Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-31
WASHINGTON ADVENTURES.
The Ways of Some Cumberers. of the
Earth.
From tho Ne,o York Tribune.

OF an adyenturer than washington. He
is to be met with at every street corner.
He confronts you In the Hobbies of the
capitol. he hangs around the hotels ana
bsrrooms. He greets you at every pubNe
reception. Certainly for town of It's
size, Washington has no equal in the
number of men that live by their wits.
Where they come from is mystery suf-
fIciently great, but how they manage to
live is mystery far greater still. At
certain times of the year, especially when
Congress is about to meet or adjourn,
the town is literally swarming with
sdead BEATS" A confidence man. the
lowest sort of swindler, is not often
seen here. The town is too small for him
to continue his operations with safety for
any length of time. 1t Is only his far
more dangerous colleague, the adventu-
rer, who knows how to relieve the pock-
cts Of his trends Of their contents with
out making himself openly and conspicu-
ously liable to the law that's TO ne dreaded
here. l don't suppose there is another
town in which the professional gambler
can fleece his victims with greater neat
ness and dispatch than in Washington.
Poker is a favorite game. and everybody,
of course, imagines that he can play it.
1t is "a bold assertion, but venture to say
that nine out of every ten OF the army and
navy officers stationed In the capital play,
Ii not daily, certainly weekly, their game
OF poker Here is vast field
for a ''card sharp" to start on.
1t is true that a majority of the
officers have only their pay to live and
play on, but in the aggregate it must
amount to a snug little sum. Besides
there are many who have married for
tune and who never object to risking
their wives money upon little game OF
''draw." 1t is not many years ago that
professional al gambler, who had secured
an introduction into army and navy cir
Giles here, walked away with 100000 in
single month, all won from his military
friends. Just about that time perfect
epidemic of the disease known as "dupli-
cate pay accounts" set in, and that dis
ease, as everybody knows, has not been
extirpated yet. Its origin if traced
would. | have no doubt, have led to tn
card table in every instance.
SEVERAL YOUNG ATTACHES
of foreign legations have been the VIC
tins of these gamblers. l know of two
recent instances where foreigners who
had acquired a taste for the game of poker
suddenly LETT the city, RECALLED by their
governments, it was said, but in reality
because they were unable to pay their
debts contracted at the card table. In
these two cases professional gamblers
had no hand. 1t was a member Of their
own colony who had f1eeced them, the
representative of an obscure little repub-
lie, who has since been recalled" also.
He was an excellent type of the ''cheva-
lier d'industrie." AT certain legation
not over hundred miles from Farragut
square l hear of nightly games with So
limits.
1t is around the halls of Congress, how
ever, that the adventurer loves most to
hnger. The rural statesman, bumptious
and fresh from his ''deestrict," proves an
easy victim to his wIles. Far oftener,
though, it is the unsophisticated claimant
who falls into the clutches of these gentry.
He is made to believe that they can infiu-
ence legislation, that they can further bis
case, and they demand backsheesh until
their victim cannot give any more or re-
fuses to be bled any longer. 1t is true
that their operations are limited, but
only because they are known. Their
.'pernicIous activity" does not bring
them under the control OF the police. and
hence they are comparatively safe in pur.
suing it. The number of women engaged
in this kind of business is quite large and
there is every grade of them. They are
frequently engaged by lobbyists to do
work which they could not afford to
touch themselves. was told by Sena-
tor once how colleague of his whose
negative vote upon certain measure OF
amount of money, would have killed the
bill, was spirited away from the senate
chamber on the morning that the bill was
to come up for consideration.
Soon after the Senate met q page
delivered a note to the Senator which
requested him to call as soon as conve-
nient at Mrs. BPS house. The Senator
knew Mrs. B. slightly. In fact, be had
met her at some friends house, and he
recollected, moreover, that she was very
attractive woman. He knew nothing of
her history, but he went to her house and
curIously enough, though staying there
only short time, because she had some
formal request to MAKE of him, found,
upon his return to the Senate, thatt the bill
which he had proposed to defeat IL posi-
BILE had been passed by just one vote. The
woman had been hired to insure the So
Ions absence from the Senate chamber.
INEED HARDLY REFER TO THE MAJORS,
colonies ana judges in front of Wizards
Hotel. They are fixtures in w ashington.
How they live is a mystery. though the
little maneuvres for obtaining whisky
and free lunches are by this time pretty
well understood. But where do they sleep
and how do they spend the nightY They
weigh down the sofas OF the hotel from
an early hour in the morning until the
last guest has retired long after midnight.
persuasion of couple of porters to dis
lodge them. But at dawn OF day they re-
turn, scanning the horizon for the unsus-
pecting stranger who may be ambling up
10 the bar. In France they tram pigs to
hunt for truffies. If whisky grew there s
no being who could unearth 1t faster than
could one of the Willard "Majahs."
His scent for free whisky Is soms-
thing phenomenal, and his capacity for
disposing of it truly wonderful. Not long
ago one Of the fraternity recovered a
judgment for $l,5c0 against one of the
street car companies for injuries received
while stepping off the platform OF a car.
Ever since the recklessness with which
his colleagues have been throwing them
selves off the cars of the company has
been a subject of great alarm to the con-
ductors of the company. and theme Of
anxious discussion among the IN ajabs'
as to which of them will be fortunate
enough to break a leg. The number of
people who live here upon their claims
pending before Congress Is very large,
and it is limited only by the forbearauce
OF their friends who are called upon to
support them. A man who has a claim
against the government is like a man
who takes a chance in a lottery. In tact
be is worse off, because the man who
stakes his money in lottery has his
hopes quashed with the announcement of