The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-01
MIKES LAST DOLLAR.
PLAYED IT WHEN HE WAS DYING
AND WON A MIG PILE.

ana He Found 1t, TOO-Fen Over
Dead at the Gaming Table, hut His
Money WINS Saved-Went to HIS
Starving Children.
From the New York Times.
big gang had gathered at japanese
Tommie's" gambling pavilion, in the Creek
Indian country. few weeks ago. The
place was filed with men in all stations
of border life. who were. trying to carve
out fortune through the high card.
Hardly any one noticed the entrance of a
seedy, broken-down man. who took a seat
at the faro table and began to play. lie
had the unmistakable look of a man who
had been pushed to the wall and was stalk
ing his last cent. An old sombrero shaded
| eyes that were underlaid with heavy,
dark rings. and the gambler dropped into
his seat as though his body had been
weighted with lead.
He threw silver dollar on the high
| card, slouched his hat down over his eyes,
| ana became motionless. The high card
/ won, the dealer paid the bet. pushing the
money over toward the player He let it
| remain, and the high card continued to
| win until a big pile of money lay in a heap
/ before the forlorn-looking stranger. StiIl
! the player never moved. The deal went
steadily on. and still the high card won.
shake that fool up swore the deal
/ er at last
A half-breed Indian first shook the play
er and then pulled off his hat The face
| of dying man greeted his close scrutiny.
The dealer reached for the heap of money,
and dozen pistols were drawn upon the
instant.
Hes as good as dead" said Faro
Dick" the dealer. Money won't do him
any good. and no one knows him"
II do said Cherokee Sam an In
dian police officer His name is Mike
Donald, and they call him "Unlucky
Mike, the Mover" on the border. His
wife and family are camped down on
a creek near here, and 1 heard to-day
they were literally starving"
In ten minutes Donald was dead. APP
/ oplexy had killed him. At once a half
dozen willing hands bundled the winnings
of the corpse into a handkerchief and
started to the wife's camp, to see the
widow and turn the money over to her.
One or two stopped to buy some pro-
visions for the distressed ones They
found the forlorn little camp without
much trouble. "Unlucky Mikes" wife
was there, but she was dead She had
died Of starvation and exposure. The
1 rough bordermen-many of them profess
| sional gamblers and killers, perhaps
some of them express robbers-were hor-
| ror-stricken. They brought the husband
| to the creek and buried the two to-
| gether in one grave, a converted Cher
| okee Indian preaching the funeral SER
mon. Four little children, hungry, dir
| ty and cold, were taken in charge by a
| committee. the money won in the faro
bank by their dead father, was placed
to their credit, and they are now being
furnished with good homes.
| Mike Donald was a noted border
| character. Six or eight years ago he first
| appeared in the west with his wife. They
had a good team of horses and a new
wagon. Whenever a new country was
opened to settlement they were there,
ready to make the run to secure a home.
| Down in No Mans Land, in 1888, Mike
became a squatter sheriff near Beaver
| City. The United States did not recog-
nize that there was such a country as No
Mans Land. and the settlers organized
themselves into a government of their
| own. They selected their sheriffs Judges
and other court officers. Outlaws from all
over the west fiocked in, and soon No
| Mans Land became mundane paradise.
While Mike Donald was sheriff he killed
| whisky Dick at Beer City over a game
of cards and from that to the time of
/ his death he was unfortunate His stock
| died and he was never able to keen a good
| team of horses. Either they were stolen
or disease carried them off. He left No
| Mans Land and travelled up to Kansas.
An uneasy demon appeared to possess
| him. He became known as Mike the Nov
| err because he was never long in one
| place. He was one of an army of people
| who had been fitting about over the bor-
der in covered wagons for years past.
When the old Oklahoma country opened
Mike secured good claim on the banks of
1 the Canadian. but he lost his title because