RaIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2265, 28 October 1889, Page 2

RaIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

■ A writer m the " Times of India" deionbes a system of gambling m Oaloutta on ram. Tt is oarrled on m a '« compound " of the Burra Bazsar, where, when a rain cloud crosses the sky, a crowd colleots of eager, exoited men. Some rush about franticaliy, othera perch themselves high on the a j joining roofs and geatioulate wildly to f 1 lends below, while all gaze anxiously at the sky. These are the sutta or rain speculators, and the system, as explained by tha lessee of the compound m which it is oarried on, is extremely M e "i.i? 0 th , 6roof of bis office is a ditch which will hold eight "sura "of water. If a rainolond burst b, and the fall exceedß this amount, the oveiflow is discharged into the compound by a spout Ihia decides all the beta, those who wagered it would rain winning. The bets are entered by the proprietor m a book, theopmrnxision being one pice per rupee, and the transactions being all settled at ten o'olook the following morning, A defaulter is hardly ever known ; the gamblers are mostly money- lenders, men of substwoe, md well known to each other They are a class by themselves, and the stakes are usually inoonsiderable, Whereas } a Bombay ty is not onuaual to have thousands of rapees on the raiu The system has one advantage : Bain clouds oannot be manipulated ; they oannot be loaded like dice, or « faked " like horses : jthere are no handioappers, no etaiters, no owners, and no jockeys