The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-20

shot and killed few years since at Frank
fort by Col. Tom Buford because of a fan
cled grievance that Elliott, then one of the
Judge of the Cou Of Appe Is. had rem
dered preJudIced deg son gaiust ButOrd,
was one of many VII IA itualll ci~t ted
Prindle's estab.s In .i.l lie rs tiaA a
young member of Coh.reo>, full 81 and
ambition, and gene d, esteemed 10y every
body who knew hln He woe what was
common in those d ,, Il blue cloth dress
coat with bra ~ suaS, supplemented by
the traditional buff vest.
Elliott was devotee to the game of faro,
and cared but little for short cards. -
While not heavy better, he was constant
IN his attentions and apparently derived
greaf pleasure from indulgence in the game.
tie explained this by advancing the philo-
sophy that since be was of nervous and i'm
patient temperament he could not await
the dull and insenSate outcome of playing
cards. AT faro he obtained speedy trans
action" through the play of the dealer
and whether the same resulted IN loss or
gam, 1t was au fat accompli and his
chances were soon determined. He occa-
slonally took rifle at roulette, but he
desplsed the game because it involved no
brain action
On one occasion at Prindle's a dispute
arose between John Elliott and Jim Cava-
naugh, then member of the newly ad-
united State of Minnesota, which came
near resulting seriously, and but for the in
tervent;on of Humphrey Marshall, of Ken
lucky, duel would have followed, for both
men We're game. Cavanaugh had won S25
on the lease sevep,n and NOV ed the $50
over to the ace, which won. making the
stake 500. At this juncture Elliott, who
had been drinking somewhat freely, took
down the checks, suppcsing the bet to be
his property. He had bet $50 on tine previ-
Gus lace, which had lost without his notice.
Cavanaugh promptly claimed the money,
which was hotly refused by Elliott, and hot
words followed which caused the game to
temporarily cease. Both were excited, the
lie passed and a rencontre seemed ineyi-
table.
The dealer declined to decide which gen.
ueman was entitled to the money, and out
Slders who were appealed to became mute
because they we're indisposed to involve
themselves in others quarrels. Humphrey
Marshall here interpoSed, saying: Gen
tlemen, listen while make sensible prop
osition! The sum of 500 is too small an
amount over which to quarrel TO the death.
Suppose you put the money back on the
ace, Mr.. Elliott, and allow the dealer to
turn for it. If the bet wins, you can para
lee it on the remaining ace, and then if it
wins again you will have $500 over which
to fight. If the ace loses the bank will
win the money, and the casus belli ceases
What do you sayl
Both Elliott and Cavanaugh consented,
the latter somewhat reluctantly, because
he felt he was but contending for his own
The checks were replaced, and at the very
next turn of the cards the ace lost and the
dealer swept in the bet. "Now gentlemen"
said the dealer 81 will decide the owner
ship of the bet. Mr.. Elliott lost his $50 on
the previous ace, and this was Mr. Cava-
naugh's Letn Turning back the cards he
showed Elliott where the ace had lost, for,
III those days, there were no cut cards used,
and the run of the game was kept on but
ton-board. Elliott and Cavanaugh there
upon shook hands and We're reconciled
while Humphrey Marshall quietly re-
marked to the other gentlemen present
THE sacrifice was Cavanaugh'S not Elliotts
since Cavanaughs money was lost by my
proposition, but better that than friends
should become enemies and probably shed
each others blood
1t is an open secret that the great com
moner, Thaddeus Stevens was much adj
dicted SO playing faro, and at times he was
a high better. He preferred to play against
the dealing of Gen. Wilkinson, who was his
personal friend and gentleman in every
attribute, although following the profess
sion of gaming. Every night, when the
weather permitted, Thaddeus Stevens en-
tered Gen. Wilkinson's establishment, took
his favOrite seat at the table, which all play
ers intuitively yielded him as pre-emptive
right, bought 800 worth of checks and
silently made his play. When the hour of
midnight came Mr.. Stevens invariably re-
rhafh as xxyfrN
Wilkinson provided him with might
liner" hack, fooled by an aged colored
driver, vino carefully drove the great COM
moner home to his lodgings, and returned
to report that all was safe.
Gen. Wilkinson was an extraordinary
character, and no one at Washington was
more thoroughly posted in the history of
the nation and the career of public men,
a host of whom had been and were his
intimate friends and confidants, notwith-
standing the wide divergence in the en-
pigments of life. He became imbued
latterly with the belief that disembodied
spirits returned to earth; and while not
a spirit per Sc, could not be persuaded
from the idea that visions of departed
friends came to him frequently. On one
occasion, after the death of Thaddeus
Stevens, he insisted that he had seen his
spirit He declared that one night. after
he had shuffied the cards and placed them
in the box ready to deal, he brushed
away the markers" from the layout
and, as usual, remarked, MAKE your bets,
gentlemenm As he looked up at the play
ers, he distinctly saw the well-remembered
form of Thaddeus Stevens sitting in his ac-
customed place, with great piles of chips
stacked before hun. There he was as pr
feet as in life Wilkinson brushed his ewes,
as if to dispel the illusion, but the wrath
moved not He started up in alarm, and at
that instant the figure vanished Furt her
play was impossible that night, and he
hastily rose, closed the game, and left the
house.
Gen. Wilkinson could not be persuaded
that he had not seen Thaddeus Stevens
"Many of our greatest men, he explained,
secretly, perhaps, were strong in their be-
lief, or possibly ia their hope, that disem-
bodied spirits returned to earth and might
be seer near the places they loved the best
Daniel Webster said that if permitted to re-
visit earth, his spirit would be found at
Marshfield, sitting under his favorite tree,
seeing John Oliver pillow his land James
Buchanan entertained the same hope, for he
remarked that disembodied spirits roamed
the earth, his shadow would linger around
the springhouse at Wheatlands. | am not
driven to the supernatural, but occurrences