Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-07-22
UPON The GREEN CLOTH.
GAMBLING PAST AND PRESENT IN THE
CAPITAL CRY.
Grant AZ n Great rIayer-Thc same raci-
turnity and Keen Observation That
Made Him u Great military
Commander.

larry curious TO be informed whether this
! pa.tlme Us indulsed IN to any apprcciable
/ extent at the national capital and If So
! whether senators. congressman ami other
! public officials are prodsposed that way,
| ihe generally accepted idea being that our
| lawmakers should. above all other men.
/ be exempt from all fraities and constt-
! tutc the eNemrlars and guides iu an that
| goes TO make up the sum total Of human
| periection People do not usually consider
| mat human nature Is the same all over
men are not chosen by reason alone that
| they are presumed to be the best purest
| ana 3plGst men Who can be selected from
The theory Is also lndulged in that the
| temptations of Washington are multiform
| hng lar IN excess OF those of other cities.
| anu lhat, therefore, vice runs riot and men
! who come TO the federal city in public ca
| nacity are called upon to nerve themselves
| against all indulrcnces OF Whatever nature,
| to much greater extent than in any 9TH
tr locality or position, There are "hesh
| POTS, however IN all communities, and II
| Is chronicled in Scripture that the Israeli
| lits' ,alter many hundred years Of oppreS-
siN1 bondage, hdnkered after the tlesh-pots
| or Egypt even when restored to their lib
| crty and We're heinE conducted by divine
| VIII toward the Canaan OF milk aud honey.
While human fraiity ani yielding 10
| temptation are about tho same in average
at all times and IN all places known to the
usually regulated by tn" extent of oppor-
tuniE. The poker games of to-day at
washington DO not attain the dimensions
of the ante-bclum period, nor yet those of
twenty or more years imme eliately after
lllt NlbSt OF iile lNtc war. WnGn money was
btlhE PAD out IN immense sums by the
government I'm settlement of claims of
endless nature, and its possession by ev-
eryhody was the rule rather than the cX-
cepuon. outside of private circles poker
at the federal city is now confined to COM
paratlvelN small stakes says a writer in
the Washington Post. Gaming at the vari-
GUS city clubs is rigidly tabooed, and, al
though public reports devolop that poker
rooms are occasionally radcd 1T goes with
out saying that the fascination of gam
bling stu lives, moves and has its being.
tFatf
to the last syllable of recorded time.
:, Ihere ,,i are endless tradltions CONCERNING
player ana IN me early days OF his army
career after the termination of the MeNi-
Pacific coast. he became renowned as one
oi M inc the anltSt an straleEistS and successLul
who then served with him in oregon makes
no secret of the fact that Captain Grant
chronic state of mpeeuniosty, by reason
of his winning at cards, ana that various
met the same fate at the hands of the then
embryonic great military genius of the
chosen to the presidency of the United
"Thc difficulty we all experienced in play
tlcer. "was his extreme reticencc and won.
derful impa.ssiveness, which none could
dred, under the excitement of high play,
will hetray emotion to greater or lesser
spoke. He was always cool and selt-pos
sossed, even when the wine flowed too
F9fS woTse for or' wear No ona could could" meosure
the strength or weakness of Grants hand
of his play. Apparently, he was oblivious
TO al surroundingss,a but close inspection
versaries narrowly. and could detect a
blur with unerring certainly, lie Woul.
when it cost a good round sum to see the
"it was undoubtedly the outcome of mill
tarV ppuiuS which enabled Grant to detect
either the strength or weakness of his adj
DTebend DTp5baTd II that ar his play Was @ stratege and
his methods of gaming really conducled-
mfy Ty EscIpe E or Famn eySms MATS
nTS mich as II afforded him opportnnty to en-
naEe in strife and conquer General Rufus
ingalls,, who in 1Sil was u captain and as
ssant qqarerm2soF a ana sn6segHemy = s ga
cial was one of the Pacific coast party
which played daily with Grant, but A. a.
though recognized as a past master OF the
game, ingalls, was no match for the little
close-mouthed infantry captain. Ben ittolt
section was likewise on the poker tapiS
with Grant, and so were Joe Lane ahu
from oregon the former the candidate for
the vice presidency on the ticket WIN John
an nveterate poker player; but Grant In
gals, Lane, Nesmith and Holiday are Al
Coterie which gathered together at the
card tables Of that epoch on the shofes OF
It is narrated that on ono occasion Trol-
liday, Grant, Rufc, lnEauS ana Ntsmll1
sagaEed in gam nG Of @9 g2ker T4Ga tha nnS aT,Sa
IRE it occurred to Nesmih that pc ,hal
left his wife at hoHf i%' 6mf ,ttin n'fin" in the
larder and no money, and the uhWelcone
thought flashed across ms 1n,9iI i,i thaI nonrio J
OF DAYS, and i'm the interval II was qult"
probable that Mrs. NeSmith had run INC
of money and possibly being cared Tor by
the neighhors The Thought was harrow
}TG fr5;, "ng his mind mi hut failing to do So lost
his nerve at the play and win II con con
nrrate. he frankly stated the case, and an
rounced his determination to quit me
game and return hom% Tot ph,5 Ga,, aHEetSa of ,Sa
sweetest temper when under excitement,
and he blurted out: -
don't YOU say SO like a man and not give
amy such himsy excuse and lay the re-
''%esi'tii' 'Nesmith eiared fuTIously at Holiday,
and savagely retorted;
we have been playing here two Weeds
night and day. How long does a man
GaH have eoehPtiy TO Ppiy iPpmp P the came? You are
the blggest. poker hog Ben Holiday I
The m most accomplished poker" player
~ the post-bellum period at Washington
was the late Fernando Wood, of New
wears IN congress mn to his death IN 1851,
lie owned and occupied the tine residence
nj the corner Of Fifteenth and ! streets
now forming part Of John Chambern's
famous hotel, which comprises the three
historic mansions once teuanted by Fer
nando Mood Governor Swami, of Mary
land and James @. Blaine. MIR. Wood
was a generous host and provided the
most elaborate suppers for his guests
bonn piatt who was frequent visitor to
the Wood establishment, used 10 call them
feeds" II the walls of that mansion
could sneak, they might tell interesting
tales OF the poker" gatherings within
them for "A long series Of years, embrac-
ing sena tors congressman, cabinet Off
raIs, Judges and what not, as well as re.
veal various political secrets OF national
and local Importance. Many political
deal was consummated under Fernando
II is an open rret that a legion OF
public men. In th,ir day and time, chal-
enged the tickle Jade Of fortune at Mr.
woods card table and went broke"
Numbers Of gentlemen, OF wide expert
rnce In all the games of chance partook
of the Wood hospitality without carrying
invariably lucky indeed 50 lucky that
he muttarings Of suspicion would tnd
voice that something Was wrong. And
VET no 'professional" was eyer permitted
.o plaV at the game, which was ALWAYS
4 "gentlemen's" game, SO far as II could
he So unders toOd. The stakes We're usually
nigh, and as Mr. Wood was "A very rich
nan ne could afford to force the play
While he occasionally lost considerable
sums at the poker table he rarely failed
N reoouD in due time With CDmD9uu1 IN