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Story
February 14, 1885
The Republican
Oakland, Garrett County, Maryland
What is this article about?
Exposé on the rampant, openly tolerated gambling in New Orleans, including 75 houses near Canal and St. Charles Streets, a Gamblers' Fund paying city officials, widespread lottery ticket sales exploiting the poor, and city bonds drawn like lottery prizes.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
GAMBLING IN NEW ORLEANS
The Prevalence of the Vice in the Chief Southern City.
The publicity with which gambling is carried on is one of the peculiar characteristics of the city. There are seventy-five gambling houses within a block of the intersection of St. Charles and Canal Streets, and they thrive all over the city. Many of these are large, gilded dens conducted with the same openness as any legitimate business. City officials and policemen can be seen in these illegal resorts at almost any hour of the day or night. The laws against gambling are about as strict as in New York, but they are a dead letter.
On the contrary, one source of the city revenue is from what is called the Gamblers' Fund. Each gambling house is required to pay so much a month to the Mayor, according to an extra legal arrangement maintained by common consent. Failure to pay is followed by an enforcement of the law closing the house of the refractory proprietor. At least such is the theory on which the fund is conducted. It is supposed to be applied to the maintenance of the almshouse. But there is no public accounting, and in the hands of a ring of corrupt politicians it is easy to guess what that means. Proprietors of gambling houses generally have political "influence," and doubtless many of them pay nothing for the privilege of running their dens of vice night and day, Sundays included. Outsiders are not allowed to come here and share in the profits.
The spirit of gambling rules the city. In the windows of cigar shops, news stands and such places are displayed for sale the tickets of the Louisiana Lottery Company, for selling which large commissions are paid. On days when a drawing takes place the newspapers have an extra sale, and much excitement is shown among the poorer people who can least afford to be stripped of their small earnings. This lottery company has a fine building here, but the chief proprietors live in luxury in New York and elsewhere. They are said to contribute $40,000 a year to an asylum, which is all they pay for the privilege of enticing the people of the country to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The city runs its finances on the lottery system. Its bonds are distributed into series, which are placed in a wheel, and the lucky numbers draw prizes every three months. N. O. Cor. N. Y. Tribune.
The Prevalence of the Vice in the Chief Southern City.
The publicity with which gambling is carried on is one of the peculiar characteristics of the city. There are seventy-five gambling houses within a block of the intersection of St. Charles and Canal Streets, and they thrive all over the city. Many of these are large, gilded dens conducted with the same openness as any legitimate business. City officials and policemen can be seen in these illegal resorts at almost any hour of the day or night. The laws against gambling are about as strict as in New York, but they are a dead letter.
On the contrary, one source of the city revenue is from what is called the Gamblers' Fund. Each gambling house is required to pay so much a month to the Mayor, according to an extra legal arrangement maintained by common consent. Failure to pay is followed by an enforcement of the law closing the house of the refractory proprietor. At least such is the theory on which the fund is conducted. It is supposed to be applied to the maintenance of the almshouse. But there is no public accounting, and in the hands of a ring of corrupt politicians it is easy to guess what that means. Proprietors of gambling houses generally have political "influence," and doubtless many of them pay nothing for the privilege of running their dens of vice night and day, Sundays included. Outsiders are not allowed to come here and share in the profits.
The spirit of gambling rules the city. In the windows of cigar shops, news stands and such places are displayed for sale the tickets of the Louisiana Lottery Company, for selling which large commissions are paid. On days when a drawing takes place the newspapers have an extra sale, and much excitement is shown among the poorer people who can least afford to be stripped of their small earnings. This lottery company has a fine building here, but the chief proprietors live in luxury in New York and elsewhere. They are said to contribute $40,000 a year to an asylum, which is all they pay for the privilege of enticing the people of the country to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The city runs its finances on the lottery system. Its bonds are distributed into series, which are placed in a wheel, and the lucky numbers draw prizes every three months. N. O. Cor. N. Y. Tribune.
What sub-type of article is it?
Curiosity
Crime Story
What themes does it cover?
Crime Punishment
Social Manners
Misfortune
What keywords are associated?
Gambling
New Orleans
Gamblers Fund
Louisiana Lottery
Corruption
Vice
Lottery Tickets
Where did it happen?
New Orleans
Story Details
Location
New Orleans
Story Details
Gambling thrives openly in New Orleans with 75 houses near Canal and St. Charles Streets; houses pay into a Gamblers' Fund to the Mayor for protection, supposedly for almshouse but misused by corrupt politicians; lottery tickets sold everywhere, exciting the poor; Louisiana Lottery proprietors in New York contribute minimally; city finances mimic lottery with bond drawings.