The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-11-22
WON HALF A MILLION.
How the oldest Bet on Record
was Won and Lost.
"NIGGER UP OR Niger DOWN"
The Great Game as Played by Broker Henry
Harley, on One Occasion
Only.

said one oil broker to another in the Hoff-
man house, was between Henry Harley,
who first conceived the idea of a tide
water pipe line from the oil regions, and
the oil operators who used to make their
headquarters early in the seventies in Har-
ley's offices. The gambling spirit per-
vaded the whole business, since the drill
ing of single wildcat well cost from s10,-
900 to Sl2 o0o and have known men who
drilled away S150,G00 in the vain effort to
strike a new oil field. If in their odd
hours the oil operators gambled not only
in oil, but in anything or on anything that
caught their fancy, it is not to be won
dered at.
1.-THE Phillips brothers and Mr.. Wander
grift were among the well known oil men
at the time when the up town rendezvous
of petroleum spectators used to be in Har-
ley's offices, where the Brunswick cafe now
is, on the corner Of Twenty-seventh street
and Fifth avenue"
''What was the bet?"
Harley had consistently refused to take
any part IN these side speculations' of the
oil brokers, as he called them. He was all
business II anybody wanted to bet him
on the rise or fall in the price of 1000
barrels of oil Harley was right there. But
he didn't care to wager $50 on the fly that
would first reach lump of sugar on cafe
table, or the sex or color of the first passer-.
by on the avenue. These and other such
speculative diversions whiled away the idle
hours OF the gang, however.
HOW THE GAME WAS PLAYED.
ain 1888, at the height of petroleum
excitement in New York, single operator
-1v,1A hrrx- A,- cali IN,
barrels of oil. That oil might have
market value as great as 81. % barrett
went that high-or it might range down as
low as 60 cents barrel, as it did after the
failure of the Metropolitan bank put pc
riod to the oil craze in this town. When a
man bet on the price, however, of only
100000 barrels of oil huctuation of few
cents would cost him, or the man he bet
with, anywhere from S., 600 to S20,0 900 at a
crack. Henry Harley and his Brunswick
crowd used to get together about 10 in the
morning, and Henry often opened the
ball by offering to buy or sell 100000 bar
rels of oil at a given figure at certain
hour that day. He might gain or lose as
much as 100000 on one of these offers, and
that sort of gambling seemed to satisfy
him. He fought shy Of side issues. But
not SO the gang.
Niger up or niger down the avenue
was their favorite gambling game. 1t
was their own invention. Two of them
would sit at a side window and the
other three at a window fronting on
Fifth avenue. The two at the side
would bet each other $40, $40, $50 or
300 clip, as they felt inclined, that the
first colored person passing would go up
Or down the avenue. The three in front
would be judges and referee. Day after
day and week after week the gang taxed
their ingenuity to get Harley into their
game. He was a blonde, medium sized
and rather athletic young man, and his
vivacious spirits found vent in business,
and business only. He wouldn't come into
the game, and that was the end of it.
''Phillips-not one of the brothers. but
an oil man also-had lost SIS, 600 to Weston
one morning in an oil deal before Harley
got to the office. Phillips felt little sharp
set and he bet Weston $500 more that he
would get Harley into the niger up or
nigger down game before night. Weston
took the wager.
HOW THE BET WAS MADE.
''On his way down town Harley, who
was pretty close observer, had read in his
morning paper that the colored people of
New York were going to celebrate Emanci-
patton day that day by grand parade
which would form in Union square and
march to Central park. He attached nc
particular Importance at the time to the
announcement, but when he got to his of
Gee and Phillips began badgering him to
bet niger up, Niger down. at $50 g
head his eyes flashed, and to the astonish
ment of all the oil men within hearing
and the gang in particular, he broke cut
with:
I've stood this thing long enough now
and Pm tired Of it. III bet you an ever
hundred each that more negroes 90 VI
than down today
$50 the judges and the referee went tt
their windows and Harley went about his
business as if nothing out of the way ha6
happened or could happen.
''By II o'clock $40 colored people-men
women and children-had gone down Fifth
avenue in plain sight of the judges, anc
not single one had gone up. Phillip.
naturally felt little 'sot up since he wa.
$4,000 to the good, and he ordered in
basket of wine Harley kept up an imper
turbable front. He was secretly aston
ished, inasmuch as matters had gone JUS
the opposite of what he believed he had ;
right to expect they would go. But h,
hadn't said word about any Emancipa
ton day parade, and didn't propose TO- II,
pretended to be too busy to be chaffeC
even, and went out to lunch with Gus
toner. 1t didn't occur to him that tn,
30 colored people were going down t.
where the parade was TO form.
CAT / o'clock he returned. He had hardl,
got his head inside the door when wild
barbaric strain was heard pealing up tn,
avenue, and in a moment gorgeous sabl,
drum major broke into view at the heac
of splendid negro band. Every neck wa
craned out to see what had broken loose
but Harley, who felt that his time wa
coming at last, kept his own counsel. Be
fore 5 O'Clock that day 6,00O colored peopl
had marched past the Office windows in tn
Brunswick hotel and Harley was S513,0O
ahead of the game of niger up or nigge
down. don't believe twas played muc
there after that. Harley accepted Dime
to the gang in lieu of his stakes Ne,
York World.
Grease from Cotton Waste.
Until lately cotton waste has been cleane