St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-03-19
4 FORTUNE on A THROW.

=
| \ FORTUNE ON a THROW.
olxty-eeur IAeaaaoa Dealnss q 0asks = I
0Amo e Dice.
A difference Of but two In the mp
turned dice dots. but each dot repre-
sented thirty-two Thousand dollars and
the winner was made that much richer
BY his single throw. The details Of thil
occurrence. recalled in sojourning CON
temptation Of the fast-doparting traces
Of other end better days, in the town
where It occurred. may b OF interest.
From the time Of its first importance
as IN oil town Petroleum Center, In
Pennsylvania, was known as . famous
place for gambling. There was how.
ever. no particular place in which this
gambling was carried on. An engine
house. saloon. Office or private room
any place served the purposs-and Q
rickety table. . greasy writing-desk OF
. board laid acloes the head OF IN oil
barrel answered. Is well Is the equip
ments Of . gambling palace.
In lS6S-o9 tho vicinity Of Petroleum
Center was the richest in the oil region
and ono Of the richest in the world
The lands Ill about the town were
making their owners rich. Among
these pieces Of property was the Woods
farm, lying upon the hill to the west Of
the Pasce. Its big production at that
time was selling at from three to Eve
dollars a barrel Samuel A. Woods
was the owner OF this rich deposit Of
oil. and his royalty from it yielded him
. princely income. He WAS then about
thirty-ive years OF age. and was as full
of fun as he was Of business. He
dressed we'll wearing daily diamonds
worth from 1--WE to eight thousand dol
Lara. lived high and was foremost in all
the enterprises in oil Developments In
1858 he built the largest and frat COM
p'ete iron tank-forty thousand barrels
then along Oil creek. and into It his
farm poured it, liquid wealth
Woods had q noted foudness for
throwing dice and was usually lucky.
He was ready 1T any time to throw for
stakes ranging from dfty dollars to
ono hundred dollars or one thousand
dollarA Il was seldom he would throw
for less than the first named sum. One
night in the winter Of 1osS-6o he was
spending the evening with . party of
friends in the Rochester house 1t Petro-
leum Center. Among the party was
Col Brady. another rich producer and
man who had earned his title on the
battlefield Of the rebellion. 81
In the course of the evening Woods
said to him: Colonel. I'll toss the dice
with you for ffty dollars" "An
right" was the colonel's prompt reply.
The first throw Brady won, continu-
ing to do so until he had won six
hundred and Afty dollars Of Woods
money. This rriile Just whetted their
appetitex' and the chance contest BE-
gan In earnest. The amount Of the
stakes was increased from time to time,
and Woods losses rapidly crept into
the thousandA Luck was against him,
but - he was perfectly sober and the
friends present knew that he would re.
gard As little less than IN insult any
suggestion that IL WAS time TO quit,
feeling abondAntly able to pay any
amount he lost al they had to do was
to watch the two mon with increasing
interest
To pass on from the process 70 the re-
suit when one OF the morning hours
was ushered In Woods had lost thirty
two thousand dollaF1 and Brady held
his check for that sum. At this juneture
Woods said 70 the colonel: 'Now I am
willing 70 double the amount and let
each Of rs take bat one throw, and the
highest take the stakes You already
have my check for the thirty-two thou |
sand dollarA II lose I will write you
another for the full amount here to-
night and it viii be cashei at the bank |
'.All right again replied |
Col Brady, 'Iacceptr = |
The interest Of the bystanders WAS |
now worked up to the highest notch,
the dice were produced. and Woods had |
the first throw. Eleven spots turned up |
% his count Col Brady then threw
and but nine black dots turned up to be |
Woods. therefore saved .
goQd-sized fortune on the throw, Tor |
had he lost that sixty-fo thousand |
dollars would have been paid with as
much promptness - though IL had
been . part cf . legitimate business
Weeds then proposed that
they start In anew with ton dollars as
The amount Of the stakes The colonel
and soon Ill the cash he had
with him-sbout two hundred dollars
IVES transferred to the pockets Of
Woods ''Here colonel" said WoodA
rs twenty dollarA can't see . man
70 away dead broke" And 80 the
greatest dice game on record In the oil
regions came to clooe.-Cincinnati
Enquiries. 1