The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-15

Thirty-Two Thousand Dollars
scooped In by a New Yorker
on q Pair OF Treys.
mob Neisen.s Significant Hiatt That No
Mere Crooked PLAYING Wsaid
he Tolerated.

mob Neisen's Significant Hiatt That N
More Crooked PLAYING Wssid
BE Tolerated.
.Befo' the wah' tho West Jersey railroad
extended only from Camden to Glass
boro. and the remaining sixty miles to tn
sea at Cabe May we're. Necessarily, trav
erssd in laundering stages or by private con
veyanoes, says Cape May, IN. - cor
respondent of the st. Louis Globs-Deno
crat. But to the sporting public Caps May
with her antique and romantic history, tn,
Oldest and most famous OF American water
ing-plaoss, next TO Newport and Nahant
possessed more charms than the more pop
ulous summer resorts.
There were two gambling houses at the
Cape, beth known to fame. One was 9
large three-stosy double frame house neal
the Stockton house, built by Mr.. Lehr. once
famous ~ q negro minstrel. Here. with
negro servants and q buffet supplied with
the rarest Of foreign wines and liquors, the
''sporty boys'' from Baltimore ..and Wash
ineton and from New York City spent July
and August, and most OF them lived by
''short cards."
John G. W. Ware, the oldest alderman
on Cape island, tells y good poker story,
the hero Of which was "Bob" Nelson, a
Kentuckian and . relative of the notorious
ssBully' Nelson, IN officer in the Union
army. Bob Nelson had driven q pair Of
dapplsd grays over from Baltimore to the
Care, and was rejoicing in his summer
dolce far niente. Strolling over after din
ner at the old congress hall, he was asked
to take q hand with four strangers at Lehr's
gambling house in . game OF stud poker.
This game hits . genuine Kentuckian
.'whers he lives" and the very name of the
game recalled to sporting Bob Nelson the
pleasures of the blue grass country at home.
Nelson had \ pooketful of 800 bills, and
being 'full'' himself with the divine air OF
the beautiful summer night, did not at first
perceive that his partners in the game were
on very intimate terms with each other,
and never lacked for the right card with
which to gather in his ducats. Bob
sobered up the exact character of
the situation dawned on his mind. He
gathered together all the stake" he had re-
manning from one or more p~ocketbooks,
spread the 800 bills in = pile before him
The had IS, 900 in alL. smoothed down tho
package of bills as though he loved the bank
notes, and then slowly pulled out a huge
navy revolver, and, laying 1t on the pile OF
~gresnbapks, said:
Il haven't the least doubt that this is a
r%entlenan's game. but l don't want this
money to blow away.
The hint was sufficient. After that, in
sight of the "celd iron," it became a
- 1~-a rrl p4L
Nelson succeeded not only In winning all
his money back, but by daylight quit win
ner over $1,000.
Bob Nelson says now that he has never
played with strangers since at a hummer
Watering place without a s~ix-shooter, as it
materially assists in securing a square
game.
One day this week a carpenter, while re-
pairing the bath house adjacent to the
lawn Of the new Congress hall (ths old
frame building with it's romantic history,
where Henry Clay and Reverdy johnson
used to spend the month of August, having
been long ago burned to the eround) fonnd
a stack of blue ''chips" wrapped up in a
faro layout in a pair Of fsherman's oil
skin pantaloons. II took the Oldest inhab-
liant on tho island to tell the nature Of this
''fnd." The blue chips and the green
baize was all that was left of the famous
blue Pig" a neat little two-story cottage
erected at the northeast corner of Congress
Hall lawn. It was built and named the
''Blue Pig' by Harry Cleveland, a most
famous gambler in the days of Pettibone,
Joe Hall, Ned Pendleton, and Cool Martin.
Nothing but solid silver was tolerated BY
Harry Cleveland, and the walters always
wore swallow tailed coats at dinner, and
plebian could enter the sacred portals
a smuller denomination than
s. were not tolerated. Congress-
men, senators, cotton planters, and
New York banker much affected the Blue
No higher play was ever seen any
where at the seashore than that which
occurred at Harry Clevsland's,
where the gamblers listened to what the
poker. devourea ~yellow-leg plover. or lis
tened to the music of the roulette wheel.
Schuyler Hslsey, q we'll known New York
gambler who for years ran a game in Full
ton street in the metropolis, was 4 frequent
visitor at the Cape and a patron of the
haven, with none to modest or make afraid.
Among the many casual visitors to the
island was that arbiter of elegance among
the sporting men of New York city, Mai.
Crunlp, of the Shakespeare club, who has
had nearly fifty years. experience on the
turf. Yesterday the major, who is q guest
at the "Chalfonte" in this city, in giving
some interesting rsoollsotions Of the blue
Pig" said:
cit was in 1856. the year Buchanan, was
elected president, / spent my days at Con-
gress hall during midsummer and nv nights
at the Blue Pig. Never have | seen such
elegance and such cuisine elsewhere as
Cleveland;s cook put before his guests,
Harry was absolutely rolling in wealth, and
July and August at the shore was his time
to play the matured magnifico, and you may
be sure he did it with q royalty lavish hand,
l saw the biggest game of poker at the Blue
Pig in $50 that l ever saw in may life. There
were five at the tabls-Cleveland himself.
Schuyler Halsey and his friend Zone Of the
Philadelphia Whitneys), and two southern
planters.
1.-THE pot was opened with SIS ante, and all
the Ave came in. Cleveland 'straddled the
blind with $40, and still all the other four
stayed The draw was dealt. Whitney
only drew \ pair of jacks and went out, az
did one Of tho planters, who drew nothing
better than an ACE high The second
planter soon followed suit, although he had
foul tours in his hand. This loft only Cleve-
land and Halsey in the game, and each, with
chsok-book in hand, eagerly scanning the
pot saw each other and went many
thousands better. The game soon grew in
tensely exciting, not only to the two
players but also to to the onlookers, and il
was plain as a pikestaH that one of the two
would 20 broke at the end of that gsme,
Cleveland looked confident. but not less so
than Halsey, who finally, in response to a
$500 raise of Cleveland's, nonohalantly
tossed upon the table a check for IS. 600.
After a moments delay Cleveland saw IT.
aud raised HAlssy $1,000, but the suavs
New York gambler smilingly went Cleve-
land r.. OGN hAttsr aud his f.oa r.u a a%,I-