Morning journal and courier., 1893-08-10
MEN WHO HAD LUCK.
Stories Circulated in a Group or De. voices of Chance in the Northwest.
 From the Tacoma Daily Newsl t.yNalI that uas lnrk D

Stories Circulated in a Group Of De-
 voices of Chance in the Northwest.
 From the Tacoma Daily Newsl
 "Well, that was luck"
 The speaker was one of a group of half a dozen men who were standing on Pacific avenue and pufing away at HAvanas and talking just to pass time away and to clear their throsts for lubricants of a fiery or der. The conversation had been about the livery stsblemsn, Martin, of this city who had fallen heir to $35O, ,OOO three years ago, and didn't find it out until s few days SEQ.
 "ralk about luck" ssid one the group, who was gambler, Eve see plenty of 1t. Do you know that one day lsst week a man entered one of our gambling houses with 6 nickel and won out $500 in three hours. He had gone clean busted On a drunk the night before, and found nickel in sn out of-the-way corner in his room the next morning.
 That blokie went tothe gambling house with the intention of placing his five cent piece on the number five. He got into the room when the roulette ball was whirring around on Its tour of numbers He rushed to the table and got down his nickel on the five just ss the game runner shouted 'All down. In a few moments the bail started on its rear end' bouncing and in few seconds more the man shouted 'Fivep That gave the man with the nickel $l. 75 for his five cents. Then he put Sl on No. IT, and that number came up, giving him s35 more. He continued 10 play with vsryipg luck until in three hours he had won $s00. And the next day be WAS broke sgsin. He borrowed nickel and tried the game sgain, but it didn't gO."
 'I can tell a story of 6 man who WAS lucky" ssid business msn- "In the early days of the gold excitement in California there came into San Diego 6 man who was ragged and sick slmost 10 death. He was taken in hand and fed and fixed up. Then he told & story of wonderful find of gold be had made. Ii wss only 6 few days of, be said, and he would take a party to the place If they would ouifit. Several men who heard the story of the | great gold in the mountains that was theirs | to go after got up & party of fifty The start was made with that man ss leader. After few days travel it became evident | that the man had forgotten tho way. They | travelled on, trusting 10 luck. however, Indians were hostile at that time and they | a;arted in to nov the gold hunters They | | let's. A score were thus taken of. IheT fever struck the party, sud eleven mors | went the way of death.
 | By this time the nineteen survivor were crsxy with rage. They had besn four teen days out and were travelling in th'
 most arid country. FcOd was growing les | and isEs, and death faced every bSdy. Or the afternoon of the fourteenth day thi leader, who hsl csased so much misery
 was given three dsys more 10 fad his gol,
 find If he wss not successful by fhs
 time he was to hang.
 "Tell, the three dsys had almost passed
 and still thsEc was no s!sa of the find. Th
 last hour WAS almost up IL seemed ths
 the man must hang. There were only hv
 minutes more, now two minutes, now on
 minute. now 0 half miaute-then came hi
 luck Just as the :ime was up for th
 hanging, that man dropped dead.
 | ''I don't see how ne was lucky" put |
 the gambler who had told the first story.
 "Why." said the business man, 'he wa
 lucky bscaute if he hadn't died he woul
 have been hanged
 Another gambler told how & few day
 ago 8 green Swede who snsw nothing sbou
 the game, but determined 10 try his luck
 and won nesrly sl 900. He had been &
 onlooker oncs or twice and seen big wir |
 $2O and in q few hours he won cut SS0(
 It seemed that no matter what number }
 put chips on-and he played recklessly s
 all new players do-i: came Cp every time
 That was pure luck. The man played n
 combinations or arrangements, btcaus
 he was as green as grass aud knew nothing
 about the game.
 'I have friend" spoke up one of ta group, who is COT nrctsi gSi:h the city gov
 ernment, "who by the merest luck made
 discovery that Is netting him miliiOnf
 His name is Perkins. and few years sg
 back In Minnesota he made his discovery
 He wss A travelling man for grocery firm
 and while walking to 2 train to go fror
 one country town to another one day b
 whittled stick.
 "He hsd whittlsd the stick in a tTiaBg!
 shape One the train the idea struck hin
 that the shape would be just what ws wanted for railroad spikes. The Equer apikes in vogue were not the right thin because they split the grain of the gree
 ties when driven into them, and when dI
 the wood shrank away frcm them IT triangle shaped spike would not split u Grsin and subsequent shrinksge would Q done away with. Perkins submitted b f discovery 10 Pul.msn, and DOW the spik
 are being made by millions st Pullms Ill, masking millions for Perkins and Pu 8 man."
 - Another gambler here chimed in vi a the statement that during the past week I | gambler from Seattle he'd won g., S90 . faro In Tacoms rooms in two sitting s Both s!ttings occupied thirteen hours, an ! the first sitting resulted in the vi , ming of sl,9OO, and the second $l,OO i During the latter gans the man was ol
 nealry the whole Sl 900, be had won st si ' ting No. l, bur he picked up and won b a money. ''I suppose he's gone back a Seattle with his dough-" sE.d the gamble l. "ss have not seen him for some days. "The luckiest winning that has be 2 2 made in this city for soms time was ma - by the two men who entered tho WarE!c and with their pistDls won all that WAS 5 sight," said one of the group. "lt to Q only moment, too. and there was no c < position. Do you know that tue men Fl | pected of that job are in townl But the s is nothing to prove 1t against them, = there'n be no arrests"