The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-10-24
MARK NORTON'S FATE.
Rumor Of His Drowning in Vic
toria Harbor.
FAMOUS As SPORT AND CAPTAIN.


Arumor was in active circulation on the
streets last night that Mark Norton. the
wellknoan sporting man. had been
drowned at Victoria. The rumor could
not be confirmed last night. and many
anxious friends viii wait fer the truth fhis
morning.
The rumor was brought here By Jack
Levy. the weIl-known sfeamboatman now
on the Sehome, who picked Ii up
at Port Townsend as the boat touched
there last evening. The story. as
he heard IL from some sporting men
on the wharf. was that Norton
had gone out with . party from Victoria
in > sloop during the afternoon and had
been drowned. He did not learn any fur
Their particulars A similar story must
have also reached Tacoma, for dispatch
from that city was received at Cgancy's
saloon last night asking concerning the
truth Of the rurnor.
To these who have come to Seattle
within the past few years the reason for
any great interest 10 be taken In the fate
OF professional gambler may seem very
strange, bat TO those who have
known Mark Norton for any number of
years. either personally or BY reputation.
IL Is not at all inexpiicable. For long
time Mark Norton was known as .'the
most popular stesmboatman on Puget
sound" and those who were intimate
with him In those days say he well de-
served the title.
When he came here from Los Angeles
in about 1871 he was q mere boy and no
one knew much about his antecedents
further than that he was q native of Cali
fornia. the scion of family Of good
standing. and that he had been
driven from home by trouble with his
step-father. Capt. Tom Bremen, the
famous pioneer sieamboatman, took q
great liking to him shortly after his ar
rival here and gave him a place on
his boat, where he learned navigation
and engineering. He became proficient
steamboatman in q very short time and
before he was q man grown he became
captain of the J. b. LIBBY, on the What
com ronie, and was known as ''the boy
captain" Later he became inti-
mate with the J. G. Britain
family, and was connected with several of
Capt. Britiain's steamers. He was for
some time captain of the Fanny Lake,
where he gained great popularity. Later
OH he was employed by Capt. Charles
Lowe as captain of one Of his boats.
While travelling on his boats Norton.
being Of conviviai turn. was always
sought out by hail-feilows-well-met as q
boon companion. He In this way acquired
a passion for poker and became an adept
at the game. Then he gave mp steam
boating and adopted q sporting life,
at hrst going against the bank and later ON
furnishing the bank roll for one of the
strongest gambling combinations ever
known in the Northwest. In 1887
he together with Charley Mullen, Jimmy
Griffin, Jap Hoisington and Eugene
Way organized what has since become
known as the M. Il N" combination.
They ran a saloon and gambling house
on the east side of Commercial street.
three doors south of Yesler avenue,
until the fire and cleaned up SIS 900 in one
year. After the FIRE they ran saloons and
gambling houses at various places
about town until the jobbing proclivities
of some of the crowd caused the breaking
up of the combination and its financial
ruin. During the past eighteen months
Norton has been on the ragged edge mos.
of the time. Four months ago he went
against the bank at Tacoma and won
$500 with which he has since lived in
Victoria.
Norton IN said to possess one of the quail
ties essential in a gambler, sang froid, 10 a
remarkable degree. After going against
the bank for several thousand dollars he
would step up to the bar with a smiling
faec aud set mp the champagne as
though he had won. instead of losing
a large sum. He never carried a diagram
of his luck on his face or closed his pocket
to friend. Therefore he was as popular
among his late associates as he was with
the general public in his steamboating
days.
IL is more than probable that the rumor
will be proven false today rs soon as COM
munication can be had with Victoria, but
1t created big excitement in sporting cir.
cles last night