There was the commissioner, who checked the week's accounts and pocketed the takings; a director to superintend the room; an operator to deal the cards, and four to five _croupiers_, who watched the cards and gathered in the money of the bank. Besides these there were "puffs," who had money given them to decoy people to play; a clerk and a _squib_, who were spies upon the straight dealings of the puffs; a flasher to swear how often the bank was stripped; a dunner to recover sums lost; a waiter to snuff candles and fill in the wine; and an attorney or "Newgate solicitor." A flash captain was kept to fight gentlemen who were peevish about losing their money; at the door was a porter, "generally a soldier of the foot-guards,"[259:1] who admitted visitors after satisfying himself that they were of the right sort. The porter had aides-de-camp and assistants—an "orderly man," who patrolled the street and gave notice of the approaching constables; a "runner," who watched for the meetings of the justices and brought intelligence of the constables being out; and a host of link-boys, coachmen, chair-men, drawers to assist, with "common-bail affidavit" men, ruffians, bravos, and assassins for any odd job that might turn up requiring physical strength. As the years passed the vice grew in magnitude. Large fortunes were made by the proprietors of gaming-houses, thanks to the methodized employment of capital (invested regularly as in any other trading establishment), the invention of E. O. tables, and the introduction of the "foreign games of _roulet_ and _rouge et noir_. Little short of a million must have been amassed in this way," individuals having acquired from £10,000 to £100,000 apiece. The number of the gambling establishments daily multiplied. They were mounted regardless of expense. Open house was kept, and free luxurious dinners laid for all comers. Merchants and bankers' clerks entrusted with large sums were especially encouraged to attend. The cost of entertainment in one house alone was £8,000 for eight months, while the total expenditure on all as much as £150,000 a year. The gambling-house keepers, often prize-fighters originally, or partners admitted for their skill in card-sharping or cogging dice, possessed such ample funds that they laughed at legal prosecutions. Witnesses were suborned, officers of justice bribed, informers intimidated. Armed ruffians and bludgeon men were employed to barricade the houses and resist the civil power. Private competed with public hells.