wheel. The vast majority of
ticket buyers never receive a cent on their outlay. They simply throw
their money away. Yet all continue their ventures in the hope that they
may at some time draw a lucky number. The amount annually expended in
this city in the purchase of lottery tickets is princely. The amount
received in prizes is beggarly. The effect upon the lottery gamblers is
appalling. Men and women of all ages are simply demoralized by it. They
neglect their legitimate pursuits, stint themselves and their families,
commit thefts and forgeries, and are even driven into madness and suicide
by the hope of growing rich in a day.

III. POLICY DEALING.

Policy dealing is closely allied with the lottery business, and is
carried on by the agents for their own benefit. It is one of the most
dangerous forms of gambling practised in the city. It consists of
betting on certain numbers, within the range of the lottery schemes,
being drawn at the noon or evening drawings. You can take any three
numbers of the seventy-eight, and bet, or "policy" on them. You may bet
on single numbers, or on combinations. The single number may come out
anywhere in the drawing. It is called a "Day Number," and the player
deposits one dollar in making his bet. If the number is drawn, he wins
five dollars. The stake is always one dollar, unless a number of bets of
the same description are taken. Two numbers constitute a "Saddle," and
both being drawn, the player wins from twenty-four dollars to thirty-two
dollars. Three numbers constitute a "Gig," and win $150 to $225. Four
numbers make a "Horse," and win $640. A "Capital Saddle" is a bet that
two numbers will be among the first three drawn, and wins $500. A
"Station Number" is a bet that a given number will come out in a certain
place--for instance, that twenty-four will be the tenth number
drawn,--and this wins sixty dollars. Any number of "Saddles," "Gigs," or
"Horses," may be taken by a single player.

All this seems very simple, and indeed it is so simple that the merest
child ought to understand it. The policy dealers know that the chances
are always against a single number being drawn, and still greater against
the drawing of a combination. Therefore they offer an enormous advance
upon the amount staked, knowing that they are as sure of winning as they
could desire to be. A man might play policy for a year, and never see
his numbers drawn. Yet thousands annual