The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-16
The Stiffest Poker Game on
Record.
CHANGES AT THE CAPITAL.
THE PRESENT NOT A POKER
PLAYING CONGRESS.
a Texans Sad Hunt-Onc of Senator
Wolcott's Famous seances-Four
White Chips an Opening For
$1o,OOO-A Costly Visit.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.-Miles Crow
ley, the genial congressman from Tex
as, is disappointed. Years ago, before
he ever had an idea that he would one
day help to represent the Lone Star
state at the nations capital, he read
about the big games played at Sam
Wards and John Chamberlain's. He
had heard that in every block of Penn
sylvania avenue. from the White
House to the capitol, there was a fine
gambling house, where anything from
stud poker to faro could be played, with
the game running wild.
He had heard of rich senators with
nothing but money to burn, and who
would rather sit in a quiet game than
eat pie with the president. Now. Miles
| is something of a poker player himself,
and the pleasant pictures painted by
his fancy made life in Washington
seem very pleasant. During his cow
boy days Miles had played every kind
of a gambling game, in all sorts of
company, and he felt reasonably conf
dent that he would be able to hold up
his own end of the game in the tender
foot society of Washington.
About the first thing the Texas con-
gresham did on reaching the capital
was to hunt up some of the great gam
bling places which he supposed lined
Pennsylvania avenue from end to end.
He made a careful and painstaking
search, but was doomed to disappofnt-
ment. In his wanderings he heard with
diSmay that a reform wave struck the
city some years ago, which knocked its
gambling glories into a cooked hat.
Il ~
out by all this, and he determined to
hunt up few of those quiet games
played by rich senators. Mr.. Crowley
| reasoned pleasantly that of necessity
some liquor would be consumed at
these Sittings, and as his own capacity
was unquestioned, he would both out
drink and outplay the ether gentlemen.
But at last accounts Mr.. Crowley was
still looking for the quiet game. He
discovered that a change had come over
the town both in private and public
affairs. He heard, OF course, thai
sometimes there was a good game at
'Mr. So and Sos house, but it takes
time for a new congressman to pene-
trate the outer crust surrounding fash
ionable Washington, and besides, Mr..
Crowley says, Il never was much in
the society biz" He has not yet given
up hope, but he is happy to find %
cent game instead of the regulation
senatorial affair of So ante and $4,000
| limit.
If his wanderfngs did not bring
the desired results, Mr.. Crowley has
collected fine array of poker stories
of the Washington of a few years ago.
Nearly every man he met could tell
him a good poker story if nothing else.
SENATOR WoLCoTT'S GAME.
Senator Wolcott. of Colorado, figures
in quite a number of these stories.
There is no man in the country perhaps
who has sat in so many big games
as the senator, or who knows more
about the wonderful game of poker.
Yet Mr. Crowley was informed that the
senator has given up the game like
the rest of Washington
! AS an evidence of the kind of game
| the senator used to play, this is told
about him:
He and three friends were sitting in
a room at Wizards hotel one night
playing a very quiet game Each gen
tleman had a nice stack of whites, reds
and blues in front of him, and an old