Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-06
IN HOTEL CORRIDOR

Capt. c. Won Harg Of the Dutch army
passed through Washington yesterday, on
his way to Europe. He has been in Flor
Ida, examining the system of bitches and
embankments followed in retaining vast
areas of submerged land. with a view Of
reporting to his government upon it.
Our government" he said at La Nor
mandie, last night, has determined, as
you probably know, to drain the Zuyder
Zee. 1t is an enormous undertaking. as
you can see, when 1 tell you that it will
cost s135,OO0,OO0 in your money, and Will
reclaim over 100 square miles of land Gen.
turtles ago the area now covered by the
Zee was the most fertile and productive
region in Holland in many parts, but most
of 1T was covered by a forest. There was
a large lake in its center, formed by the
waters flowing from the river Yssel About
the year 1900 a number of disastrous In
undations occurred and two hundred years
later their effect became such that the
waters of the German ocean flowed in and
covered the entire country. We expect to
recover all that land in twenty-five years.
The present plan, which will be followed
In ALL Its more important details, proposes
to utilize the islands that mark the old sea
coast before the overflow and build en-
bankments between them to shut out the
sea. Then the submerged area will be d.
Vided into sections and the water pumped
out of them. No, 1 do not think that my
will be valuable to government in
prosecuting the work. The system followed
there is crude and the work done, in my
opinion, of too temporary a character"
party Of horse-racing followers were
standing in Wizards lobby last night.when
a tall. soldierly looking man, with white
hair and snowy mustache and imperial,
strobe in and advanced to the clerks desk.
See that feller,' said one of the elderly
men in the group, that's lucky Jack
Doty' Never hear of him? Well, he's got
a story that is worth KNOWN. Thirty
years ago there wasn't a higher roller in
the south His people had died out one by
one, till only sister was left, and Jack
and her had loads Of money and lots OF
negroes. She got religion the worst way,
and all of a sudden went into convent.
AS i said, Jack was high roller, but he'd
kept within bounds up to that time. When
the girl left the world, as they call il, Jack
was crazy. He was devoted 10 her, in
spite of his runnin' around, and he Just
cut loose and raised fog. He played the
limit and IL wasn't long before the brace
players had layouts fixed for him in every
town he struck. His money went and his
negroes, too and the time came when he
didn't have the price Of a shoestring. He
drifted up TO Memphis one night broke and
desperate. He went into farrer bank and
watched the game for awhile, but he didn't
get nod, where not long before the ne
groes used to break their necks to shove a
chair up right in front of the layout for
him. Old man Galloway had a farrer streak
On him that night. and was playin' blues at
a hundred a stack. Jack sat down near
him and seemed to Illustrate the old man,
because he bet nineteen chips on double
seven and got split. He was maddern a
hornet, but he laughed Just the same, and
said to Jack. as he handed over the split
check to him:
- reckon you wanted a stake, and
made me bet odd chips. See what you can
do with that
Jack grabbed the two and half like
hungry man catchin' n bun, and shot IL
into the square. The king won on the turn.
Then the deuce won twice. Jack let the
twenty dollars lay. The deuce won again:
then the king won twice, and then the
deuce won again. Neither the queen or ace
had showed. but the three hundred and
twenty dollars in blue chips We're still I'M
touched. The dealer thought he had
cnch, and never spoke about the two
hundred-dollar limit. The queen won on
the tnrn.
dealer, and Jack took four hundred and
forty away. Wells the last king and ell
the queens and aces won. and Jack had
two hundred on every one. He kept on
playing, and turned the box down and car
ried off the seven thousand dollar bank roll
with him along about daybreak. He got
the blue split he had started on and had q
mole DOreu IN IL, ana put IL on the CHdlH Oh
the watch he bought next day. He went
to New Orleans ana won 100000 in five
weeks. Then he went on a bank-break-
ing trip up the river, and he reached st.
Louis in the spring OF 90 worth 500 900 in
solid cash. lie was coming out of a farrer
bank the day after he got there, when a
little woman dressed like a sister came UP
TO him.
Jack she said, gimme that thing
you've got on your watch chain and hang
this there instead and she held out little
medal Jack saw II was his sister. He
broke the blue split off and took the medal
and put II on. There were twenty crooked
games fixed for him in st. Louis, but he
never played against farrer again. He
wears that little medal yet"
When Doty came out few minutes later
half a dozen pair Of eyes searched his
vest. Dangling from the heavy gold chain
that crossed ii was the little medal