Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-06-18
TELEGRAPH POKER.
A TALE IN WHICH A DOGS TAIL PLAYS
AN IMPORTANT PART.

How Operator Tsnquary Was Enabled TO
k~trieve His Losses and Walk Away With
All the Capital of the Three Confident
Denver Gamblers.
IL people must tell telegraph stories, why
not tell truthful and reasonable ones-such
~ are susceptible OF proof? For instance,
why has nobody thought II worth while to
tell the world about Tanquary's dogS
There Is narrative-beautiful, chaste
and Instructive and one to which every
operator on the Denver and Rio Grande
from Denver to Pueblo will swear The
facts are simple and elevating. Tanquary
was an operator at Graneros, Colo, a me
tropolis made up Of freight car, set off at
one side of the road for use as a telegraph
office, and the house of the section fore
man. Sundry coyotes and other wild fowl
raised their voices in Instruction in the
night, and the sand and rocks baked and
quivered in the day. And Tanquary got
lonesome. Perham sent him "a dog-a
mean looking animal Of mingled breeding,
mostly bad, and with tail Of the length,
breadth and thickness of banana But
he was welcome To Tanquary, who didn' t
even have an occasional tramp to shoot at
or any other permissible means Of relaxa-
ton. Tanquary taught the dog so go to
the section foreman's house, where he
boarded, and fetch his lunch, although at
first the dog was inclined to make "a Ro-
man holiday Of the food, causing Tan
quarry much irritation and fatigue from
beating him. The operator taught the dog
to stand on his head, to leap sidewise, to
chew tobacco and some other accomplish
ments And on his own account the dog
secretly set to work to learn other things
Of which Tanquary knew nothing.
The two were much attached to each
other, as Is the case always with people of
similar habits-so much so that when
Tanquary went on his customary semian-
nual trip north To see IL Denver was still
there and help TO renovate, reconstruct and
paint 1t he took the dog along. They had
sundry adventures, which may be- passed
over in silence and sorrow, and finally
brought up in "a poker game behind bar
Der shop In Wauzee street. three utter
strangers having decided To gather in the
photographers six months salary They
played with great energy and increasingly
until the railroad man had reached the
dregs of his pocketbook. He looked about
him in sorrow, and his eyes fell on his
dog, which had taken a position OH chair
across the room and which seemed To be
much interested.
II you people are sports, said Tan,
you'll let mo put that dog In against a
dollars worth OF excitement, and we will
go IL "a little longer" Then he told OF the
accomplishments OF the dog and put him
through few tricks. The dog seemed TO
be worried about IT, and you could see he
was not at all satisfied with his new duty
of masquerading rs Il jack pot The three
sports, being satisfied with the ANIMAL
educational advantages, acceded TO the
operators request
Whereupon the game became one of life
and death. Tanquary after the draw
found himself possessed OF two kings and
the same number Of tens. All but one Of
the strangers fell by the wayside, and Tan
was getting worried about the single OPP
ponent he had, for the fellow had held up
three cards The operator weighed his
hand, looked at Ii, felt IL and tested 1t by
all his other senses for he didn't want to
fritter away his dog on nothing. Suddenly
he heard sound as of the falling of man
ma. His telegraphic ear caught from some
mysterious source these Morse characters
80 - ''-.s'
Tanquary was one of those men who
did not inquire into the why's and where
fores Of Providence. When miracle was
performed the purport of which was to
inform him that the other man was bluff
ing severely ON deuces, he accepted 1t with
out cavil and played back with all his
strength. The result was that he garnered
81. SO on that pot and was staked for the
next deal. They started in again. Tan got
ehree kings. He was inclined To bet like
an amateur In the hands of tout at
race track, but suddenly across his organ
Of hearing came the low, sullen statement:
-
49, -
Tanquary cast hurried and startled