LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: GAMBLING HABIT IS WICKED

To the Editor:

With all the hype the Yes Group is putting out regarding riverboat gambling, the main topic has been the 700 or 800 jobs that supposedly will be created, the $1 million for the city, and $360,000 for the schools. Oh, yeah, the one million visitors coming to Cape to spend, spend, spend. Most of their spending will be on the boat, and it is called losing. They fail to mention the additional traffic and more crime that all citizens of Cape will have to contend with. There is something called habitual gambling that some people are unable to control.

There is a person I know that gambled for 40 years. After the war was over, during the mid 1940s, he was coming home from Germany. I don't know how many days it took to cross the ocean, however, when he got to New York Harbor, he had been gambling all the way and had $500 plus his mustering out pay when he got off the boat. Three hours later, he was broke and had to hitchhike to Charleston, Mo. He was married with children and got a job at Brown Shoe Factory. He usually got his check about 3 p.m. on Friday and would head for the men's room to a "crap" game. This man would usually leave there without a dime in his pocket. Sometime he would have two or three other people's checks but would be broke by Monday and would have to borrow money for his lunch. He would borrow money from anyone that would lend it, most times would repay $15 for a $10 loan. In the early '50s he and his family moved to St. Louis where he and his wife got jobs at McDonnell-Douglas. Most every week they had to live on her check, as he seldom got home with his. Naturally, this marriage ended. He is now 68 years old and has absolutely nothing to show for all those years of hard work.

I know not every one will get the gambling habit. I can almost hear people saying that have taken the time to read this article, "Well, this won't happen to me, and how stupid can a person be?" I hope it won't happen to you, but it could. The drug addict didn't know he would become addicted until he used drugs, the alcoholic didn't know until he took his first drink. The habit of gambling is no different. Once you get hooked, you will always believe the next time you will win.

Lester L. DePriest

Cape Girardeau