The sun., 1894-04-28
POKER GAME IN THE SENATE.
,T WAS 4 CAME or BLUFF BBTWEES
rWO KxPERTs ar czRDS

....,.r Aidrisb Chsns-ssa the Democrat.
.. T.t. = vote OF the TsriR NH ~ n
o'clock Yesterday. and Whs- His Chsi-
,.,s. va. Accepted BIT Senator Harris N.
yyuhdrsvv the ChsiienEs Bsessss It Had
Set B.eu Accepted Usti tse Ds-o-
.r.,. Hsd -Loohss Over Their Hsus."
WARRINGTON. April 27.-An interesting and
.,,l,Ine game OF "bluff" was played in the
rnItsd states Senate chamber to-day. The
nlsyers we're Senators Aldrich. Harris. Lind
.T White Teller. Voorhees,. and Sherman.
m. not was the Wilson Tariff bill as II passed
,hs House OF Representatives. together with
ths Senate substitute reported by the Finance
Committee.' Several hundred amendme ents
,sported by the friends OF the bill were
.lso thrown in for q sweetener. The
kentucky Senator. who. OF course. is
an expert opened the game By betting
that the strikes at Homestead and other places
we're due entirely TO the effect OF the McKin-
IA, law senator Sherman saw Mr.. Lindsay's
bet and raised IL by contributing the state
ment that the reduction OF wages at Home
stead. which resulted in the strike we're made
With the excuse that the Mckinley bill re-
ducsd the duty on all metals except tin plate.
senator Aldrich OF Rhode Island. who belongs
10 the regular Senatorial poker club, and
vho once sat In historic game which ended
in q rough-and-tumble fight between two
dlenihed Senators, chipped In his bet in
the shape Of the sarcastic allegation that the
Democratic party evidently doesn't seem to
know what II wants, because Mills. Lindsay.
Vest, and other speakers have different inter-
pretations OF the party platform and pledges
and he became so confident tenn porarly in the
strength OF the cards held by the Repu blicans
d. ofarad 20 hat hfa ha nd a0aln -
the Democratic Senators by taking vote then
and there to decide who was entitled to the
stakes
Senators Sherman and Lindsay had dropped
ont Of the game. and Senator Harris OF Ten
nessee. an old cam paigner. who also knows
the rules OF poker. got into It and promptly
called" the Rhode Island Senator. That is,
he accepted Senator Aldrich's proposition to
take a vote at o'clock this afternoon upon
the Tariff bill. Senator White Immediately
Jumped up and told Mr.. aldrich that he had
been called" q term. he said. that tho Rhode
Island Senator no doubt understood. The Re-
publican leader was plainly disconnected. and
explained. amid the sarcastic laughter OF the
other players and all the spectators. that
his bet had been misunderstood. He went on
to say that his original bet. made when the
game opened. was to take q vote on the Wilson
bill as II came from the House at o'clock this
afternoon, and that afterward he had referred
TO the bill In its amended shape. but had not
offered to stake his hand on that bill. In fact
he said IN plain poker talk that Senator Harris
at first had weakened at his bluff" but. after
spending two hours in seeing the hand" OF
the emocratic side OF the chamber. had de-
sided to call"
A lively discussion then took place as to tho
terms Of the bet. and 1t was the concensus OF
opinion that Mr.. Aldrich had been success
fully "bluffed." The game ended with few
remarks from Messrs. Voorhees,. Teller. aud
one or two others
The unexpected poker game was the talk Of
the Capitol to-day. and created something Of q
sensation. The truth 10 that Senators Aldrtch
and Harris were both scared. and both were In
q sense "blufing." as It was impossible to
%
Island held the winning hand The advocateso OF
by any means blufflng. but that he held, IN his
hands the iorty-three Democratic cards nec-
rich made grave mistake in weakening. and
Ss bu &c Of
nessee he would have ended the poker game
cannot be learned Just what would have hap
pened had Senator Aldrich stood BY his
ssRG wSSa nSs ,a sn0Ep " tsS:s S6:s
came from the House Of. Represent tstives
Com mittes on Finance. senator Hill was not
ln Washington to-day. and his colleague. Mr..
game. would not talk for publication Senator
bmith was present. and also Senators German.
griee. Camden. and the other opponents OF the
whether they would have Furnished the neces-
sary cards to Mr.. Harris which, you'd have
given him the pot" on his " can OF Senator |
AldIich's hand. The truth is that tho backers |
Of SENATOR. Aldrich and Harris were, alike !
although they do not admit It. they are glad |
that the game ended without an exposition OF |
the hands OF the players In the game |