Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-06-30
Nasby's Betting Young Man.
Letter to the Toledo Blade. ]

London Letter to the Toledo Blade.
Among the passengers was a young
man from near Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
named Tibbi:ts. lie was an excellent
young man of his kind, and he very soon
acquired the reputation, which he de-
served. of being the very best poker
player on the ship. He was uneasy till
game was organized in the morning,
and he grewled feroeiously when the
lights were turned down at twelve at
night. He was impatient with slow
players because, as he said, all the time
they wasted was SO much loss to him
He could drink more Scotch whisky
than any one ON the ship. and he was
the pet.of the entire crew, for his hand
was always in his pocket. lie ruined
the, rest sof the passengers by his reck
less liberality. His father was a rich
Wisconsin farmer, and this was his first
experience in travel. a.
What time he could spare from poker
and his meals was devoted to writing a
letter to,his mother, for whom the scape-
Graceiid seem to have a great deal OF
respect and a very considerable amount
Of love. His letter was finished the day
before we made Queenstown, so that he
could mail it from there. He read it to
me. The sentences in parenthesis we're
his comments
o.. BoARD THE CRY OF RIcHNoxD,l
-. sEAR QUEENsrowS, May %, ISSl:}
DEAR MoTHER-Whlle there is every
thing to interest one from the interior in
sea voyage, confess that l have not
enjoyed the passage at all. l have no
heart for it, for my mind is perpetually
on you and my home in the far West
(You see it will please the old lady to
know am thinking of her all the time
Didn't l scoop in that jack pot nicely
. last evening? Hadn't thing in my
hand, and Filkins actually opened it
with three deuces.) The ship. is one of
the strongest and best ON the ocean, and
is commanded and manned by the best
sailors on the sea. The passengers are
all good, serious people, with perhaps
ont. exceptions. There is one young man
from New York of dissolute habits, who
has u bottle of whisky in his room, and
who actually tried 10 tempt me to play
cards with him. But he is known and
avoided by the entire company.
We have regular services in the grand
saloon every morning, and occasional
meetings for vocal exercises and conver-
sation at other hours. l have just come
from one, at which
You are not going to send this infer
nal aggregation of lies to your mother,
areyOu 2" asked.
"Why not? She don't know any bet
ter, and It will make her feel good. l
have my opinion of man who won't
give his old mother pleasure when he
can just as well as not. / will, you BET" !"
"But such atrOcious liesi'
"Ill chahce that. | can stand lies of
that kind when they are told in so good
a cause. Ilove my mother, do. Let's
see, where was |. Oh yes"
/ have just come from one at which
the discussion was mostly on the pro-
gress OF missions in the Far West Crhe
old lady is. Treasurer of society for the
conversion of the Apaches, or some other
tribe.) Just now the sailors are heaving
y log, which they do to- ascertain the
speed the ship is making. Mr.. Inman,
the owner of this ship, is very wealthy
man. and he has everything of the best
He furnishes his vessel with nothing but
black walnut logs to heave, while the
others use pine or poplar. Capt. Leitch
is very humane man. and never uses
profane language to his crew. On other
ships the men who 60 aloft are compel
led to climb tarred rope ladders, but Cap
tain Leitch has passenger elevators rig
ged to the masts, such as you saw in the
Palmer House in Chicago in which they
sit comfortably and are hoisted up by a
steam engine.
"Great Heavens. You are not surely
going to send that?"
why not? What is an old lady in
silver spectacles on farm thirty miles
from any water more than well, going
toknOw aboat steamer? l must write
her something, for she persuaded the old