New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-11-28
WHY NOT COUNT THE JACKP

WHY NOT COUNT THE JACK'
A great statesman is usually good card
PLAYER. All the traditions of diplomacy prove
this. Talleyrand loved whist and played it
well. Bismarck excels at cards. Was 1t not
reserved for an American Minister to give The
law to poker, and to introduce it mt Her Ma
iesty's Court But if there be any one i'll the
great trade of craftsmanship who can play his
cards for all-nay even for more than they
are worth, it is the noble American who has
inst returned in the Franklin to his native
land. Soon after leaving Nigo, the officers OF
that deliberate craft, being anxious TO pay
homage to craftsmanship and to entertain the
guest of great nation with becoming hospl-
tally, proposed n game of cards. The
statesman's eyes twinklcd. What should be the
game7 The statesman suggested cnbbage, and
cribbage it was. Whist requires memory,
method, and patience. 1t does very well for
diplomatists of the old school, but the modern
craftsmanship that has grown up under glass
at Tammany Hall has long since discarded It,.
Poker requires audacity and eilrontery; Tweed
is too innocent to play that game. But CRIB
bage demands talents of another order-a
positive genius for counting and faculty OF
| making a good deal out of a CRIB. Ii Is not
| too much to say that in these respects Big SIX
| can hold his own against the world. Genus
| for counting gilded his craftsmanship IN 1858,
so that Tammany Hall was ablaze with the
! glory of it and bIr. Tilden was dumb with
admiration. AS for the crib. he made out OF
| il as many counts "a the Grand Jury found in
the big Indictment. He could say after the
/ IL, rlr - ha rlH
that can be reckoned."
Cribbage for two. The statesman smiled
again as the cards were dealt. lie played well,
and he counted even better than he played.
He brought to light jack of trumps THAT
counts ONE said the statesman, as he peggod
hole Fifteen one, fifteen two, flush and
a pair, fifteen one, fifteen two, a double Sc
quence, big six, fifteen One-he counted them
all with n strange glow on his cheek and the
old fire in his eyes. The hand was ended.
"Ah!" said the statesman, 81 forgot the
"iack. One point more" The officers held
their breath and winked at one another. He
had counted the knave twice He was so in
nOcent, too; so unconscious, so dlgniHed! lie
had the solemn air of a man who was pcddling
temperance tracts. 1t was craftsmanship
nothing short of it, "Bless mew exclaimed
the chaplain, who was watching the game !;
:" it is geniusw
Now there are games Of cards and there are
games of politics, and sometimes a game is
won by single point. The statesman at the
cribbage- board knew this by instinct. He
knew full well what knavc was worth.
Too late too late has Gov. Tilden learned
the value of single point. On the day after
-. Il s1a...
that morning he has been worrying over
single point, sometimes even scanning his
enemy's score in the desperate hope of steal
ing "A hole. If the great master player whose
talent for counting was so consplcuously DIS
played in 1868, had only been at his elbow
TO score the points, instead of masqueradlng
ot Vigo and playing cribbage on the high
seas. that point would have been counted
long ere this. Not by swagger and buster
and shouts of foul play-nOr by trying to
count out a postmaster's peg on the other
side. That is coarse it is not craftsmanship
pure and undeiiled. The great cribbage
player and statesman would merely have
counted the iack-Once, if not twice.
For there was trump card that turned up
quite unexpectedly in Gov. Tilden's Presi-
dental game. That jack was-angels and min
listers of grace defend us Mr. Charles Francis
Adams of Massachusetts. Before the Demo
cratic State Convention met at Worcester, the
nomination of ex-Gov. CASTOR was conceded
ON all sides. Even The Springfield Republican
threw up its hand the day before the session
and gave up the game. But on the eve of the
convention gentleman who had been in con-
sultation with Gov. Tilden and the National
Democratic Committee appeared upon the
scene and an Adams movement was organized;
and on the next day Mr.. CASTOR Withdrew
from the contest and Mr.. Charles Francis
Adams was nominated. 1t was regarded as a
master stroke. There was a buzz of admira-
ton among the Democrats throughout
the country. 1t was a great play and a
great card, and they made the most of
it. The billets-dOux of the candidate for Gov
ernor were showered upon the just and the
unjust, upon the washed and the unwashed,
like snow-fakes from January sky. But there
was one mistake: there were letters and letters,
congratulations and congratulations, winks and
winks, but the jack was not counted. If the
great Tammany statesman had been ut the
board, as he was in 1868, he would have
scored point without delay. He would not