e police at once proceeded to the house where the Faro bank
was kept, and the scene, when it was known that the police were below,
beggars description. The tables were upset, and notes and markers were
flying about in all directions. Men, sprawling and scrambling on the
floor, fought with one another for whatever they could seize; then the
police entered and cleared the house, having arrested the owners of the
bank. This was in one of the lowest gaming houses, where "skin" games
(cheating games) are practised.

'In the gambling house in Broadway, near the New York Hotel, I have
often noticed a young man, apparently of some 18 or 20 years of age,
fashionably dressed, and of prepossessing appearance. On some days he
would play very high, and seemed to have most remarkable luck; but he
always played with the air of an old gamester, seeming careless as to
whether he won or lost. One night he lost so heavily that he attracted
the notice of all the players; every stake of his was swept away; and he
still played on until his last dollar was lost; then he quietly walked
out, whistling a popular Yankee air. He was there next day _MINUS_ his
great-coat and watch and chain--he lost again, went out and returned
in his shirt sleeves, having pawned his coat, studs, and everything he
could with decency divest himself of. He lost everything; and when I
next saw him he was selling newspapers in front of the post-office!

'The mania for gambling is a most singular one. I have known a man to
win a thousand dollars in a few hours, and yet he would not spend a
dollar to get a dinner, but when he felt hungry he went to a baker's
shop and bought a loaf of bread, and that same night lost all his money
at Roulette.

'There is another house on the corner of Centre and Grand Streets, open
during night and day. The stakes here are the same as in the one in
Broadway, and the people who play are very much the same--in fact, the
same faces are constantly to be met with in all the gambling houses,
from the highest to the lowest. When a gambler has but small capital, he
will go to a small house, where small stakes are admissible. I saw a
man win 50 or 60 dollars at this place, and then hand in his checks
(markers) to be cashed. The dealer handed him the money, and said--"Now
you go off, straight away to Union Square, and pay away all you have
won from here to John Morrissey. This is the way with all of them; they
never come here until they are dead b