DOI Heft:
February 16, 1884
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17756#0080
Fbbeuaby 16, 1884.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI
73
VERY TRYING.
A Record of a few Trials of Patience.
No. YI.—Gambling.
it. Chinks, the proprietor of the Square
Club, together with the Secretary, the
entire Committee, and about four members,
appeared before Sir Jacques Inxem to
answer the charge (upon summonses) of
keeping, and being concerned in, a com-
mon gambling-house.
Mr. St. James Willnek said: I am
here, Sir Jacques, to prosecute these sum-
monses on behalf of the Criminal Investi-
gation Department, Scotland Yard, and I
think it only right to admit that Mr.
Chinks and the rest of the Defendants
have co-operated with me most willingly,
and assisted me in bringing this charge
against themselves. Of course, a charge
of this description is at all times most difficult to substantiate,
on account of the enormous difficulty in getting the Police the
entree to these Clubs. But, to meet this difficulty, Mr. Chinks
has come forward with a written statement, in which he honestly
admits that he permits gambling for very large sums, say thou-
sands of pounds. He goes further, and says that he makes
no profit out of the coffee-room, the kitchen, wine, and cigars.
His profit is made entirely out of the gambling. He has therefore
admitted, most honourably, what we could not very well have
proved. The Committee, who are charged, are also here, and quite
willing to give evidence against themselves. There are also four
members of the Club, who, although Defendants, will support the
prosecution. The whole of the members, even those who never
played, were really anxious to be charged. However, I could not
charge for the practice of this game is one sovereign the first hour,
two the second, three the third, and so on, in proportion. The
members often playing till ten the next morning, which, of course,
Mr. Chinks finds very profitable.
Mr. Willnek then read every Act of Law and Parliament, from
the time of Julius Hesah, bearing on every kind of games, from the
Elgin marbles to Trente-et-quarante. This occupied two hours. Mr.
Willnek then read all the repeals of those laws. This occupied
two-and-a-half hours. He then read a very recent Act, passed, in
fact, last Session, which he said was the only one having any bearing
upon the present case. He then called and examined one of the
Defendants, Mr. Cokeman.
Mr. Cokeman said : I was playing on one of the nights in question.
I lost eighteenpence. I have lost eighteen thousand pounds at
“Pitch and Toss,” but never now. 1 never play now. I heard
these summonses were to be taken out, and so I played a little, in
order to be included in the charge. I have made a statement against
myself.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. (who appeared for the Defendants). Tell the
Court, if you please, Mr. Cokeman—do you consider “ Pitch and
Toss ” a game of skill or chance ?
Mr. Cokeman. Skill, most decidedly.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Where does the skill come in ?
Mr. Cokeman. A great deal of skill is required in pitching up the
coin. For instance, I have a very big hand, and therefore a deal of
skill is required in tossing up a threepenny piece.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Suppose it falls on the ground. What then ?
Mr. Cokeman. The members then make a rush for it, and he
who gets it first—keeps it, and cries “ Collard ! ”
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. What then is done ?
Mr. Cokeman. I pay him a pound, of which Mr. Chinks gets ten
per cent.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Is there any other skill required ?
Mr. Cokeman. Not unless we play Turkish Ilules. The skill then
is to toss up the coin so that it falls the side up you intend it to.
One of the Pack.
GIVING i
quite arrange that, as there is not space in the Court. Many of
them, therefore, are on the Bench at the present time, while the
others have gone, I believe, to Monte Carlo and Nice, to collect
evidence. The particular offence charged against Mr. Chinks is,
that a game called “ Pitch and Toss ” was permitted to be played, for
high stakes, by him in the Square Club. I know that my learned
friend, Mr. Fussle, H.C., who is _ specially retained for the defence,
will endeavour to show that this is not a game of chance.
Mr. St. James Willnek then read from the printed rules of the
game of “ Pitch and Toss,” and said : The principle of the game is, that
a coin of the realm, say a sovereign, half-sovereign, five-shilling piece,
half- a-crown, florin, shilling, a sixpence, fourpenny piece, three-
penny bit, penny, halfpenny, or farthing, so long as it has a “ head ”
one side and what is understood as a “ tail” the other (no coin being
permissible having on each side a head, or on both sides a tail),
should be pitched up in a manner to enable it to fall on the table
with either the head up and the tail down, or vice versa. Should the
coin fall on the edge, and so stand, it is claimed by Mr. Chinks. If,
however, it falls as before stated, the members are at liberty to
make a guess as to which side is uppermost, Mr. Chinks receiving
five guineas for each guess made by any individual member. The
“BAC.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Do you not know that gambling is carried on at
the most respectable of Clubs ?
Mr. Cokeman. It is. Both at the Minerva and the Cannibal
Clubs. I have heard that the Bishops play Spillikins for cups of tea
at the former, whilst a gambling game known as “ Tommy Dod ” is
extensively practised at the Cannibal Club.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. What are the stakes in the game ‘ ‘ Tommy Dod” P
Mr. Cokeman. Generally glasses of whiskey and brandy.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Do you know whether money is ever played for
at the Cannibal Club ?
Mr. Cokeman {emphatically). Never! Never!
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Don’t, pray, lose your temper.
Mr. Cokeman. I thought the world knew that no member of the
Cannibal Club ever bad any money.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Then pray, Sir, how do they pay for these glasses
of whiskey and brandy for which you say they gamble ?
Mr. Cokeman. They don't pay for them.
Sir Jacques Inkem, the learned Magistrate, here interrupted the
case, and said: He had issued all the summonses against the
Defendants under a wrong Act. Fresh summonses must therefore
be served iipon the Defendants immediately, and they could either
73
VERY TRYING.
A Record of a few Trials of Patience.
No. YI.—Gambling.
it. Chinks, the proprietor of the Square
Club, together with the Secretary, the
entire Committee, and about four members,
appeared before Sir Jacques Inxem to
answer the charge (upon summonses) of
keeping, and being concerned in, a com-
mon gambling-house.
Mr. St. James Willnek said: I am
here, Sir Jacques, to prosecute these sum-
monses on behalf of the Criminal Investi-
gation Department, Scotland Yard, and I
think it only right to admit that Mr.
Chinks and the rest of the Defendants
have co-operated with me most willingly,
and assisted me in bringing this charge
against themselves. Of course, a charge
of this description is at all times most difficult to substantiate,
on account of the enormous difficulty in getting the Police the
entree to these Clubs. But, to meet this difficulty, Mr. Chinks
has come forward with a written statement, in which he honestly
admits that he permits gambling for very large sums, say thou-
sands of pounds. He goes further, and says that he makes
no profit out of the coffee-room, the kitchen, wine, and cigars.
His profit is made entirely out of the gambling. He has therefore
admitted, most honourably, what we could not very well have
proved. The Committee, who are charged, are also here, and quite
willing to give evidence against themselves. There are also four
members of the Club, who, although Defendants, will support the
prosecution. The whole of the members, even those who never
played, were really anxious to be charged. However, I could not
charge for the practice of this game is one sovereign the first hour,
two the second, three the third, and so on, in proportion. The
members often playing till ten the next morning, which, of course,
Mr. Chinks finds very profitable.
Mr. Willnek then read every Act of Law and Parliament, from
the time of Julius Hesah, bearing on every kind of games, from the
Elgin marbles to Trente-et-quarante. This occupied two hours. Mr.
Willnek then read all the repeals of those laws. This occupied
two-and-a-half hours. He then read a very recent Act, passed, in
fact, last Session, which he said was the only one having any bearing
upon the present case. He then called and examined one of the
Defendants, Mr. Cokeman.
Mr. Cokeman said : I was playing on one of the nights in question.
I lost eighteenpence. I have lost eighteen thousand pounds at
“Pitch and Toss,” but never now. 1 never play now. I heard
these summonses were to be taken out, and so I played a little, in
order to be included in the charge. I have made a statement against
myself.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. (who appeared for the Defendants). Tell the
Court, if you please, Mr. Cokeman—do you consider “ Pitch and
Toss ” a game of skill or chance ?
Mr. Cokeman. Skill, most decidedly.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Where does the skill come in ?
Mr. Cokeman. A great deal of skill is required in pitching up the
coin. For instance, I have a very big hand, and therefore a deal of
skill is required in tossing up a threepenny piece.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Suppose it falls on the ground. What then ?
Mr. Cokeman. The members then make a rush for it, and he
who gets it first—keeps it, and cries “ Collard ! ”
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. What then is done ?
Mr. Cokeman. I pay him a pound, of which Mr. Chinks gets ten
per cent.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Is there any other skill required ?
Mr. Cokeman. Not unless we play Turkish Ilules. The skill then
is to toss up the coin so that it falls the side up you intend it to.
One of the Pack.
GIVING i
quite arrange that, as there is not space in the Court. Many of
them, therefore, are on the Bench at the present time, while the
others have gone, I believe, to Monte Carlo and Nice, to collect
evidence. The particular offence charged against Mr. Chinks is,
that a game called “ Pitch and Toss ” was permitted to be played, for
high stakes, by him in the Square Club. I know that my learned
friend, Mr. Fussle, H.C., who is _ specially retained for the defence,
will endeavour to show that this is not a game of chance.
Mr. St. James Willnek then read from the printed rules of the
game of “ Pitch and Toss,” and said : The principle of the game is, that
a coin of the realm, say a sovereign, half-sovereign, five-shilling piece,
half- a-crown, florin, shilling, a sixpence, fourpenny piece, three-
penny bit, penny, halfpenny, or farthing, so long as it has a “ head ”
one side and what is understood as a “ tail” the other (no coin being
permissible having on each side a head, or on both sides a tail),
should be pitched up in a manner to enable it to fall on the table
with either the head up and the tail down, or vice versa. Should the
coin fall on the edge, and so stand, it is claimed by Mr. Chinks. If,
however, it falls as before stated, the members are at liberty to
make a guess as to which side is uppermost, Mr. Chinks receiving
five guineas for each guess made by any individual member. The
“BAC.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Do you not know that gambling is carried on at
the most respectable of Clubs ?
Mr. Cokeman. It is. Both at the Minerva and the Cannibal
Clubs. I have heard that the Bishops play Spillikins for cups of tea
at the former, whilst a gambling game known as “ Tommy Dod ” is
extensively practised at the Cannibal Club.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. What are the stakes in the game ‘ ‘ Tommy Dod” P
Mr. Cokeman. Generally glasses of whiskey and brandy.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Do you know whether money is ever played for
at the Cannibal Club ?
Mr. Cokeman {emphatically). Never! Never!
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Don’t, pray, lose your temper.
Mr. Cokeman. I thought the world knew that no member of the
Cannibal Club ever bad any money.
Mr. Fussle, Q. C. Then pray, Sir, how do they pay for these glasses
of whiskey and brandy for which you say they gamble ?
Mr. Cokeman. They don't pay for them.
Sir Jacques Inkem, the learned Magistrate, here interrupted the
case, and said: He had issued all the summonses against the
Defendants under a wrong Act. Fresh summonses must therefore
be served iipon the Defendants immediately, and they could either