The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-17
estates at his disposal set out for the dia-
mond fields

esthues az MS olspOsal set out Tor the dia-
mond fields.
RUNNING A GAME AT KIMBERLEY.
II you remember Frisco in '49 you have
mining and gaming. Men of easy conscience
and OF all nations swagger about the doors
or the low down saloons, with pistol stocks
protrudtng from the pocket in business
like manner. Criminals of every extraction
mingle with the Bushmen, Hottentots and
caftirs, and their very existence is the
gaming table. Count Won Wulffenstein
took out his diploma of citizenship immedi-
ately by erecting a saloon Of more than
ordinary pretension, with huge hall in the
rear for the special comfort and convenience
of worthy members of the community who
found life too short to dig for diamonds,
but who were willing to decide the right
OF ownership by the turn Of a card. Impos-
ing of frontage, gilded to the highest degree
of decorative art, furnished with all the
nttings Of trst-class gambling house. and
rendered further attractive by the alluring
notice that drinks would be served free to
tue players, the German counts establish
ment was bound to be bowling success in
the wilderness Of Kimberley. Here night
after night the spendthrift presided, and
with scarcely breathing time even in the
day the motley crowds sat at the tables and
Wagered diamond against diamond or horse
against horse. They played with that grim
energy Characteristic of all mining towns,
with gun within easy reaching distance
and a stiff stimulant not much
further away. They were quiet
sometimes, but sometimes, when the ext
gencies of the case demanded more than
commonplace measures, a sudden recourse
to the reviewers that lay near at hand set
tied the slight difficulty in an unmistakable
manner and to the entire satisfaction of the
spectators on the outside. And even on
U "a nj
cheating and promptly strung up to the
polished rafter In the middle of the hall by
the lynching party that was forthwith or
gained, it occasioned no surprise that the
authorities deemed it only right to overlook
the unfortunate affair as justifable. The
comets recent little trouble with the earth
afforded more excitement than when Bill
Lucas snatched 95 900 diamond In this
gambling den in Kimberley and seven men
dropped in their tracks as a result of Bills
coup d'etat.
HIS LAST MILLION GONE.
These pleasant diversions served to make
losing less monotonous TO Count vonW ulffen-
stein, whose most exciting experience here
tofore had been the winning of something
like $4,000 from Russian gentleman at
the tables of an exclusive club at Berlin and
the losing Of twice that amount to the same
gentleman before play was stopped. For
nearly year he occupied a warm place In
the hearts Of the rugged miners, whom some
have unwittingly called desperadoes, for he
staked his gold against their jewels, and lost
with equal ease and grace.
million, he thought, was awaiting him
| IN Mecklenburg but when he went TO get it
| he found that the Rostock Bank in that CITY.
in which his 81 ,00O.00 had been bound up
some years before, had collapsed, almost as
soon as the directors had received his
| money. Just $40 900 remained of his in.
heritance. and with that he sped to Monte
Carlo, living In a gamester's hope that the
tickle wheel would turn in his direction. It
| turned once, and he doubled. That is all.
Count Won Wulffenstein took a steamer for
| America. He came not to seek the hand Of
an heiress In exchange for the position he
| once had. He came simply because he had
Lost everything.
Two years later a policeman chased a
creature who was in the act Of committing
suicide at the foot OF West Forty-second
street. The creature escaped, and, utterly
broken down, stopped in front of the Van
derbilt mansion, where he was taken care
of. He emerged a man. 10 was Count Won
WulBenstein. who Ia now quite domesti-
Gated in modest apartments on East Forty
| ninth street He is a protege Of the Vans
derbilts, and may sometimes be seen around
Cherry Hill and Mulberry Bend, arm in
arm with Alexander de Soto, who, years
ago, was croupier at the tables in Berlin,
where the German count left the greater
part Of his fortune.