The cardboard, when all the printing is finished, is cut up into
cards; every card is minutely examined, and placed among the
'Moguls,' 'Harrys,' or 'Highlanders,' as they are technically
called, according to the degree in which they may be faultless or
slightly specked; and the cards are finally made up into
packs.'[64]
[64] Chambers's Cyclopaedia.
Machinery has been called into requisition in card-playing. In
1815 a case was tried in which part of the debt claimed was for
an instrument to cut cards so as to give an unfair advantage to
the person using it. The alleged debtor had been most fortunate
in play, winning at one time L11,000 from an officer in India.
For an exactly opposite reason another machine was used in 1818
by the Bennet Street Club. It consisted of a box curiously
constructed for dealing cards, and was invented by an American
officer.
Another curious fact relating to cards is the duty derived from
them. In the year 1775 the number of packs stamped was 167,000,
amounting to between L3000 and L4000 duty. Lord North put on
another sixpence. Of course, a vast number of packs were
smuggled in, paying no duty, as in the case of tobacco, in all
times since its fiscal regulations.
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