The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-03-24
A FORTUNE ON A THROW
slstysfohr Thousand Dollars al stake Oh I
Game Of Dice

A FORTUNE ON A THROW
slsty.four fbsusand Dollars AZ stake Oh 4
GAME Of Dies.
A difference Of but two in the mn
turned dice dots, but each dot repre-
sented thirty-two Thousand dollars, and
the winner was made that m ach richer
by his single throw. The details OF this
occurrence, recalled in sojourning con-
temptation Of the fast-departing traces
Of other and better days, In the town
where it occurred may be Of interest.
From the time of Its first Importance
as an Gil town Petro cum Center, in
Pennsylvania, was known as h famous
place for gambling There was. how
ever, no particular pace la which this
gambling was carried on. An engine
house, saloon, Office or private room
eny place served the purpose =anti
rickety table, greasy writing-desk OF
board laid across the head Of an oil
barrel answered as well as the equip
ments of gambling palace. Z
F-fn=fsss=s9 thew cinit Y@of=petroIeum
Center was the richest in the oil region
and one of the richest in the world
The lands all about the town were
making their owners rich. Among
these pieces of propert, was theWoods
farm. lying upon the Hill to the west Of
the p, ace. Its big production at that
time was selling at from three TO Ave
dollars barrel Samuel A. Woods
was the owner OF this rich deposit of
oil, and his royalty from it yielded him
princely inco ne He was then about
thirty-fve years Of age and was as full
of fun as he was of business. He
dressed well, wearing daily diamonds
worth from FIVE to eight tn ,usand dol
lars, lived high and was foremost in al
the enterprises in oil developments. In
1868 he built the largest and first COM
p etc iron tank-forty thousand barrels
then along Oil creek, and into it his
farm poured its liquid wealth.
Woods had a noted foudness for
throwing dice an was usually lucky.
He was ready I any time to throw for
stakes rangi"g from fifty dollars to
one hundred )llars or one Thousand
dollars. II was seldom he w uld throw
for less than tho first named sum One
night in the winter OF 1Sss-69 he was
spending the evening with part of
friends in the Rochester house at Petro-
leum Center. Among the party was
Col. Brady, another rich producer and
a man VINO had earne | his title on the
battle-fields OF the rebellion.
In the course OF the evening Woods
said to him: &c lionel, I'll IS the dice
with you for fifty dollars" SAN
right" wa, the col .nel'se prompt reply
The first throw Brady won, continu-
ing to d. SO until he had wen six
hundred and fifty dollars of Wo ,ds'
money. This trihe just W cited. their
appetites and the chance contest be-
gan in earnes'. The amount of the
stakes was increased from time to time,
and Woods losses rapidly crept into
the thousands. Luck was against him,
but as he was perfectly ssber and the
friends present knew that he would re-
gard as little less than an Insult any
suggestion that it was time to quit,
feeling alb lnlantly able to pay anv
amount he lost, all they had to do was
to watch the two men with increasing
interest
To pass on from the process TO the re-
suit. when one OF the NOR ming hours
was ushered in Wo DDS had lost thirty
two thousand dollars, and Brady held
his check for that sum. At this juncture
Woods said to the colone: Now | am
willing to double the amount lad let
each of us take but one throw, and the
highest take the stakes. You already
have my check for the thirty-two thou
sand dollars. If lose / will write You
another for the full amount here to-
night and it will be cashe at the bank
tomorrow" '.All right" again replied
Col Brady, 81 accept "
The interest of the bystanders was
now worked up to the highest notch,
the dice were produced. aud Wo IDS had
the first throw. Eleven spots turned up
as his count Col Brady then threw
and but nine bllck dots turned up to be
counted. Woods. therefore savel a
good-sized fortune on the throw, for
Had he lost that sixty.f four thousand
dollars would have been paid with as
mrch promptness as though it had
been part Of a legitimate business
transaction Woods then prop osed that
+ ehcy Stdrt lu ducW Win Ten dollars as
the amount of the stakes The colonel
responded and soon all the cash he had
with him-about two hundred dollars
was transferred to the pockets of
Woods. Here colonel" said Woods,
lis twenty dollars. can't see a man
go away dead broke" And so the
greatest dice game on record in the oil
regions came to a close. -Cincinnati
Enquirer.