St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-14
The Globe Supplies ST The Wants Of Entire Northwestern

and Lake City opponents Of public
opinion were unanimously elected to
the honorable and arduous positions of
bottle holders extraordinary.
Gen. Tom and Capt. Bill sat down to
the game at O'Clock in the evening.
They occupied stools placed on either
side of the q. Washington hand press,
the platen of which made an admirable
card table. Cuts were made for the
deal. Capt. Bill WON it,and the trouble
began. Messengers carried the news
OF the game to the various saloons from
time to time, where nearly the entire
population of the town might have been
found laying wagerS on the result. Many
a mining claim, good, bad and indiffer-
emf. changed hands that night on the
result of this historic game of draw.
Gen. Tom did not permit this little
disaster to discODcert him. however,
and about an hour later he found he had
four aces, and caused mourning i'll the
camp by recoupng his former loss and
diminishing the pile of Hinsdale county
warrants to the extent of over $500.
Then the fun began in earnest. The
bottle holders were compelled to aD-
point assistants, and first one side and
then the other won. By midnight the
floor of the Silver World Office was COW
cred by discarded decks. and Capt. Bill
added several new and original designs
TO his vocabulary. Gen. Tom pulled
his Lat down little lower over his
eyes and took fresh chew Of tobacco.
1t was evident that the final struggle
was approaching.
For time the opponents played eau
tiouSly. and few winnings were made.
Gen. Tom wore a SLOUGH hat. which
and face, leaving little to be seen save
the long, swartiy mustache and chin.
Capt. Bill. on the contrary. sat upright,
with his hat set well Oh the Lack of his
mead, and kept continuous stream of
profanity flowing towards the silent fg-
ure opposite. About 10 O'clock Capt.
Bill caught pair of queens and drew
two more. Gen. Tom failed to fill on
three acres. AS result he parted with
about 81 600 worth OF warrants. neceSSi-
tating extraordinary activity on the part
OF the bottle-hoiders for few minutes,
and causing the greatest enthusiasm at
the saloons when the fact was an
nounced.
At 2 o'clock in the morning Capt.
Bill had won neary $4,000 of the Rio
Grande scrip and Gen. Toms mus
tache showed a faint inclination to curl
at the ends. Then occurred a wonder
full thing. Capt. Bill caught four aces
on the deal and gave Gen. Tom four big
diamonds. They drew one card each
and began to swell the pile of warrants
on the table. 1t was a swell, however,
that resulted in woe to the house in
HinSdale. Brown had drawn diamond
and held d straight flush. Capt. Bill
swOre in Spanish until he was speech
less and silently parted with all his
warrants except $500 worth.
Gen. Tom pulled his hat a little lower
over his eyes, but never said word.
When the news of the disaster was car
ried to the saloons there was weeping
and walling and gnashing of teeth and
hurrying to and fro to hedge on bets.
AT 5 o'clock Capt. Bill had retrieved
his losses to some extent, but was still
badly crippled. He braced up and took
handsome pot Oh a dead cold bluff, b ut
he had sworn SO much that ne was get
ting hoarse. and as his voice failed him
he lost his nerve. Att o'clock his pile
of scrip had again dwindled TO a few
hundred dollars and he YEARLY threw
the cards on the floor and called for
fresh pack.
Just before o'clock, aS-the sun was
creeping over the crest of Sheep noun
tain, he made a final stand Oh pair of
kings. When the draw was made he
got another one, while Gen. Tom drew
four cards. Capt. Bill glared at the top
Of Gen. Toms hat for half minute and
then showed the last warrant to the cen
ter of the pIaten. The latter sat for
minute as if immersed in ice. and slow
ly showed a warrant of equal value to
The center of the table. Then they slow
ly laid down their hands. Capt. Bill
showed down three kings. Gen. Tom
silently raked in the warrants. His
hand contained four queens.
At 10 O'clock hilarious cavalcade
moved out of Lake City and disappeared
up the winding trail that led TO the
summit of Phillips pass. At the head
rode Gen. Tom on a mouse -colored mus
tang mule. A pair of rawhide saddle
bags swung across his saddle contained
every scrap of scrip that had ever been
issued by the county court of Hinsdale
county. Capt. Bill sat in his cabin door
looking at the disappearing procession
and making uninteiligible signs. He had
sworn himself speechiess.