Gamblers’ Cups of Gold.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue XIII, 27 September 1902, Page 772

Gamblers’ Cups of Gold.

Paying off his crew at Southampton the other day. the captain of a transport. wl ich had made two voyages to the Cape, received a shock. A coal trimmer came forward to receive the £l3 10/ due to him. He looked at

the money, then pushed it back through the bars, with the remark. "You can keep that, captain, to buy your wife and kids new hats with. On these two voyages I’ve made £2500.” How he had made this pile many a poor Tommy eould tell. It is a common thing for professional gamblers to ship as deck hands or coal trim-

mers, and they find the soldier quite willing to while away time with a “flutter.” “Gambling goes on night and dav on the troop decks,” said a captain, “and 1 have Frequently seen cups filled with sovereigns. “The men are under their own officers, and we have no power to stop them gambling.”