The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-03-01

my Office, and we will talk lit over.
The coach and the passengers may
have to wait ten minutes. s >:~
:, Invent into sanded .Ofnce, when
Vanderbilt gave me acigar. I showed
him some letters Oh my person. which
answered for an Identification. He
was polite enough now. THE dam i
age done us by that collision cost the
boat $500. Now, what did it cost you
to repair the br1g!' =
4 have not the exact amount. We
have laid our damage at $4,000
'Well, you never could get half OF
that
yes, we could. The repairs cost
81 500, and the time lost in getting
the brig ready we put down at $500
MORE"
THAT amt so. She was fixed upon
the wharf where she was discharging
cargo. Now / will make you an offer
set of our loss against your own
bills for repairs and I will settle on
that
'Well,' said /, 4 know am not far
out of the way when say 81 ,500.'
Good. I will pay for our people 500
in quit of all claims. Here, you make
out an agreement to that effect, and
sign it for yourself and owners, and
that will be the end of it. Twill send
you check for the money. II you are
not willing, say SO, and I will fight the
case for the next ten years. That is
my way I considered for a moment.
As the lawyers fees and annoyances
would have been considerable, I &C.
cepted the proposition. Two or three
days afterward came the check, and
with it pass over tho road to Phila.
delphia, for the year, which pass re.
turned, for never was what you boys
call 'dead.headed.' We sent, however,
to Vanderbilt, on the part of the own
ers of the brig, cask of choice Ma.
deria, and 80 the matter ended.
! It might have been in 1855 when l
met the Commodore at Saratoga. lam
fond of whist, so was the Commodore.
There used to be, ten or fifteen years
ago, set Of players in Philadelphia
who were the best whist players in the
United States. I have seen some ia
nous games in the English club houses,
played by leading whist players but
think the Philadelphia game was quite
as good. remember that one of these
Philadelphia players, for mischief's
sake, was in the habit Of rafting about
all sorts of things during the game,
against all the rules, but who had such
a knowledge Of the game, that with
good players he could almost invari;,-
bly, name the nine last cards. in the
other peoples hands. At Saratoga
the Commodore who never liked
anything better than to tackle
with strong opponents, was in the
habit of playing his rubber with these
gentlemen from Philadelphia. Now,
the Commodore never was strong
player, and never got beyond an ap.
prentice game. don't mean to adj
vance the idea that now I am equal to
cope with those Philadelphia whist
players they do say that in my
time l could hold my own with the
best Of them. I don't think any of
you or your fathers will ever play
whist decently. None of you have the
genius of the game. never lose my
temper at whist
ooh, grandfather -
Except when people are dreadfully
stupid and wanting in the simplest
principles of the game. The Cemmo.
dore was my partner often, and his
luck more than his play used to carry
us through. If he had stuck to whist
entirely, he might have done pretty
well, but playing Boston spoiled his
game. Well, once we were playing to-
gether and every game it seemed to
me he might have saved the Commo.
dore lost by his bad play. When we
were through-I think we must have
lost some five games straight, the
Philadelphians winning-and the Com
m0d0re and I were at a table alone,
l said: Commodore, you can't play
whist with these gentlemen they are
too strong for you. You can't play
cards, Sir, better than you kept hotel
I said it pleasantly, and the Commo-
dore did not take it amiss.
! 'How not better than a hotel g
asked the Commodore.
/ That was mighty poor house of
entertainment you used to keep at
Brunswick just fifty years ago!'
How poor
The toughest beef-steaks
| Wasn't the fare good! The beds
were clean, though; I am positive
about that. See here, didn't we have
Ia settlement once about some con.
founded collision? I remember all
about it now. It taught me a lesson.
| suppose have got in thousand pas
sions since then, and learned, even
when my temper was hottest, to hold
my tongue. But if the house at Bruins
wick was SO bad, why didn't you 90
somewhere else.
almost. You had the monopoly, as
usual
That was my way. But, really, was
it now so very, bad!'
Yes, it was
We'll, honestly, it was the Only ven.
ture of that kind that never did car
ry through to my perfect satisfaction.
Perhaps II Mrs. Vanderbilt in those
times had been allowed full control,
she would have managed matters bet.
ter. Those days were the pleasant
ones-the happiest of my life. I could
work then twenty hours on a stretch,
never tire. Ha! here are enough gen.
tlemen to cut in again. I would like
another rubber before my drive. Come
will you cut in! am not too old to
learn whist yet
did he lose that rubber, GRANDPA
ther."
"Of course he did, for I was his
partner. He Numbered worse than
ever, and seemed to enjoy.losing. Van.
derbilt really was q remarkable man,
but he never could acquire the first
principles of whist