Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“as, 20 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION scientists are now operating a gam- bling joint in Las Vegas, Nevada, and why? That’s the many dollared ques- tion that a goodly number of their colleagues and government officials are going to want answered. “You recall that we first had the Nagle Rocket which created such a furor during the Christmas season. Next was the idiotic mechanism with the disappearing bead, which is rumored to contain hidden in it even more important scientific discoveries than the rocket toy. Now we have the most fantastic device of all, a new type of gambling machine. It is evident that Dr. Nagle’s complaint about low Government salaries was a serious one to him, for he now appears in the role of professional gambler to tidy up his personal fortune.” Baird gave a lengthy description of the Volcano cone, obviously based on the observations of the pseudo- drunk to whom Mart had shown the machine. “It is a fascinating gadget, completely hypnotic in its effect on the addicts who play it. We’re certain that it will be as successful as the previous enterprises of Nagle and ' Berkeley, but we express our regret and the regret of a nation that such badly needed genius should be found in the dimly lit back streets of scarcely legal commercialism.” Mart and Berk missed the broad- cast, being on duty at the club, but they read the account which was reproduced almost verbatim in the morning paper. Mart grinned as he passed it across the breakfast dishes to Berk. “We'll know tonight. If that doesn’t bring them in, nothing will.” His prediction was more than accurate. Long before noon the curious began streaming towards the obscure building housing the Volcano Club. By mid-afternoon there was not an empty seat remaining in the amphitheater. | Even Mart had to admit there was something hypnotic about the thing. He stood at the rear, watching over the heads of the crowd as they leaned half forward in their seats with eyes staring at the wash of coloured light and the glowing balls that jumped at random. Uniformed girls moved constantly along the aisles, accepting bets and stamping sheets of the winners to be paid off at the windows. And then in the later afternoon Mart and Berk recognized some of the visitors who began coming in. A few of them took seats, but others stood at the rear watching with coldly professional faces. They represented the manage- ment and ownership of the other, more conventional clubs about the city. “T think we’re in,” Mart whispered to Berk. “Within a week we’ll have a Volcano in half the clubs in Las Vegas!” He was a little optimistic there. It took almost three weeks before that number had bought a franchise on the Volcano. He was able to deliver the first one within two days, however, and almost before the delivery truck was back at the warehouse he received a call. Mart recognized the cigar-in- mouth voice of the gambler with whom he had made his first deal. “What’s the matter with these things? Can’t you build them so they will stay operating more than ten minutes? We put the marbles in the hole and all they do is come rolling down the outside. They won’t stay — in!’ “You put the machine back to- gether the way it was and quit tinker- ing with it,” said Mart. “It will work all right the way we had it.” The gambler adjusted his cigar with a crunching sound in the phone. “We got to change the percentages. Cconniecloooks.c© iim