Beano

According to the Roman Catholic Church, gambling is not per se sinful. It is entirely licit under certain conditions, chief of which are that the odds must not be too strongly against the gambler, that he must own what he gambles with. According to many an evangelical Protestant Church, gambling is decidedly sinful. Nevertheless, Protestants and Catholics both countenance gambling, in the form of raffles, euchre, five hundred, pinochle and bridge parties for prizes. Currently another game, beano (or bingo, or keno), has been popular at Church bazaars and sociables. In this, any number of players purchase boards bearing 15 squares differently numbered. As numbers are drawn from a box and called out, players place beans or corn on the corresponding numbers on their boards. A player wins when he fills five squares in a straight line, cries "Beano!" (or "Bingo!" or "Keno!").

In many a locality, newspapers are accustomed not to report church gambling parties. In Grand Rapids, Mich, last fortnight, however, the newspapers had no choice. Clapped into jail for violating State gambling laws was a Mrs. Eleanor

Girodat, 60, undertaker and seasoned Catholic charitarian. Mrs. Girodat's jailing was less a result of her own recalcitrance than of the vacillation of local officials. After Michigan's Governor Frank D. Fitzgerald vetoed a bill legalizing beano games, the Grand Rapids prosecutor decided to allow charity games, stamp out commercial ones. He reversed his stand shortly after Mrs. Girodat sponsored a game with 400 players which netted $110 for the Catholic Daughters of America. He not only had Mrs. Girodat arrested but issued a warrant for one of her morgue employes, who was picked up while attending a burial. In Superior Court the judge directed a verdict of guilty. The jury said no. The judge insisted, imposed a $5 fine and $20 assessment for costs on Mrs. Girodat. Said she: "It's the principle of the thing. I'll go to jail." But a friend paid her out.

Abruptly ceased all of Grand Rapids' pious beano games.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.