RIVERSIDE HAUNTS FOR GAMBLERS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3343, 22 November 1919, Page 7

RIVERSIDE HAUNTS FOR GAMBLERS.

WOMEN WHO TAKE ’RI'S-KS- ON} SLENDER INCOMES. I ..__.... PLA-Y FOR HIGH STAKES. --'—-_-I l Two rather curious errors seem to be . prevalent with regard to gaming as a business. 01119 ]is that wilt is" far .'the nllo<St part a post-war evil, of which there has been a remarkable recrudescence Within the last few months. Another? is that there is invariably a sordid and flashy element about it. The chief’ danger nowadays seems to me to be, ‘the spreading of gambling in houses of iinbleiiiished social repute, where cards are brought out after dinner, and sometimes after lunch, and even in the mornings. No harm in this, perhaps, but the danger is that people are playing out of a-ll proportion to their incomes. £2O, £SO, £IOO will be- Won or 1-est at a sitting by man whose annual income’ is £SOO or less. V Some light was thrown on this state ‘of affairs by «another case last week—the alleged cheque forgery, in which :1. well—l~:nown actor-manager gave evid- ‘ once. Here it was disclosed that one of the ladies concerned (who, it is only fair to add, left the court. without a. stain on her character) w_as'in the habit of‘ winning or losing “'3, packet” at ibridge, although her privazrte inconne was of tiny proportions. i This lady seems to have been an excellent bridge player, and well able to ’ take care of herself. But sometimes it is very difi“erent_ A young girl xvitlfiiothing but her pin money, allowed her by probably her none too wealthy father, will stay ‘in a. smart country house. She will play bridge because it is the thing to ‘do, and because she will feel out of it ‘ if she doesn’t. Her standard oftplay will probably be far lower than that of her companions, and the size of the stakes will frighten her. But partly from a. certain, «snoblbish cowardice and partly from a. blind faith in her “luek”she will go on with the job, getting ‘deeper and deeper into the mire.

Then . . . if she is '3, pretty girl some man will offer to get. her out of it by lending or giving her some money. Perhaps he will be a decent sort of man. Perhaps he will be an _,unutterable cad who will exact 21. .price—the only price a girl can P3)’Sometimes a young married woman will make a fool of herself and lose more than she can afford. The wise thing for her to do is to tell her husband and get it over. More often than not she doesn’t do the wise thing, because she daren’t do it. More women have got into the cluteheg of undesirable -men through gambling debts than through unwise love ai"t'—ail's. Naturally it iSn’t only the women who gamble and ‘lose and then adopt almost any device to get. square again But whereas the woman can go to :1 man for money when she is desperate, the man has no such rosource,shameful as it is. Often he shoots himself —or steals, or forges; -or embezzles. The end is much the same anyway. These tragedies are byno means fictitious. They are going on at the present moment, and during the past season vast sums of money have changed. hands in circles .where it would be ridiculous to. apply the term ‘ ‘ gaming-house. ’ ’ The games played? Usually bridge, sometimes baccarat (wliich was the game at Tranby Cro~ft).s Poker is rarely played at house p‘rlrt.ies. except among men, ‘and. .ehemil:--idel-fel- still mol'e rarely. These last are usually reserved for the London gaming—house pl'oper——o~r ''i-mlporn‘e(» \ It is difiicult. to find a remedy for country house gambling, which is no great evil, provided the stakes are reasonable. The police are in an awkward position, for it is extremely hard to fix the border line between wliat. is technidally E} ~g‘alning—house and what is mverey a private residence in which gzfinbling is taking place.