The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-07-30
u W or (
HE FOUGHT A CREATING MIssIs-
SIs'Pf RIVER GAMBLER.

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HE FOUGHT A CREATING MIsSIs-
Sept RIVER GAMBLER.
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Bowie Knife-Bovie Himself More
"a Hero than a Desperate.
From the Illustrated American.
Late az the year 1860 the steamers
! playing on the Mississippi River were
Just as infested with organized gangs
OF gamblers as some OF the steamers
that ply between this country aud
Europe now are, and the scenes there
on occurring were frequently OF g
violent character.
During the TALL OF 1892 the steamer
Orleans, Capt. Davis commander, run
ming between Nashville and Crescent
City, became the theatre of o rather
typical encounter. A young gentle
man Of Natchez, going north In the
summer on his wedding trip, had been
requested by a number Of merchants
and planters to collect sundry accounts
due them in New York, and some
other places which he proposed to
visit.
A gambling syndicate. in some
mysterious way, had gotten news OF
this, and had been informed that, IL
properly handled, the young man
might be an easy mark. They watched
him carefully, and shortly after his
arrival in New York some of their
members made his acquaintance and
learned that he would return South by
steamer.
One of the men who had made his
acquaintance in Now York Joined him
on the boat at Pittsburg and, greeting
him heartily al an old friend, in
troduced him to two alleged louisiana
planters, who made themselves quite
agreeable. Cards were introduced in
the gentlemen's cabin during the
evening, and the young man was
Above ed to win small sums, so that by
the time the boat reached Louisville
he fondly imagined he was q complete
master of the game and the equal of
his opponents.
The game played in those days was
twenty-card poker; that is, with no
cards in the deck below the ten-an
excellent game in which to hold high
and inspiring hands, and in which the
"three-pluck-one," or favorite cross
lifting trick of the gambling fraternity,
can be brilliantly employed.
The gamblers had won all their
victims money but a few thousands
before the vessel reached Vicksburg,
and intended to complete their work
before it arrived at Natchez.
ouu " low dDoN0 NlShOouTS q
tall man with q smooth-shaven face,
who looked very much like a preacher,
had come on board, and he, with
others, stood looking at the game in
the gentlemau's cabin. Tue dune was
half drunk and wholly do ,parate, the
infatuation Of hoping to w,n back hold
ing him a. in a wise and making his
young wife, who several times had
pushed through the throng of men,
begging him to leave the game and
come to their state room.
! At o'clock in the morning the las,
collar Of the victim had been swal-
lowed up by the human river sharks.
and, rising from the table, he rushed
wildly to the side of the vessal, doubt
essswith the intention of anticipating
l disgrace by suicide. He was seized by
{ the tall stranger, who had followed
him, and by his wife, who was watch.
ing him, and was persuaded to go To
, his cabin and seek sleep instead oil
, death.
l "Keep awake and watch him closely
, till l return" said the stranger to the
distracted wife.
Going to the cabin, where the gam,
| blers and others were clustered at the
bar, the stranger drew from his pocket
a big wallet and, handing a 800 bill t,
the bartender, quietly asked fol
, change. The other, being unable t.
/ make it, referred him to the chic
gambler.
, with pleasure" said the gentle.
man, and, noting the fat wallet, added
~courteously, won't you have "a drink?'
/ The tall man as scented, and casually
| remarked that, as he vas going t.
stop off al Natchez, he supposed il wa.
hardly worth while to go to bed
: whereupon one of the other gamblers
. getting a wink from his chief, chimed
l in: 81 don't care TO go to bed either
r Let's play anot e game" Where
2 upon ths stranger was invited to joir
them; and, after some, demur. he as
sented.
They allowed him to win some
STABLE bets, but juet as day was begin
ming to break the dealer gave him 6
, hand that would induce him to be,
still more largely.
The ante was IS, the blind was $40
| the next man put in $40, the stranger
$40, which was followed by $3.50. They
went on raising each other in the
usual fashion, except that the hundreds
jumped rapidly into thousands, while
the breathless crowd around them in.
stinctiyely drew closer, with u sense
that something was coming.
AT last $1,000 0 was stacked up on
Ine taDle, ana the dealer n one OF
his confederates, had dropped out. The
man who made the blind and the
stranger remained looking into each
others faces, the former with a flush
on his forehead, the latter pale and
cool as If mapping at church. But his
eyes were very vigilant, and he was
only waiting for the crucial moment
when the dealer would slip a card to
his opponent.
Suddenly rising, he drew a long,
hideous looking knife, with a curious,
curved point, from his bosom, and,
throwing his own hand on the table,
said serenelJ {:
\ -Four kings and q ten take this pot
Then he seized the gambler by the
wrist and added "ShOw your hand as
1t Is! Ii 1t contains six cards | shall
kill you"
The strangers voice was almost as
quiet as II he were speaking in a
lady's parlor. But there was a depth
OF purpose in it which the whole crowd
felt from head to foot.
AS the cards from the gamblers sud