The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-27
BY HELEN FLORENCE
She Narrates Tragic Story Told Her
by an Old Gambler.
EARLY DAYS IN SOCORRO
The Scene Shifts to the State
of Washington. and the
Denouement Is In
Court.

and he told me a sad story / have al
ways been told that gamblers are bad
men, and, no doubt, some of them are
Some of them only. 1t isn't right to
gamble, and especially when you are
running ''cinch game" 1 wanted to
go up in the big gambling rooms and
see the gamblers when they are at
work dealing out the cards, raking in
the money of the losers, or paying out
to the winner. l know that / couldn't
talk to them then, and as what i want
ed was to talk, didn't go, but / sent
card UP to one the other afternoon.
He was very polite to me and very
kind, too. / wanted him where l could
talk just as long as / wished, and so
we sat down in a box at a restaurant.
he really insisting upon ordering some
thing to eat and paying for IL. and /
couldn't help but wonder IL he thought
i was playing "cinch game" When
/ found that he was kind and would
do anything for me he could, / hardly
knew what to ask him, and so l said
mfr. Blank (of course that was not
his name; he especially begged that /
would not mention his nance. cant
you tell me some story where gambling
would play prominent part?"
He smiled just a little and said:
Yes, / think l could tell you a good
many"
The waiter brought on a cup of coffee
and commenced:
Years ago, when / was a boy like a
good many others, / got IL into my
head that / wanted to go West and
grow up with the country and be
tough. OF course my folks objected.
but 1 was set. and ran away. Things
were not coming smooth / can tell you,
and for a while was hitting the ties
At last / landed in Socorro, n. NJ.
which was then a fever heat town, and
was taken in by old John Randall, the
most popular gambler in the South,
one who had a reputation from Denver
20 the City of Mexico of running a dead
square house. Those were boom days
and gold was as plenty as copper is
now. Saturday night his big gambling
house was always crowded. One night
j was doing the lookout for old John,
when a hard character edged up to the
table and asked one of the players for
some money to get something to eat.
At the sound of that mans voice John
looked up quickly and recognized an
old schoolmate-Bradley by name.
Bradley had a tough look and his face
showed only too plainly that he had
gone down hill on the lightning ex-
press, for he was strictly on the bum.
We'll, old Randall did all he could
for him and his little girl, for Bradley
had with him a daughter, then about
years old. Gambling, whiskey and
women had ruined Bradley, and we did
all we could to keep him away from
all three. A girl was hired to take care
of the little child, but Bradley thought
so much of it that he would hardly per-
NIT Etta-that was the baby's name
to be out of his sight.
"One day Bradley told me his story,
as we had become quite well acquaint-
ed. Like myself, he had come away
from home seeking fame and fortune,
bIlf fa nd CHI
deal and there wasn't much in sight at
any time. He drifted from place to
place, but never with a very high moral
sense, and, in a mining town i'm Colo
RADIO, fell in with a dissolute woman
and married her. 1t is rather strange.
but the woman braced up and tried to
reform him. The little girl was born.
Bradley went off on a protracted spree,
and before the child was a month old !
the mother ran away with another man
and leaving the poor little thing at the
cruel mercies of the world, with only a
drunken father to take care of her. I
Bradley sobered up. and as soon as the
child was old enough so that he could
take care of her without a nurse, COM I
menced knocking about over the west 4
ern states. earning a living by singing
in the concert halls and variety the /
alters. IL was after four years of this I
wandering. little Eta ever with him. /
that he struck Socorro. and there. for /
the first time since the mother deserted 1
the child, he again began TO drink and
was almost in the gutter when old .
John picked him up. Then he got 10
gambling again and lost all he had
made for six months and all he could
beg or borrow. One night he came
half staggering i'm. and, throwing down
red piece of paper on the table.
said:
:" Let me play that for five on the
high card
John raked the paper in without
looking at II and placed that amount
or chips on the card. 1t lost and Brad
ley went staggering out 1t was morn
ing before the games were closed and.
as usual old John was the last 10
leave. Just as he had tucked the cash
box under his arm. Bradley came reel
ing in. and in a trembling voice. said:
rake good care OF her. John: take
good care OF her. She is yours now:
you won her.
Won her-won who. Brad? What
do you mean?' asked John. i'm sur
prise.
Why. little Eta. That ticket In
the box is for her. She's in pawn with
old Jacobsen
John opened the box to look at the
ticket. and as he did so Bradley placed
a gun at his own heart, pulled the trig-
ger and fell on the floor dead
That was the end OF John Randall's
gambling house in Socorro. As soon as
the funeral was over he took the little
girl and left. No one knew where he
went. and probably little cared.
with little Eta. who passed as his
own daughter he came TO the coast-if
j remember right. to Seattle: then only
a small town. and under an assumed
name. began life over again. He pros
pered, for John was always dead
nd !
ness man. Little Eta grew and be-
came a bright and charming girl
Every advantage that could be be-
slowed was bestowed on her. and she
became the belle OF the city, and old
John Randall became a leading banker
and financier OF the state.
About this time there drifted into