ABOUT BETTING AND 

 GAMBLING. 



Perhaps there is no finer amusement on a dull, wet day 

 than a little quiet betting or gambling occasionally, pro- 

 vided always that the stakes are such as cannot injure 

 any person, and that it is an ofi"-hand pastime begun, con- 

 tinued, and ended on the spur of the moment. Unfortu- 

 nately, at this present time betting and gambling are the 

 greatest national curses we have, as they have become the 

 business of life to people who can't afTord it, and they simply 

 produce an unwholesome greed for getting money — not 

 always honestly — about sports of which they know nothing 

 and never see. In the old days of racing, when the gam- 

 bling booths were allowed on the Tattenham Corner side of 

 the course, a large number of people w^ho were out for a holi- 

 day bought a little experience at rouge et noir, roulette, 

 or the homely teetotum games of goose, anchor, club, 

 spade, diamond, and heart, and also put into a lottery or 

 two ; in fact, they went out with two or three sovereigns 

 to play with, and whether they w^on or lost did not much 

 matter. It was really only once in a way, as racecourses 

 were not inundated by cheap excursionists as now. Even 

 schoolboys had a shilling Derby lottery in my days. 

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