Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1937-02-11
GETTING DOWN TO
"BRASS
THE HOME-STRETCH

II you cOulu VlSlt Nevada, our
country's only legalized gambling
state, you would be able to form a
more intelligent and perhaps more
practical opinion on M~ontana's pro-
posed gambling measure, which | no
tice Is again in the legislative hop
per at Helena. Seeing Boulder dam
gave us an entire rainy afternoon In
Las Vegas. Although one doesn't
need go farther than brentwood to
see games Of chance carried on, it
Is interesting to observe 1t where
there are no frosted windows or pro-
tecting partitions to obscure the
view from the street, and where
the hand Of the law is extended to
protect rather than prosecute every
licensed game.
Fourteen "wide-open' and ex-
elusive gambling houses are found
In four blocks Of Las Vegas princi-
pal business section, a city compar-
able In size to Glasgow now. | say
exclusive" not to mean catering to
an exclusive class, but to emphasize
the fact that these are institutions
where gambling Is the sole business
merely carried on as a side
line. Although every class of people,
both men and women, patronize the
establishments, after inducing my
wife to accompany me on the "edu-
cational" tour. the preponderance of
mel mot a few of them bordering
on a d~ebauched type), coupled with
an excessive tobacco aroma, limited
her exploration to visits in two en-
poriums. Am sure. however, she will
never forget the two games of Keno
she played-and lost-1O cents.
This is by far the most popular of
all the nefarious games operated
solely for the purpose of separating
you from your medium of exchange.
Probably the one big reason for this
is that you can play for five cents a
game, and stand to win as high as
$40, depending of course on the
number surrounding the table. Then
the game too, you know, is so sim
pie. Many of you have played 1t at
carnivals and country fairs-yes,
we've even played it in Elmer Jack
sons Orpheum at Plentywood. Just
place the beans on the number as
called out by the operator, and
when a row is flled-''Keeno." -
you win.
OF course there's much more An
esse to a game like this in a licensed
Nevada gambling hall than at Sic
brands carnival. Each number
board used by players is numbered.
and as they are sold (from S to rs
cents-just depending how sporty
you feel-tA4- Eumbcr Of shat par
ticular board is flashed on an cleo
sign. Then when play begins. a
large steel basket container is
whirled from which is deftly re-
moved by skilled operators at each
stop a celluloid ball bearing the
lucky number. This toe Is transmit
ted to an electric score board until
someone Of as many as 800 players
at one sitting at times finally wins.
If | knew enough about gambling
| could tell you all the many differ
games and devices found in Las
Vegas. At any rate suffice it to say
that none is excluded. Of greatest
interest was the fact that everything
was wide open" and to observe the
mixture of individual patrons. Men
course predominated, but a con-
siderable number of women also fire.
quented the establishments. Every
or rank seemed represented,
though at night observers said the
more elite staked their skill or luck
the games. AS one looked on the
patrons of these wheels of for
tune somehow the feeling could
not escape you that many were here
whose poverty could be attributed to
their illusion that they could beat
these very games manufactured by
Shllltu uduuo anu thC piObuS' VI
keenest minds to prevent them from
doing so. / heard one man, haggard
and scantilly clothed, pool his last
Is cents with enough of a friend to
''lay on the nose" of a favorite
horse coming in at Santa Anita, but
played on the board in Las Vegas.
Two society women at another table
for big stakes. Through the noon
hour, with only a few minutes be-
fore having to report back to work,
laborers took lone pile of chips at
a roulette wheel. Out of one who
would leash in" a dozen would
leave a dollar or two-maybe five
with the "house" which might have
come in handy for butter and eggs.
Then of course there was in every
place the obviously hardened indiv-
fduals who made gambling their
business-those who would have a
stack of dollars in front of them
that Cooked like a million" n
minute, and the same pile dwindled
down to zero the next-and
"bat an eyelash."
4 Il
In one place | found Eddie White,
a former acquaintance in Havre, on
regular shift with Keno. He told