The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume 1 Part 14

'A Russian officer of my acquaintance,' says a writer in the Annual Register for 1818, 'was subject, like many of his countrymen whom I have known, to the infatuation of play to a most ridiculous excess.

His distrust of himself under the a.s.sailments which he antic.i.p.ated at a place like Aix-la-Chapelle, had induced him to take the prudent precaution of paying in advance at his hotel for his board and lodging, and at the bathing-house for his baths, for the time he intended to stay. The remaining contents of his purse he thought fairly his own; and he went of course to the table all the gayer for the license he had taken of his conscience. On fortune showing him a few favours, he came to me in high spirits, with a purse full of Napoleons, and a resolute determination to keep them by venturing no more; but a gamester can no more be stationary than the tide of a river, and on the evening he was put out of suspense by having not a Napoleon left, and nothing to console but congratulation on his foresight, and the excellent supper which was the fruit of it.'

Towards the end of the last century Aix-la-Chapelle was a great rendezvous of gamblers. The chief banker there paid a thousand louis per annum for his license. A little Italian adventurer once went to the place with only a few louis in his pocket, and played crown stakes at Hazard. Fortune smiled on him; he increased his stakes progressively; in twenty-four hours won about L4000. On the following day he stripped the bank entirely, pocketing nearly L10,000. He continued to play for some days, till he was at last reduced to a single louis! He now obtained from a friend the loan of L30, and once more resumed his station at the gaming table, which he once more quitted with L10,000 in his pocket, and resolved to leave it for ever. The arguments of one of the bankers, however, who followed him to his inn, soon prevailed over his resolution, and on his return to the gaming table he was stripped of his last farthing. He went to his lodgings, sold his clothes, and by that means again appeared at his old haunt, for the half-crown stakes, by which he honourably repaid his loan of L30. His end was unknown to the relater of the anecdote, but 'ten to one,' it was ruin.

At the same place, in the year 1793, the heir-apparent of an Irish Marquis lost at various times nearly L20,000 at a billiard table, partly owing to his antagonist being an excellent calculator, as well as a superior player.

A French emigrant at Aix-la-Chapelle, who carried a basket of tarts, liqueurs, &c., for regaling the gamesters, put down twenty-five louis at _Rouge et Noir_. He lost. He then put down fifteen, and lost again; at the third turn he staked ten; but while the cards were being shuffled, seeming to recollect himself, he felt all his pockets, and at length found two large French crowns, and a small one, which he also ventured.

The deal was determined at the ninth card; and the poor wretch, who had lost his all, dashed down his basket, started from his seat, overturning two chairs as he forced the circle, tore off his hair, and with horrid blasphemies, burst the folding doors, and rushing out like a madman, was seen no more.

Another emigrant arrived here penniless, but meeting a friend, obtained the loan of a few crowns, nearly his all. With these he went to the rooms, put down his stake, and won. He then successively doubled his stakes till he closed the evening with a hundred louis in his pocket.

He went to his friend, and with mutual congratulations they resolved to venture no more, and calculated how long their gains would support them from absolute want, and thus seemed to strengthen their wise resolution.

The next night, however, the lucky gambler returned to the room--but only to be a spectator, as he firmly said. Alas! his resolution failed him, and he quitted the tables indebted to a charitable bystander for a livre or two, to pay for his petty refreshments.

It is said that the annual profit to the bankers was 120,000 florins, or L14,000.

'The very name of Aix-la-Chapelle,' says a traveller, 'makes one think (at least, makes me think) of cards and dice,--sharks and pigeons.

It has a "professional odour" upon it, which is certainly not that of sanct.i.ty. I entered the Redoute with my head full of sham barons, German Catalinas, and the thousand-and-one popular tales of renowned knights of the green cloth,--their seducing confederates, and infatuated dupes.

'The rooms are well distributed; the saloons handsome. A sparkling of ladies, apparently (and really, as I understood) of the best water, the _elite_, in short, of Aix-la-Chapelle, were lounging on sofas placed round the princ.i.p.al saloon, or fluttering about amidst a crowd of men, who filled up the centre of the room, or thronged round the tables that were ranged on one side of it.

'The players continued their occupation in death-like silence, undisturbed by the buzz or the gaze of the lookers-on; not a sound was heard but the rattle of the heaped-up money, as it was pa.s.sed from one side of the table to the other; nor was the smallest anxiety or emotion visible on any countenance.

'The scene was unpleasing, though to me curious from its novelty.

Ladies are admitted to play, but there were none occupied this morning.

I was glad of it; indeed, though English travellers are accused of carrying about with them a portable code of morality, which dissolves or stiffens like a soap-cake as circ.u.mstances may affect its consistency, yet I sincerely believe that there are few amongst us who would not feel shocked at seeing one of the gentler s.e.x in so unwomanly a position.'(82)

(82) Reminiscences of the Rhine, &c. Anon.

WIESBADEN.

The gambling here in 1868 has been described in a very vivid manner.

'Since the enforcement of the Prussian Sunday observance regulations, Monday has become the great day of the week for the banks of the German gambling establishments. Anxious to make up for lost time, the regular contributors to the company's dividends flock early on Monday forenoon to the play-rooms in order to secure good places at the tables, which, by the appointed hour for commencing operations (eleven o'clock), are closely hedged round by persons of both s.e.xes, eagerly waiting for the first deal of the cards or the initial twist of the bra.s.s wheel, that they may try another fall with Fortune. Before each seated player are arranged precious little piles of gold and silver, a card printed in black and red, and a long pin, wherewith to p.r.i.c.k out a system of infallible gain. The croupiers take their seats and unpack the strong box; rouleaux--long metal sausages composed of double and single florins,--wooden bowls br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with gold Frederics and Napoleons, bank notes of all sizes and colours, are arranged upon the black leather compartment, ruled over by the company's officers; half-a-dozen packs of new cards are stripped of their paper cases, and swiftly shuffled together; and when all these preliminaries, watched with breathless anxiety by the surrounding speculators, have been gravely and carefully executed, the chief croupier looks round him--a signal for the prompt investment of capital on all parts of the table--chucks out a handful of cards from the ma.s.s packed together convenient to his hand--e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.es the formula, "Faites le jeu!" and, after half a minute's pause, during which he delicately moistens the ball of his dealing thumb, exclaims "Le jeu est fait, rien ne va plus," and proceeds to interpret the decrees of fate according to the approved fashion of Trente et Quarante. A similar scene is taking place at the Roulette table--a goodly crop of florins, with here and there a speck of gold shining amongst the silver harvest, is being sown over the field of the cloth of green, soon to be reaped by the croupier's sickle, and the pith ball is being dropped into the revolving basin that is part.i.tioned off into so many tiny black and red niches. For the next twelve hours the processes in question are carried on swiftly and steadily, without variation or loss of time; relays of croupiers are laid on, who un.o.btrusively slip into the places of their fellows when the hours arrive for relieving guard; the game is never stopped for more than a couple of minutes at a time, viz., when the cards run out and have to be re-shuffled. This brief interruption is commonly considered to portend a break in the particular vein which the game may have happened to a.s.sume during the deal--say a run upon black or red, an alternation of coups (in threes or fours) upon either colour, two reds and a black, or _vice versa_, all equally frequent eccentricities of the cards; and the heavier players often change their seats, or leave the table altogether for an hour or so at such a conjuncture. Curiously enough, excepting at the very commencement of the day's play, the _habitues_ of the Trente et Quarante tables appear to entertain a strong antipathy to the first deal or two after the cards have been "re-made." I have been told by one or two masters of the craft that they have a fancy to see how matters are likely to go before they strike in, as if it were possible to deduce the future of the game from its past! That it is possible appears to be an article of faith with the old stagers, and, indeed, every now and then odd coincidences occur which tend to confirm them in their creed. I witnessed an occurrence which was either attributable (as I believe) to sheer chance, or (as its hero earnestly a.s.sured me) to instinct. A fair and frail Magyar was punting on numbers with immense pluck and uniform ill fortune. Behind her stood a Viennese gentleman of my acquaintance, who enjoys a certain renown amongst his friends for the faculty of prophecy, which, however, he seldom exercises for his own benefit. Observing that she hesitated about staking her double florin, he advised her to set it on the number 3. Round went the wheel, and in twenty seconds the ball tumbled into compartment 3 sure enough. At the next turn she asked his advice, and was told to try number 24. No sooner said than done, and 24 came up in due course, whereby Mdlle L. C. won 140 odd gulden in two coups, the amount risked by her being exactly four florins. Like a wise girl, she walked off with her booty, and played no more that day at Roulette.

A few minutes later I saw an Englishman go through the performance of losing four thousand francs by experimentalizing on single numbers.

Twenty times running did he set ten louis-d'ors on a number (varying the number at each stake), and not one of his selection proved successful.

At the "Thirty and Forty" I saw an eminent diplomatist win sixty thousand francs with scarcely an intermission of failure; he played all over the table, pushing his rouleaux backwards and forwards, from black to red, without any appearance of system that I could detect, and the cards seemed to follow his inspiration. It was a great battle; as usual, three or four smaller fish followed in his wake, till they lost courage and set against him, much to their discomfiture and the advantage of the bank; but from first to last--that is, till the cards ran out, and he left the table--he was steadily victorious. In the evening he went in again for another heavy bout, at which I chanced to be present; but fortune had forsaken him; and he not only lost his morning's winnings, but eight thousand francs to boot. I do not remember to have ever seen the tables so crowded--outside it was thundering, lightening, and raining as if the world were coming to an end, and the whole floating population of Wiesbaden was driven into the Kursaal by the weather. A roaring time of it had the bank; when play was over, about which time the rain ceased, hundreds of hot and thirsty gamblers streamed out of the reeking rooms to the glazed-in terrace, and the next hour, always the pleasantest of the twenty-four here and in Hombourg--at Ems people go straight from the tables to bed,--was devoted to animated chat and unlimited sherry-cobbler; all the "events" of the day were pa.s.sed in review, experiences exchanged, and confessions made. n.o.body had won; I could not hear of a single great success--the bank had had it all its own way, and most of the "lions," worsted in the fray, had evidently made up their minds to "drown it in the bowl." The Russian detachment--a very strong one this year--was especially hard hit; Spain and Italy were both unusually low-spirited; and there was an extra solemnity about the British Isles that told its own sad tale. Englishmen, when they have lost more than they can afford, generally take it out of themselves in surly, brooding self-reproach. Frenchmen give vent to their disgust and annoyance by abusing the game and its myrmidons. You may hear them, loud and savage, on the terrace, "Ah! le salle jeu! comment peut-on se laisser eplucher par des brigands de la sorte! Tripot, infame, va! je te donne ma malediction!" Italians, again, endeavour to conceal their discomfiture under a flow of feverish gaiety. Germans utter one or two "Gotts donnerwetterhimmelsapperment!" light up their cigars, drink a dozen or so "hocks," and subside into their usual state of ponderous cheerfulness. Russians betray no emotion whatever over their calamities, save, perhaps, that they smoke those famous little 'Laferme' cigarettes a trifle faster and more nervously than at other times; but they are excellent winners and magnificent losers, only to be surpa.s.sed in either respect by their old enemy the Turk, who is _facile princeps_ in the art of hiding his feelings from the outer world.

'The great ma.s.s of visitors at Wiesbaden this season, as at Hombourg, belong to the middle and lower middle cla.s.ses, leavened by a very few celebrities and persons of genuine distinction. There are a dozen or two eminent men here, not to be seen in the play-rooms, who are taking the waters--Lord Clarendon, Baron Rothschild, Prince Souvarof, and a few more--but the general run of guests is by no means remarkable for birth, wealth, or respectability; and we are shockingly off for ladies. As a set-off against this deficiency, it would seem that all the aged, broken-down courtesans of Paris, Vienna, and Berlin have agreed to make Wiesbaden their autumn rendezvous. Arrayed in all the colours of the rainbow, painted up to the roots of their dyed hair, shamelessly _decolletees_, prodigal of "free" talk and unseemly gesture, these ghastly creatures, hideous caricatures of youth and beauty, flaunt about the play-rooms and gardens, levying black-mail upon those who are imprudent enough to engage them in "chaff" or badinage, and desperately endeavouring to hook themselves on to the wealthier and younger members of the male community. They poison the air round them with sickly perfumes; they a.s.sume t.i.tles, and speak of one another as "cette chere comtesse;" their walk is something between a prance and a wriggle; they prowl about the terrace whilst the music is playing, seeking whom they may devour, or rather whom they may inveigle into paying for their devouring: and, _bon Dieu!_ how they do gorge themselves with food and drink when some silly lad or aged roue allows himself to be bullied or wheedled into paying their scot! Their name is legion; and they const.i.tute the very worst feature of a place which, naturally a Paradise, is turned into a seventh h.e.l.l by the uncontrolled rioting of human pa.s.sions. They have no friends--no "protectors;" they are dependent upon accident for a meal or a piece of gold to throw away at the tables; they are plague-spots upon the face of society; they are, as a rule, cra.s.sly ignorant and horribly cynical; and yet there are many men here who are proud of their acquaintance, always ready to entertain them in the most expensive manner, and who speak of them as if they were the only desirable companions in the world!

'Amongst our notabilities of the eccentric sort, not the least singular in her behaviour is the Countess C----o, an aged patrician of immense fortune, who is as constant to Wiesbaden as old Madame de K----f is to Hombourg on the Heights. Like the last-named lady, she is daily wheeled to her place in the Black and Red temple, and plays away for eight or nine hours with wonderful spirit and perseverance. She has with her a _suite_ of eight domestics; and when she wins (which is not often), on returning to her hotel at night, she presents each member of her retinue with--twopence! "not," as she naively avows, "from a feeling of generosity, but to propitiate Fortune." When she loses, none of them, save the man who wheels her home, get anything but hard words from her; and he, happy fellow, receives a donation of six kreutzers. She does not curse the croupiers loudly for her bad luck, like her contemporary, the once lovely Russian Amba.s.sadress; but, being very far advanced in years, and of a tender disposition, sheds tears over her misfortunes, resting her chin on the edge of the table. An edifying sight is this venerable dame, bearing an exalted t.i.tle, as she mopes and mouths over her varying luck, missing her stake twice out of three times, when she fain would push it with her rake into some particular section of the table! She is very intimate with one or two antediluvian diplomatists and warriors, who are here striving to bolster themselves up for another year with the waters, and may be heard crowing out lamentations over her fatal pa.s.sion for play, interspersed with bits of moss-grown scandal, disinterred from the social ruins of an age long past: Radetzky, Wratislaw (le beau sabreur), the two Schwarzenbergs (he of Leipsic, and the former Prime Minister), Paul Eszterhazy, Wrangel, and Blucher were friends of her youth; judging from her appearance, one would not be surprised to hear that she had received a "poulet" from Baron Trenck, or played whist with Maria Theresa. She has outlived all human friendships or affections, and exists only for the c.h.i.n.k of the gold as it jingles on the gaming table.

I cannot help fancying that her last words will be "Rien ne va plus!" She is a great and convincing moral, if one but interpret her rightly.'(83)

(83) Daily Telegraph, Aug. 15, 1868.

The doom of the German gaming houses seems to be settled. They will all be closed in 1872, as appears by the following announcement:--

'The Prussian government, not having been able to obtain from the lessees of the gaming tables at Wiesbaden, Ems, and Hombourg their consent to their cancelling of their contracts, has resolved to terminate their privileges by a legislative measure. It has presented a bill to the Chamber of Deputies at Berlin, fixing the year 1872 as the limit to the existence of these establishments, and even authorizing the government to suppress them at an earlier period by a royal ordinance. No indemnity is to be allowed to the persons holding concessions.'--_Feb_. 23, 1868.

A London newspaper defends this measure in a very successful manner.

'Prussia has declared her purpose to eradicate from the territories subject to her increased sway, and from others recognizing her influence, the disgrace of the _Rouge et Noir_ and the Roulette table as public inst.i.tutions. Her reasoning is to the effect that they bring scandal upon Germany; that they a.s.sociate with the names of its favourite watering-places the appellation of "h.e.l.ls;" that they attract swindlers and adventurers of every degree; and that they have for many a year past been held up to the opprobrium of Europe. For why should this practice be a lawful practice of Germany and of no other country in Europe? Why not in France, in Spain, in Italy, in the Northern States, in Great Britain itself? Let us not give to this last proposition more importance than it is worth. The German watering-places are places of leisure, of trifling, of _ennui_. That is why, originally, they were selected as encampments by the tribes which fatten upon hazards. But there was another reason: they brought in welcome revenues to needy princes. Even now, in view of the contemplated expurgation, Monaco is named, with Geneva, as successor to the perishing glories of Hombourg, Wiesbaden, and the great Baden itself. That is to say, the gamblers, or, rather, the professionals who live upon the gambling propensities of others, having received from Prussia and her friends notice to quit, are in search of new lodgings.

'The question is, they being determined, and the accommodation being not less certainly ready for them than the sea is for the tribute of a river, will the reform designed be a really progressive step in the civilization of Europe? Prussia says--decidedly so; because it will demolish an infamous privilege. She affirms that an inst.i.tution which might have been excusable under a landgrave, with a few thousand acres of territory, is inconsistent with the dignity and, to quote continental phraseology, the mission of a first-cla.s.s state. Here again the reasoning is incontrovertible. Of one other thing, moreover, we may feel perfectly sure, that Prussia having determined to suppress these centres and sources of corruption, they will gradually disappear from Europe.

Concede to them a temporary breathing-time at Monaco; the time left for even a nominally independent existence to Monaco is short: imagine that they find a fresh outlet at Geneva; Prussia will have represented the public opinion of the age, against which not even the Republicanism of Switzerland can long make a successful stand. Upon the whole, history can never blame Prussia for such a use either of her conquests or her influence. Say what you will, gambling is an indulgence blushed over in England; abroad, practised as a little luxury in dissipation, it may be pardoned as venial; habitually, however, it is a leprosy. And as it is by habitual gamblers that these haunts are made to flourish, this alone should reconcile the world of tourists to a deprivation which for them must be slight; while to the cla.s.s they imitate, without equalling, it will be the prohibition of an abominable habit.'(84)

(84) Extracts from a 'leader' in the Standard of Sept. 4, 1869.

CHAPTER IX. GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES.

It is not surprising that a people so intensely speculative, excitable, and eager as the Americans, should be desperately addicted to gambling.

Indeed, the spirit of gambling has incessantly pervaded all their operations, political, commercial, and social.(85) It is but one of the manifestations of that thorough license arrogated to itself by the nation, finding its true expression in the American maxim recorded by Mr Hepworth Dixon, so coa.r.s.ely worded, but so significant,--'Every man has a right to do what he _d.a.m.nED_ pleases.'(86)

(85) In the American correspondence of the Morning Advertiser, Feb. 6, 1868, the writer says:--'It was only yesterday (Jan. 24) that an eminent American merchant of this city (New York) said, in referring to the state of affairs--"we are socially, politically, and commercially demoralized."'

(86) 'Spiritual Wives.'--A work the extraordinary disclosures of which tend to show that a similar spirit, destined, perhaps, to bring about the greatest social changes, is gaining ground elsewhere than in America.

Although laws similar to those of England are enacted in America against gambling, it may be said to exist everywhere, but, of course, to the greatest extent in the vicinity of the fashionable quarters of the large cities. In New York there is scarcely a street without its gambling house--'private,' of course, but well known to those who indulge in the vice. The ordinary public game is Faro.

High and low, rich and poor, are perfectly suited in their requirements; whilst at some places the stakes are unlimited, at others they must not exceed one dollar, and a player may wager as low as five cents, or twopence-halfpenny. These are for the accommodation of the very poorest workmen, discharged soldiers, broken-down gamblers, and street-boys.

'I think,' says a recent writer,(87) 'of all the street-boys in the world, those of New York are the most precocious. I have seen a shoe-black, about three feet high, walk up to the table or 'Bank,' as it is generally called, and stake his money (five cents) with the air of a young spendthrift to whom "money is no object."'

(87) 'St James's Magazine,' Sept., 1867.

The chief gambling houses of New York were established by men who are American celebrities, and among these the most prominent have been Pat Hern and John Morrissey.

PAT HERN.

Some years ago this celebrated Irishman kept up a splendid establishment in Broadway, near Hauston Street. At that time his house was the centre of attraction towards which 'all the world' gravitated, and did the thing right grandly--combining the Apicius with the Beau Nash or Brummell. He was profusely lavish with his wines and exuberant in his suppers; and it was generally said that the game in action there, _Faro_, was played in all fairness. Pat Hern was a man of jovial disposition and genial wit, and would have adorned a better position.

During the trout-fishing season he used to visit a well-known place called Islip in Long Island, much frequented by gentlemen devoted to angling and fond of good living.

At Islip the equally renowned Oby Snedecker kept the tavern which was the resort of Pat Hern and his companions. It had attached to it a stream and lake to which the gentlemen who had the privilege of the house were admitted. Mrs Obadiah Snedecker, the buxom wife of 'mine host,' was famous for the exquisite way in which she cooked veal cutlets. There were two n.i.g.g.e.rs in the establishment, named Steve and d.i.c.k, who accompanied the gentlemen in their angling excursions, amusing them with their stolidity and the enormous quant.i.ty of gin they could imbibe without being more than normally fuddled.