Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1890-11-26
UP OR DOWN.
How He Won Half Million on a Negro
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How He Won Half Million on a Negro
Parade.
''The oldest betting ever heard OF"
said one oil broker to another in the
Hoffman House, the other day, says the
New York World, twas between Henry
Harley, who first conceived the idea of
q tidewater pipe line from the oil re-
gions, and the oil operators who used
to make their headquarters early In the
seventies in Harley's offices. The gam
bling spirit pervaded the whole bust
ness in those days. Henry Harley and
his Brunswick crowd used to get to-
gether about 10 in the morning, and
Henry often opened the ball by offering
to buy or sell 100000 barrels of oil at q
given figure at certain hour that day.
He might gain or lose as much as $780,
600 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.
"'Nigger up or niger down the ave-
nue. was their favorite gambling game.
1t was their own invention. Two of
them would sit at side window, and
the other three at a window fronting on
Fifth Avenue. The two on the side
would bet each other $40, 500, $50 or
500 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 or referee.
Day after day and week after week the
gang taxed their ingenuity to get Har-
ley into their game.
"Phllllps--nOt one of the brothers,
but an oil man also-had lost $50, 900 to
Weston one morning in an oil deal be-
e., Il 10 1o IA,
felt little sharp set, and he bet Wes-
ton $500 more that he would get Harley
into the niger up or niger down
game before night, Weston took the
wager.
Con his way down town Harley, who
was pretty close observer, had read In
his morning paper that the colored PEG.
pie of New York were going to celebrate
Emancipation Day that day by grand
parade, which would form i'll Union
Square and march to Central Park. He
attached no particular Importance at the
time to the announcement but when he
got to his office and Phillips began bad
gering him to bet niger up, niger
down at $40 a head, his eyes flashe d
and, to the establishment of all the oil
men within hearing, and the gang in
particular, he broke out with:
We StOOu tulS lilly lOuS 0uOuSu
now, and I'm tired of it. I'll bet you
an even hundred each that more ne
groes 60 up than down to-day
$50 the judges and the referee went
to their windows and Harley went about
his business as ii nothing out of the way
had happened or could happen.
"By IL O. clock $40 colored people-men,
women and children-had gone down
Fifth Avenue in plain sight of the judges
and not asingie one had gone up. Phillips
naturally felt a little 'sot up since he
was $S7 900 to the good, and he ordered
in basket of wine. Harley kept up an
impurturbable front. He was secretly as
tonished, inasmuch as the matter had
gone just the opposite of what he be-
lieved he had a right to expect they
would 60 1t didn't occur to him that
the $40 people were going down to
where the parade was to form.
cat l O'clock he returned. He had
hardly got his head inside the door
when a wild barbaric strain was heard
pealing up the avenue, and in moment
a gorgeous sable drum-major broke into
view, at the head of a splendid negro
band. Every neck was craned out to
see what had broken loose, but Harley,
who felt that Ills time was coming at
last, kept his own counsel. Before 5
O'Clock that day 5000 colored people
had marched past the Office windows
in the Brunswick Hotel, and Harley was
$513, 900 ahead of the game of niger up
or niger down. I don't believe it
was played much there after that. Har-
ley accepted dinner to the gang in
lieu of his stakes"