RAIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1964, 2 November 1889, Page 3

RAIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

A writer in the Times of • India ” ■< describes a system. of gambling in Calcutta on rain. It is carried on in a “ compound' ” of the Burra Bazaar, |s where when a rain cloud crosses the << sky, a crowd collects of> eager, excited | men. Some rush about frantically, others perch themselves* high on the adjoining roofs and gesticulate ( wildly ; to friends below, while all gaze -i anxiously at the sky. These are the .. sutta or rain speculators, and the system i as explained by the lessee of the compound in which is carried on, is ; extremely simple. Oh the roof of ; his office is a ditch which will hold ; eight “surs ”of water, If araihcloud j bursts; and the: fall exceeds this amount j the£ overflow is discharged into the compeimd by a spout. This decides all the; bets, those who wagered it i would i ram winning. l The bets are entered by the proprietor in a book, the commission being one pice per rupee, bud the transactions being all settled* at ten o’clock the following morning. -A •< defaulter is hardly ever known!; the gamblers are mostly money! lenders, and men of substance and well known to each other. They are a 'class by themselves, and the stakes! are usually .inconsiderable,: whereas in Bombay it is not unusual to thousands of ■; rupees on the, rain. ‘The system has one advantage: Earn clouds” cannot be manipulated; they dsnnot be loaded like dice, or “ faked ** like horses; there are no handicappers, no. startets,, no owners, and no: jockeys!’ { :. ..i.utusyag.i.i: