Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 1, January 1886Various
History
Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 1, January 1886
Various
Periodicals
There was plenty of gambling in London at the end of the last century,
and ladies took a prominent part in it. Faro was then a favorite game,
and ladies who were in the habit of keeping a bank used to be called
"Faro's Daughters." Of these, Lady Archer and Lady Buckinghamshire were
the most notorious, and Mrs. Sturt, Mrs. Hobart, and Mrs. Concannon were
also noted gamblers. The usual method was for some great lady to give an
entertainment at which faro was played, when the lady who took the bank
gave her L25 towards the expenses. St. James's Square was the scene of
many of these revels. The _Times_ of April 2, 1794, stated that "one of
the Faro Banks in St. James's Square lost L7000 last year by bad debts."
The same number tells us that "Lady Buckinghamshire, Mrs. Sturt, and
Mrs. Concannon alternately divide the _beau-monde_ at their respective
houses. Instead of having two different hot suppers, at one and three in
the morning, the Faro Banks will now scarcely afford bread and cheese
and porter." The lady gamblers were considerably alarmed at certain
hints they received, that they would be prosecuted; and in 1796 the
_Times_ said, "We state it as a fact, within our own knowledge, that two
ladies of fashion, who keep open houses for gaming at the West End of
the Town, have lately paid large douceurs to ward off the hand of
justice." But in the following year Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady Elizabeth
Lutterell, and Mrs. Sturt were each fined L50 for playing faro at the
house of the first named. The evidence proved that the "defendants had
gaming parties at their different houses by rotation," and that they
played until four or five in the morning. The fines seemed light enough,
for an extract from the _Times_ in the same year says:--"The expense of
entertainments at the Gaming House of the highest class, in St. James's
Square, during the eight months of last season, has been said to exceed
6,000 guineas! What must be the profits to afford such a profusion?" In
modern times backgammon is not usually associated with very desperate
gambling; but a captain in the guards is said to have lost thirteen
thousand guineas at that game at one sitting in 1796. He revenged
himself, however, by winning forty-five thousand guineas at billiards in
a single night shortly afterwards.--_Saturday Review._
* * * * *
NEVER use water that has stood in a lead pipe over night. Not less than
a wooden bucketful should be allowed to run.
Juvenile Department.
A CHILD'S DAY.
When I was a little child
It was always golden weather.
My days stretched out so long
From rise to set of sun,
I sang and danced and smiled--
My light heart like a feather--
From morn to even-song;
But the child's days are done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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