The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-06-12

an Hear Of the various games infer TINT the
difficulties of winning are sufficiently great I
even in game anaong gentlemen. When re- /
suits are summed up The losers are invariably |
ID Che majority. What becomes Of the cashf
Has the devil an invisible paw with which he
reaches out and gathers in the shekelsf Where
does he put them7 They certainly disappear
ais by some slight O. hand. Truly believe
ths DEVILS invisibly present at every game
and pockets the profits, though he scorns to |
appropriate the promises to pay and the cheeks
that are doomed to the cold and brutal endorse.
nentiof the bank cashier, emo funds
Any man who has an honorable calling is
fool to play with trained gamblers, even
when they do not cheat. It is their business.
They have no other pursuit and they think of
nothing else. Practice and study render them
superior to the amateur. The percentage is
always heavily against the "sucker." All the
accidents are against him, since the trained
gambler makes no mistakes. The ever watch
full eye misses nothing that will aid the judg-
ment. In the end, usually before the end,
these advantages tell heavily.
There are men too who associate with gen.
tlemen and claim to be gentlemen and come OF
gentle blood who live by their superior skill at
cards. Thackeray calls them Books, because
they pluck the pigeons. Rawdon Crawley, OF
the Horse Guards, was one of them. Captain
Crawley would take young, rich pigeon IN
charge and, gaging Che young fellows nerve
and staying qualities, would pluck him gently
| at first, but always firmly. If he found the
pigeon had spirit and capacity to stand punish
ment, he would take feathers out by the hand
| full. The Captain too would invariably lose
during the early stages of the game. But, ike
| great general, his genius would rise with the
| danger, and toward the close he would, with
consummate skill and boldness, make some
prodigious plays which would place him ION
/ velvet" Those familiar with his play hesitat-
/ ed to stake their money against man ofsuch
/ sudden resources and brilliant and overpower-
ing skill.
Sir William Gordon< Cumming must be one
OF this class. In his testimony, his brother-in-
law attributed the nervous movement of his
fingers to the affection, of st. Vitas Dance,
4 which he said attacked him when laboring un-
der excitement. It was manifest. that the
Prince was not pleased with this movement,
and even complained of it. But in the heat OF
play ne often failed to observe it.
\ X
4 The scandal reminds me Of number OF
cartoons which collected from the obscure
| book sellers in London and had bound. They
pictured the scandals which were current III
London under Geo. III, and were done by Gilray
and Rawlinson. Gilray was wonderful
artist, young man of amazing genius in his
way, who SO mercilessly caricatured the vices
of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Geo. ~,
and of his associates, that the Prince hired as
sassins to kill him. So sayagely did they per-
/ sue him that the poor fellow could not sleep
] two nights in the same lodgings. Hunted and
! bounded, he finally committed suicide before
reaching his thirtieth year. He represented
Fox and Sheridan, and lady Jersey and Mrs.
/ Fitzherbert and number of others ut the
gaming table where lady Archer cheated and
| where the Prince of Wales and Fox invariably
lost. One scene represents lady Archer turn
| ing card from the bottom, all of Fox's money
in the center of the table, and that great man
turning his pious eyes to heaven and bidding
adeu to his last shilling.
| Indeed the diaries of the time are full of ac-
| counts of these scenes. Horace Walpole tells
how the young lords lost GIVE, ten and fifteen
thousand pounds in an evening"" how "Lord
Stayordale, not one and twenty, lost eleven
thousand last Tuesday, but recovered it by one
great hand at hazard" Fifty-fve thousand
dollars in an evening is goodly sum to win or
lose truly; but Charles James Fox lost over
100000 within year. Lord Holland, his
father, paid him out; but the parents generosi-
| ty did not check his passion for play. He was
always in debt He always owed the Jews.
One morning after repeated promises to pay
the Shylocks, one called on him. Mr.. Fox en-
tered the room in his dressing gown. "Well
father Israel" said he to the Jew "what can
do for you to-day?"
"Mizder Vox call to zee if it wud be agree
able for you to zettle dat fiddle matter of a
tousand pounds "Impossible," said Mr..
Fox.
"Vill YOU appoindt day ven you will zed-
dle?" said the Jew. "Yes,' said Fox-"judg
ment day."
"yell Mizdcr Fox" replied Father Isreal,
who had a certain vein of humor 81 persume
you Will be sufficiently engaged on dat day,
widout me to bodder you-vill you appoindt
anoder day."
eyes," said Fox promptly, "the day after"
However horrible the present scandal may
appear to the pious, it is not worse than those
which involved the court of the Georges.
don't know that the present Prince of Wales is
more wicked than his predecessors, but he
seems to be doing all that can be reasonably
expected of him toward following in their foot
steps.
Looked TerrIbles but He Wasn't.
Detroit Free Press
William NJ. Springer is one Of the ablest
Jefferson in American politics. To see him
make speech in the House is to be convinced
that there must be bloodshed before he is