The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-08-18

and straightway gave the man notice to leave. He took rooms in another part of the city and played the same game there, and for all I know he may be running his game yet"
 'I suppose the best poker player in Washington is Minister Schenck, is he notl"
 al do not think eo," replied che statesman. sSohenck !s not the man that the people of to-day think him to Dc. He is a man of great culture, ot wide reading and extraordinary mental capacity. He has had won- derfnl history, and there is nothing oi the gambler about him. He playa cards for the fun of the thing, and his nickname ot Poker Bob is . most unjust one. 1t was given him by one of his enemies, newspaper man In London whom he had slighted when minister there. This man telegraphed home to the United States that Minis ter Schenck had written a book on Poker as the Great American Game and had 1t published in England. The story went the rounds of the press. The paragraphcrs dubbed our minis. ter In England Poker Bob.' The name caught, and 1t sticks to him to this day.
 . "The truth of the matter was that Schenck, in discussing the beauties of American games, and especially poker, with duchess at one of the queen's receptions, interested her % that she asked him to write out . description of poker and tho rules for playing 1t. He did 90, and she was SO pleased with the game and its attending excitement that she printed his rules for private circulation among her friends. 1t was on this slender foundation that the story of the book went out, and 1t is, I doubt not, the regret of Schenck's life"
 "I suppose there was a good deal of playing in war times"
 "Yes, indeed there was. Money was plenty, and the excitement was such that a man did not know how long he would live to enjoy 1t. The soldiers would come In, having just been paid of, and much of their pay would go to the faro dealer. Congressman played freely, and the games were, as rule, not concealed as they are now.
 "During Boss Shepherds time, when the government srent about s20, 900, 900 In public improvements, there was lots of playing, and Shep- herd himself started the Washington club with an initiation fec of $500. Money changed hands by the thou sands, and there were some good play CTS. Senator Chaffee, of Colorado, WAS Q fair player, and Senator Tom Rob- inson, of South Carolina. was one of the inveterate poker players of the capital. Jim Nesmith, of Oregon, would play poker all night at times while he was in the senate, and Fer. nando Wood could play for hours, winning and losing, looking as solemn as a sphinx all the time, and appar. ently not caring how much he won or little he lost. He did not lose often, and he always came out at the end of week at the head of the game. By the way" continued this gen. tleman, "did you sec what Boyd Winchester, the minister at Switzer- land, says about poker3"
 "No," said ].
 "Well, Winchester is considered the best poker player In Kentucky, and he does play very good hand. He was asked before he went away to Switz- erland as to whether his reputation as a poker player had helped his getting the appointment, and the insinuation was put forth that he might possibly stand before the country as Schenck's rival in our diplomatic history. Win chester was reported as replying to this as follows" (here the speaker took a newspaper slip out of his pocket and read):
 "Now. see here. have no desire to pose as the great national poker player. l play modest little game. Every gentleman in Kentucky plays the game, and SO do I. But do not sit down with everybody. I play only with friends, among gentlemen, and then only in modest way. There is nothing peculiar about my playing, and I am not great national player. As to Schenck's hook, don't think he ought to have published 1t while he was minister, and I don't like the way the New York papers have pitched into me about my card play ing. The Sun has been most severe upon me, and yet am told that Mir. Dana never goes to bed without frst indulgiDg fin game of draw, and he doesn't play well, either. As for mo, my health has been bad, and I have not played for long time.' That" said the statesman, lis from an inter- view with Winchester before he left tor Europe"
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