Evening journal., 1888-07-17
GREAT MEN AT CARDS.
SOME NOTED STATESMEN or THE
PAST AND PRESENT.
Special Correspondence ]

Special Correspondence
WASHINGTON, July i7.--This city is one Of
the great card playing centers Of the United
States Nearly every statesman can play
well at whist and poker, and some very high
stakes arc bet every session. The Justices Of
the supreme court play whist in the most
scientific way, and the samo is true Of Sem
ators Sherman and Edmmnds. Justice Brad
ley is accounted ono OF tho best whist players
Of tho United States, and Miller and Gray
understand all the ins and onts OF the game
Senator Thurman is good whist player,
and in the supreme court circle rarely week
passes without some important game Stan
ley Matthews is a quiet player, and there are
card lovers hero IN Washington who would
rather play than eat
Some Of these card playing statesmen will
play for nothing but small stakes and tine
stakes at tho poker gane at ex-Ainister
SchencL's house arc limited to five cent
nnte There are few public gambling houses
here now and such gambling as goes on is nit
tho clubs or in private rooms During the
deadlock at the Capitol last winter there
were a number Of games played in tho cora
mittee rooms, and the antics Of some Of our
statesmen who pose as saints at home would
! surprise the Methodist element Of thoil CON
stitaents.
Speaking Of gambling in thesCapitol, when
/ Wmtormith was elected sergeant-at-arms he
received a lc6tcr from q noted gambler ia
Texas urging him q enter into q partnership
with the gambler and to run a game ia the
Capitol.
'.You can run tile men in, said the gam
bier, 'aud I Will SEQ tlat we get our share Of
their piles. AS doorkeepcr you win know
when they are paid or, you are acquainted
with them and wo VIII make cords of
money! it is needless TO say that Col.
Wniersmith did not enter into the combina-
tion.
/ met last night ono Of the old retired
statesmen OF The Capitol, an inycterate card
PLAYER and a man who, though wealthy now,
has Ia the past played some very bold games.
lie was in congress number Of terms be-
tween 1856 and 1882, and he comes from one
of The western states He has visited Wash
ington during nearly every session Of con-
ereas Tor Che past forty years, and he can
today play as GOOD u hand ait poker as any
man ia Washington. Said be:
II don't think there is as much gambling
now as there was during and before the war.
Then every one played, and we had whist
parties and card parties at which the gold
lay on tine table, and Il was at nodiscos, the
foreign minister's, That games were played
night aftar night with 81 900 in tho bank as
q starter One Of Che leading gamblers Of
the past was Flndlcton. He kept q place
here ia the antehelum Style He furnished
dinners and suppcrs Co his guests and ne lind
the best cooks iii tho United States. Hehad d
house here, ono in New York and onein Balti-
more, and it was the regular thing for con
gressmen u so 10 his gambling rooms. He
had all kinds Of games-faro, roulette and
poker-and it WAS here that Humphrey Mar
shall, who had been appointed minister tc
China, lost his outfit In those days it was
not disrcputabe to gamble and Henry
Clay was an inveterate card player If you
will read Carl Schurz's now book you viii
find how John Quincy Adams noted dowr
) the games which Henry Clay played while
they were the treaty commissioners al
Client, and / suppose Adams intended to usl
the information against Clay at some time
in the future. Clay liked poker, and he useC
I to often play at Hancock's, on the avenue
: 1t was at Hancock's that jefferson Davis
John G. Calhoun and Webster got their apol
linaris and wines while they were in th'
senate, and it was favorite resort Of forty
years ago. It is said that Clay lost s2,00
here in one night, but he won as q rule in
stead of losing, and he was one Of tho bes
g seven mp players in Kentucky"
"Eow about the Kentucky congressman o
todayln
"Eentucby men are as a rule good care
players, They like poker seven up ant
: euchre, and Senator Beck can handle th
n pasteboards as well as any man in our hous
y Of lords Joe Blackburn is strong 10 euchre
i and Carlisle plays a very fair hand at whist
3 Frank Pierce was good card player an'
= George Washington himself played whist
Il rala elt
kind OF game, though he has not done s
since be has been in the White House. Hi
favorite game is, SEQ BY the papers, ne'
2 tangled French play with long name whic
n do not remember
Il DO many ladies play poker in Washing
tong
}. "Not many; but there are some wh
ii handle the cards as thoy bet ON races. The
y are not fond of large stakes, however, and
penny ante suits them. I don't believe
women playing for money; they grow e
cited too easily and get angry, and it cos
Of more than it comes to.
,p "There was some time ago a gambling de
l. in a very respectable part Of the city.
was kept in ono of the best houses, and Il
man who ran il got in by representing hin
l self as a state department. clerk. He ha
n. good references, and ths family took him
ed as boarder. Ho proved quiet and gentl
n manly, but il was noted that he had grel
i, many visitors during tho late hours OF Il
ne night, and tho owner Of the house was final
ne told that his boardor was running fai
at bank in his house. Hc investigated the ma
ter and found It to he true, and straightws
rave the man notice TO leave. He took roor
in another part@1f the city and played 4
~ same game there. and for all know be mi
ne be running his game yeti
to 81 suppose the best poker player in Was
re ington is Minister schenck, is he notg'
,ea ~ do not think so,n replied the staiesma
s.Schenck is not the man chat the people Of {
day think him to be. He is man Of gre
culture, Of wide reading and extraordina
not mental capacity. He has had a wonde.i
ur. history, and there IS nothing Of tho gambl
an about him. lie plays cards for the fun
-, tho thing. and his nickname Of Poker y,
is a most unjust one. Il was given him
lau one Of his enemies, a newspaper man ia TX
aid don whom he had slighted when he was m
on ister there This man telesraphed home
md the United States that Minister Sehenck
,ts written a book on Poker as the Great Am
lean Came and had had it published
aue England The story went the rounds Of {
uress. The photographers dubbed our mir
ter at London Poser Bob, The name caus
- and it sticks to Schsnck to this day.
ssThe truth Of tho matter was that Schen
pee in discussing the beauties Of Americ