The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-02

for The Times goes where he pleases,
when he pleases, in search Of odd stories
about this and that.
EORT WORTH, Tex, April 2.--If
l. you can judge the United
States by the South, then the
United States is going gambling
crazy.
The whole South is plastered with
gambling machines, and people are
standing in line to play them.
Slot machines are everywhere
in hotels, restaurants, stores, gas
stations, Office building Hobbies.
They're exactly the same kind they
had in the wild coal-mining towns
when was boy. They make ex-
actly the same out-of- joint sound
when you pull the lever, the same
noise as the three drums whirl
around and one by one come to a
stop, and the same sound when
the nickels come clinking out. The
only difference seems to be that
the nickels don't come out as often
as in the old days.
Gambling machines are, of course,
stacked against the player. The
player knows it, and takes his
chance. But so far as can OBJ
serve, the games of chance of the
present era don't even give the
player run for his money. have
watched people playing all the way
from the Atlantic Coast to Texas,
and have not seen anybody make
a killing.
And very seldom do they even
get anything back. Only smart
guys like me ever win.
TN a restaurant in Tallahassee, 1,
= after dinner one evening, I de-
cided to take a fling at the wheels
of fate. spoke to the waiter of my
intentions. He was friendly, con-
fldential sort, and he advised me
against it. "You can't win on them
things" he said.
But the fever was pounding in my
head. I rushed to the cashier for a
half dollars worth Of nickels, and
marched down upon the battery of
machines along the wall.
My waiter friend was right be-
hind, still giving advice. Don't play
this one on the end," he warned.
Its crooked as hell Those other
two amt any good either. Play this .
one if you have to-"
1t was a nickel machine. Nickel
after nickel went in. I pulled the
lever, and watched the wheels spin
and nothing happened. I was in
the hole for 80 cents.
lust then the proprietor walked
up. He said to the waiter: II
think it's about time for this one to
hit" He played a dime in the dime
machine. Nothing came out. 1t was
a come-on, I suppose, but I'm easy
for come-on guys, so I stepped over
and put in dime. Bang, crackle,7
crackle. Out came five dimes! :
I put the money in my pocket,
smirked at the proprietor, cast
fatherly smile at the waiter, and
went back to my table, 10 cents to
the good.
The waiter told me about a guy
the other night who was trying to
get the Jackpot on the quarter ma
chine, and he put in $3.50 and all
he got back was SIS.
TN hotels and restaurants in Flor
L ida, and all along the Gulf Coast,
you see knots of elderly, well-dressed
women playing the slot machines by
the hour I've watched them by
the dozen, and have yet to see
a face that wouldn't look more at
home in church than in front of
slot machine.
The slot machine is Just one of
many gadgets to take your money.
There are a thousand varieties Of
the nickel-ba1l machine, where you
scatapult little ball and it rolls all
around over the board, jumping
from one hole to another, and uSu-
ally missing them all.
In Restaurant here in Fort
Worth I watched a fellow in a big
hat playing at. nickel-ball table.
I watched him for 20 minutes, and
at last he hit for a 30-to-1 payoff.
That was $50. He said ~ne had
already put SIS into the thing. He
went on playing.