
was a New York bookmaker who Is
noted chiefly for his beautiful wife
All of them had big stacks Of chips
The bank limit was $50 to cases." 500
to doubles" and 5000 on the last
turn"
| Faro Is played with>-O'full deck OF
cards in a metal box the same size az
the deck, with only the top card visi-
BILE. When placed in the box the deck
is pressed upward by spring, and the
cards may be slid out to the right one
by one through a narrow slot.
When ready for play and all bets are
down, the dealer slides out the top card
and places it a foot or 80 from the box
The next card he also slides out and
places near the box.
This Is turn" and after taking In
or paying the losing and winning bets
it Is repeated until the deal is exhaust
| ed. The cards falling next to the box
are the losers and the cards placed al
distance are the winners.
A layout or duplicate Of each card In
the pack, from ace to king, Is glued
to the green baize Of the table top
Upon these layout cards the bets are
| placed.
Such is the game as it is played at
French Lick, and thousands OF dollars
are won and lost at 1t every night
Sometimes the winnings run into the
tens of thousands And vice versa.
When asked for "Al' Brown no one
seemed to know where he could be
found. A score of attendants and
walters were in evidence, but "Ar
Brown was nowhere around. One OF
the croupiers informed me that the
gambling had been going on for two
years in it's present quarters, and thai
as the town people were barred from
entering the rooms or playing, the
grand jury could not get any evidence
to indict the proprietor and close the
resort. Before the gambling rooms
were located there they were located In
two story building on the GROUNDS
adjoining the French Lick hotel. This
building is now used as a billiard room
and bowling alley.
The ministers in French Lick have
long since accepted the gambling as a
necessary evil so all is peaceful. The
gambling is as much Of an established
| feature as the springs.
AS a general rule It Is not until after
| midnight in the morning that the
crowd is greatest and the gambling Is
at its height. Then all the tables are
clustered with players like flies upon
sugar lump.
One o'clock finds many players still
there, and it Is not until nearly two
o'clock that the rooms are closed and
the lights turned out Then the guests
of the hotels go back to their beds and
| rest until it is time to take train Tor
home or until they can play the ponies
in the afternoon.
Each night is like the preceding or
the following one at French Lick. Like
the spring, the gambling goes on for
ever-French Lick, Qnd0, Cor. New
York Sun.
Names In Siam.-The late king OF
Siam had for full name Phra Bat
IT, AInh l.