The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1922-06-09
MAKE YOUR FAIRS CLEAN.

About this time of the year the various fair asso-
Citations are preparing premium lists, booking atrae-
tons and selling concessions Selling concessions
is an easy matter il the committee in charge is only
looking for easy money with which to he p pay the
expenses of the fair or exhibition this fall IT, on
the other hand members of the committee have a
real honest desire to protect the patrons OF the falr
the most Of whom may be their neighbors and
friends. as well as to furnish them with entertain
ment they will scrunize closely every proposition
presented and be guarded against the smooth talk
ing individuals who so cheerfully offer the Associa
ton 20 per cent Of their receipts
There are State laws against gambling even
though the game may be square and the players
given a fifty-hfty chance Poker games between
friends are frequently raided and the participants
hauled in before the court and fined, but, let the
gambling devices be in the form OF doll racks,
wheels of chance and various games installed in a
stree carnival or the fair grounds, and both fair
officiels and officers of the law endorse them by
permitting them to operate undisturbed and by ac-
ceptng a percentage OF the proceeds.
1t is a well known fact that the games of chance
operated on the fair grounds of the country are
crooked. There ism square game among them
The wheels are either controlled by the operator.
else permanently fixed so that the player has less
than one chance in a hundred Of winning any object
worth the dime he spends to play. u may be said
that a large number Of persons play the games with
a full knowledge that they due for a SHINING on
a small scale but these not the victims that the
concession owner is looking for They merely
an incident in his days work These smooth in
dividuals with their 'Touts' or 'Come-ons' work
ing in the crowd pick out the boy who visits
town only at rare intervals and who is out for the
one big time of the year They determine the
amount of money he has in his pockets, and by
gaining his confidence fleece him OF the entire
amount IF they can't do it with the game they are
openly playing they usually find other means.
Fair Associations officials who grant concessions
to gamblers and fake shows may do on the theory
that the public is out for a good time and that they
are fully aware of the chances they taking, but
this is only true OF a certain proportion Officials
who knowingly sell concessions of this character
are guilty Of taking an unfair advantage Of their
patrons and participate in robbing them OF their
hard-earne money.-Farm and Ranch
The Avalanche is Of the opinion that the people
in general would be much better off if the nasty,
dirty carniyas and vulgar shows were not brought
to town during the fairs. There is always a lot of
dirty undesirable people with the carnivas, The
one had last year represented being
clean aggregation, and after it came how many of
the stands and joints closed up by the officers
because Of their violation Of the State laws, for oper
ating games of chance. etc. and then only about
ten per cent of them were closed should have
been. And with all this. high schools boys
were placed down there to take tickets in order to
pay some Of the expenses of the school It's
shame that the people of Lubbock cannot take bet
ter care Of the needs Of the school, and we believe
that the management Of the Fair Association should
be very careful in getting a bunch Of undesirable
people here to entertain the folks during the fair