Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-02-20
AN EXCITING ESCAPE.

AN EXCITING ESCAPE.
Everybody has Experiences" more or
less interesting I had one in Cincinnati
in the winter of 1878, which was somewhat
out of the usual order, and which will bear
telling. had gone there from Michigan
with commendatory letters, which intro
duced me to prominent steamboat owners,
who were operating floating property on
With one of these men l entered into
contract, by which was to have @ finan-
cial interest in steamboat then building,
and take the responsible position aboard OF
her as chief clerk.
These southern steamboats-be it said to
those who are familiar with steamboating
on the great lales-carry three and some
times four clerks, and the position of chief
clerk is that of cashier. In this position
he has to handle large sums Of money, as
the boats in some trades advance consid-
cradle amounts of cash in the shape CT
charges" on consignments of southern
produce-cotton, peanuts, tobacco, etc. l
SH'eNS 49,
sition was to assume was one in which a
dishonest man could misappropriate or
embezzle large sums of money, and that /,
being stranger, was being taken largely
upon trust
| boarded at one of the downtown hotels
then, and while waiting for the boat to be
finished and go into commission had very
little to do, especially in the evening. One
evening I was sauntering along Fifth
street in company with the landlord of the
hotel and two Front street commission
merchants. When near the corner of Race
street some one proposed going up flight
of stairs and trying our luck at keno"
explaining that nice quiet ten cent game
was going on there. ''Keno" was certainly
harmless, so up we went. Part way up
the stairs we found closed door obstruct-
ing our passage; but a word from our con-
ductor, whispered through the wicket
which opened at his rap, secured our en-
trance.
We entered large room filed with TIA
bles, at which sat perhaps $50 people, all
intent on the cards in front of them, placing
the bits of glass thereon as the caller twirled
the goose and announced the numbers
drawn did not know then, but learned
afterward, that this was one of the largest
gambling houses in Cincinnati, and that
on the floor above roared and clawed the
unclaimed tiger, and other animals equally
-voracious. familiar to those who WOO Dame
Fortune for high favors. But the placing
of bits of glass on green and white squares
of pasteboard for an investment of ten
cents, with a chance to win SIS or $50,
seemed perfectly innocent and harmless.
So, though it was my first experience, had
no hesitation in sitting down with ycom-
panions at an unoccupied table and taking
a hand in the game.
We had only played two or three cards
during which time, by the way, none of
our party ''kenoed'-when there was a
great racket on the stairway, and a picket
came rushing into the room with the warm
ing cry of
"Policel We're going to be pulled"
Well, if there ever was a scattering,
grand transformation scene, it was then
and there 1t was sauve qui peut! Every
body went heller SHELTER, leaving cards,
money and everything else on the tables,
and, in fact, climbing over tables, over
turning them and making a headlong
push for the upper stairway
The man who had been twirling the
goose" .dismounted it, and hustled it into
a large trunk handy by. The man who
was manipulating the tally board did like
wise Then these two worthless joined the
procession upper stairward. Meantime the
battering at the stout door in the lower
stairway continued. | had Joined the
throng going upward, thinking, of course,
that as the proprietors of the gambling
house were sensible people, and as these
raids must be common things, the proprie-
tors aforesaid had suitable exits provided
for their patrons, and that we We're even
now on our way toward one of them.
Finally, after going up two flights OF
stairs in the daP<ness-for the lights had
been extinguished very coon after the alarm
the crowd came to stansistill. Those
behind urged those in advance to go Ga.
But they replied that they couldn't; they
had come to the end. | squeezed along
into the crowd until was among those IN
advance. Some one struck match to sss
where we were. 1t was cul de sac, blind
passage. It was indeed the end. We had
gone up to the roof story. There might
have been a back entrance from the lower
or second stories of which we could have
availed ourselves had we known enough
about the locality. But those stories were
now in the possession of the police and,
CneV WOULD bUOIt Jt LG1C, w tlCh W. WAN
be captured like rats in trap.
Then, for the first time, dawned upon me
the extremely awkward not to say desper-
ate position in which | was placed.
knew that this was absolutely my first
visit to gambling house; that had been
engaged in a comparatively harmless
little game of keno at ten cents card, at
which couldn't lose more than sl.50 if l
Dlaved all the evening, which / did not in
tend to do Then thought OF being taken
to the police station; of perhaps having to
STAY there all night. Of having my new
friends and business associates-for whom
| was soon to occupy position of SO much
financial trust and confidenes-of having
them read my name in the morning Eli
ouirer in the list of those arrested in nc
torio1,s gambling house raided by the po-
lice last night.
l thought of their surprise, and imagg-
ined their remarks to the effect that they
couldn't put young man who was evil
IDENTIFY a confirmed gambler in charge Of
such important interests as they proposed.
| 1t was a good thing they had found me out
| before the thing had gone too far, and !
| had feeced them out of thousands OF dol
| lars.
| f1OITlUlS! ulloU SoCo ooo SWIM "'-J
There was window near where stood. |
| opened the lower sash and found that it
| looked out on a square courtyard. By THO
light from windows in the lower stories I
could see on the floor or ground of the
court broken crockery and other things ex-
tremely uninviting to fall upon. No, it
was out of the question to try q drop Of
four stories, even if it had been on soft
bottom It was sure death to try it. But
to be captured! Disgrace and ruinl Ter
rible alternativel Was there no other
chance of escape?
Looking upward I saw that the part Of
the building in which we were was a sort
of connecting link-though it had no open
ing-between the building facing Fifth
street and that facing the alley between
Fourth and Fifth. 1t was not quite 50
high as either, and the window reached
nearly up to the roof Here at last was a
chance. To climb out of the window on to
the roof No sure thing, to be sure. There
| notbiDo To oct hold of on the roof In