, 1879-06-21

HIS LAST HAND.
Dent1t OF m Old MIsstsslppt Gambler In rhl-
nLelphin-tIuw John Watts Played Poker
ln tho paln.y stcainboallng Days.
{aAadtjphaa 7trtt,
Old Jotu Watts waa gambler by nature. He
would bet on everything, aud lust Thursday,
whcu be died In lis ltttlu roon on Tenth street,
the lust words hs uttered were: II bet you I
get welk" There were no takers; for his 400,
j respectable al.d able physician pracs!clng in
New Jersey, stood by hts bedside and watched
over the dying man only to alleviate the pains
of death, not With any hope OF saving life.
They carried Watts OUT To Mount MoFiah
yesterday; and tho humble ltttIo funeral cor
tegc t(at paid tho last tokens OF respect to tho
GAMBLERS memory passed out OF Tic cato Of
the cutnetery u the iouE ltne Of mourners that
catne to bury Maj. b1agure alcd In ostentattoua
huudreds I'D the road from the railroad station.
Watts WAS not known much In Philadelphia,
but mora than score of ycara ago his facs ssna
much seen on tue Western river steamboats,,
tn tho Mississippi Valley. HI Was the typical
river gambler. Eegant OF address,. uncxcita-
BILE, calculating, skilled at cards, aud willing to
bet on Hnytttng In the world, he lacked nothing
tiat could distinguish him lu hss calling.
He was one OF the men who travelled on the
Lower Mississippi IL nntc-beiutn days, when
tho entire long cabins Of the Bteamers were
Etycu up TO card part'es, poker their game, md
the stakes thousands. 1t was in those daYa TINT
the phtof aMi boWle-kntfo often came IN Is
occurred only when somebody did q Hean thing
With all acH or tllled a pair By stealing card, or
.!olng some such little pleaaan:ry ID WY so
shanieeuly hold md unskilfui tint detection
uoltti HRl0 ht1t WatfH ,,,,f s1r
that, It. is satd. lie PLAYED fair and demanded
fair play or 1ght. That thcsc encounters
were not OF nnfftqaent oeelrrcnre, With
him Two bullet holos III bis check, others ID l.is
mcns[0n nll uTer, him tEayo testimony. Fur
many years he Travelled on tho Nuw Orleans, Ut.
Louis & Louisville line OF boats, Hts pecu-
liarity Of travelling was that he always made tho
went ugatust him, hc would not drop or ct
Memphis, pfckshurg, or Ca9F0, ind try uew
lay. uo was always tho best dressed man on
Ills icwe!ry was unostentatious, md bis
clothes OF Tie latest faslson. lie Ind hts
measure at Bells. London, and tlat KcEcnt-
streut artist supplied him. a swell tailor III
New Orleans oncy u solicited Waits ~ FOR IN order,
Watts Woru thu clothes for some limo, aud
talked much mud In tcrms Of hiel1 praise OF
theln,. but refused to pay t|e bill when pre-
scented. Dy this nlcans 4e found himself q de-
fnndant In suit ot Law, but sctting up tic plea
Tint In condascen1sng to wear thu clothes he
rendered tho tailor ful ynlnp BY adding 10
tho reputation Of the maker he thus won
hIa ease. Although Watts profusaed 10
be tnau Of huuor-atthough i galnbter-he
WAS by no mcaus Ut tic very bsst Of ,nura!s,
nnl hi did not object to take advantage Of his
felloW-tnan In his why. For instancu: With Ills
friend ntsd acculnplleu be would tonstl the boat
At Lonsvillr, a,lti, scanning thu uassongcr.iist.
.uIH
wnaith With whom hu was personally aea.aint-
cd. TO these people hu would Eo very quietly
nsld hay VI ltS own uccoulpfcc, "1hcre IL u man
WIG vlnys higl', a'ld Wo c'n beat l,i.n; you joiu
party 10 naus up, but Watts always succeeded
III regulating success thu wrong way for his
vtctm, mud thus the wouid-be bitter was often
bitten.
Que time ho was accused Of swtpdtiop In that
way, tflc charge boinx made IN the heat OF play
by nan FROM whom Wutka' pcrumpl,ce l4lI
just Won $l0. 100: Is stla. your opiu!on." hs
quietly aske.'. "Yes, sir; limits what think"
lt.atize you as scounurol." The iluur was lu,c,
niAl ouly ihe HatchMan md tho party ngaxed
IN peastl,g heard tho ct'arVo, hut III ol them
drew back aull held their orcuth, Tor they wero
sn!e Jack would take life TO stoo out the i,,-
suit. 1t is saiA lllat he has doue that thug.
~ Will give you $5,oo0 right here Ii
yuu VIII not make that oplnton pny further
pubiic," sn!d Wnsts, drawing fotth us pocket
oook. No, sir, do nut wa,t tic money you
cannpt buy my silence with moucy.n Theu
Watts smiled In Ills wicked way, a,nt hold
pistol IN onu hand ani thu loiIuy in tho other,
alu said quietly, a. before: "My fr,cud, fpr
!he slpptessIu,l of sour 1I'laion / oiferrd you
$5,uDo. You refused. Now ! olIrr you Tint
a!,ls,lnt Of lnouey and YOUR life. Do you ac-
cepti The ,lIan is,okcf iuto Javk's volu, sser)-
gray eye. and what lle read there was cnnyinc-
5 stIsnt. ' '''' '''N''s' @'A ''' ''''' A''3 @'''
Many stories ars told Of old Watts, which arc
not tsdccabe 10 any good foundation, like thls
onu, but hero ID onu hs usllghtcd ID telling, a1.l
lut which ho vo1c4cd tor ms truth: III WIS NJ
WAYS 20 ardent race'eourso better, sAd fol-
lowed Tile Kentucky stahlus Ior M,auy u seasou.
NY 'aat raei!!E was tho SEASON Metirath's greRt
rare.lorso. T0m bowling, Druka uown. va.
uEeak!!iE W inYaulf ltlen. We were IN Saratoga,
an4 narron, .hs negro-minstrcl singer, catuu
tpto Murrtssey's clut-holtsu onu nfstIt with
PARTY, u!Itl solne cue proposeo HAT he give III q
sony. Jutlu Matthew'S, ths actur, was With htnt
md urgBd Barron 10 20 allead lfu acce4e1 un4
sot doWI' to t41o pihno: Thu boys turnou rouud
lew chorus, without other prelude struck up;
Here sheer hulk lies pour Tom bowling,
Tue darling Of our crew.
"1is sang Il through with feeling anl axpses-
sioll, aill ! locked down on my eards, unl, by
then III bursts McGrath. tlu caught Barron By
the ald aud pressed 1t lerYently, trying to say,
tfhauk yol,' but la couldn't. All ho could
elQctl.ata a& AO went cut VI tht au1t Wlth Lis
cyrs iull OF tears WIS Two laskets pt wlpe.' 1t
was not until We weEe well lutu Tic SECOND bus
kct lhut we lust our impressions Ut ths mort
pathetic scene,-ons ulat moved more sporting
lusn't hearts 10 pity than over Witnessed In u
gaIub!sue-lsouss."
ALI relations CONCUR tlRt the great ateanlboat
rave ectwecn the Il. L. Lee ut,d Natchez lruila
New OtleanB 10 Vt. Lou,s broke old joAn Watts'
heart, 1eplutcl Ills pu1ss, 4,.l ryeu uussstled
lils mimi. lle stakt4 every dollar he lud,
sona 620 700, 1t ia said. IN tue Natellex md lost
IL. liz took atatc-r0oR IN boarl Ut Als "a.
yorltu 10 make tlle trip and SEC tho raee, but
he nsYcr Occupied It. Night uud day for tt.e
lyu days ant odd houTs tAe race laAted hu
STOOL gu tho upper deck leantnE oYer lAa rail-,
Just whero ha waute4 ths champion tsophy