The herald., 1896-02-23

was unquestioned he would both out
| drink and outplay the other gentlemen.
But at last accounts Mr.. Crowley
wss still looking for the quiet game.
He discovered that change had come
over the town both in private and pub.
lie affairs. He heard, of course, that
sometimes there was good game at
Mr.. So and Sos house." but it takes
time for new congressman to pene-
trate the outer crust surrounding
fashionable Washington, and besides,
Mr.. Crowley says, ~ never was much
in the society biz" He has not yet
given up hope, but he is happy to find
25-cent game instead of the regula-
tion senatorial affair of $5 ante and IS
limit.
If his wanderings did not bring the
desired results, Mr.. Crowley has GER
tainly collected fine array of poker
stories of the Washington of few
years ago. Nearly every man he met
could tell him good poker story, If
nothing else.
Senator Walcott of Colorado figures
in quite number of these stories.
There is no man in the country per-
hsps 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 had given up the game like
the rest of Washington.
As an evidence Of the kind of game
the senator used to play, this 10 told
about him.
He and three friends we're sitting in
a room at Willard's one night playing
a very quiet game. Each gentleman
hoI MI nko nj - L.
blues in front of him, and an old darky
was sitting in chair near sidebo4rd,
serving in the double capacity OF
banker and distributor of liquids.
The game was freeze-out affair.
Every man paid for his chips in the
cold coin of the realm, and when he
was broke he had to quit. Table stakes
wes the limit, but there was no rash
betting. None of the players wanted
to bs frozen out in the early part of
the game, and it was moving along
very smoothly when a knock was
heard at the door and a fifth gentle
man was ushered in.
.Ah! I've caught you at the game at
last, SENATOR" said the newcomer.
1've wanted to have try at you for
long time, and now I've got my
chance"
"You had better not come in TO-
night, John," said the senator kindly.
"lt's freeze out, and the pace is swift"
'rhst won't bother me, Wolcott. I've
told you many times that I've played
in the biggest games in the country.
I'm no penny ante man."
When the newcomer dive1 into his
pocket and pulled out big roll of
greenbacks. Wolcott showed the money
over to the darky, and the latter began
to count 1t laboriously. The game
stopped until the banker had totsled
up the roll, and in the meantime the
visitor had found comfortable seat at
the table, had lit one of the senator's
cigars and was about to begin little
poker yarn when the old dsrky turned
TO Senator Wolcott and said:
Use counted it. sah."
"How much is it, Dick?"
"Fo' hundred dollars, sah."
"Well, give the gentleman four white
chips, Dick"
It is needless to say that the new
conner changed his mind about playing.
In that game white chip cost 500. q
red chip 5000 and q blue chip $780,
There was close to $4,000 worth of
chips on the table when the new poker
fiend flashed his immense roll of $40C
on the crowd.
General Nelson A. Miles holds the
record in the matter of big games. The
general was not participant, for he
has never been burdened with wealth
but he was the only witness of q game
which, for actual cash involved, was the
biggest thing, he says, in the history Of
poker.
1t was toward the end of the war,
when he was in North Carolina. He
was sent by his superior officer to make
a round of the camp and see that
everything was as it should be, and
while passing mean little tent he
heard one man say to another:
"I'll raise you $4,000.
This sounded pretty 5ir. go he