The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27
SOME QUEER o OF LUCK
A sEl1rlN,S THREE EITRAoRDIr
NARY ESCAPES FROM ROWING.

e " o&NN-N SNoEN
tunes That Followed - Man with an Opal
81 have often heard people say that they do
not believe In luck,' said the Rray-headed,
youne-Iooking man. land they say 1t In the
sense of disbelioying that there 10 any such
thing ne luck. To my notion that Is very much
tho name as IL they should say that they do not
believe in the weather. l believe 1t was John
Oakhurst who said that the only thing that Is
certain about luck 10 that It Is going to change;
but although the saying sounds philosophical L
an inclined TO think II lie inaccurate. l have
known n great many men in tho course OF my
life whose luck did not change. To illustrate
this It may be enough to recall tho stories that
are told once in a great while about sailors who
are swept overheard by tho waves in a storm at
sea and who are swept back on board the same
vessel by the return current. Tho mar who
escapes drowning In such a way experiences one
OF the most extraordinary strokes OF luck that
can possibly occur to q human being. And 1t Is
almost uncomfortable that such n thing would
happen TO any one man twice.
vet know a man to whom IL has happened
three times. Capt. Lowden White of East
Rockaway, Long Island, is n veteran seaman.
He cannot swim a stroke. and when he 10 asked
why he nevor learned. he cannot, or at least he
does not give any clear answer. but turns the
question with q careless Il don't know and a
pleasant laugh. / think no is euperstitious
about 1t, as many sailors are. and certainly II
anybody's experience ~justiies superstition, his
would seem to. for. ms I said, he has been washed
overheard three times in the course OF the forty
years. and each time washed back Immediately
OH board the vessel he had just left. And that
does not include the times he has fallen or been
knocked overheard and saved In some other
way. /. myself. once caught him by the collar
after he had fallen into the water by reason OF
the mapping of the bowsprit foot rope OF the
sloop Martha. near Wreck Lead. He had rubber
boots on, and the current was running like a
mill race. II l had been two seconds slower he
would never have come up alive. II II were n
legitimate subject for q bet l would wager any
reasonable sum that q man with such an expert
ence would never be drowned.
THAT Is what | call one of the most wonder
full runs Of luck that | ever heard Of. And 1t 10
something Of u coincidence, perhaps. that Capt.
White himself Is u firm believer In his own
luck In other matters, though ho does not talk
much about his escapes from drowning. He was
In his younger days fairly prosperous. and had
gathered together a modest competence when
he was between 40 and so years old. Then
something happened. l limited that he was
superstitious. What happened was that he
killed a cat. That does not seem to the average
man to be a very important occurrence. but the
Captain firmly believes that 1t changed the
whole course of his life.
~ had always been lucky before he says.
and l have not had a days luck since And the
fact is. that whereas he WAS formerly well to
do. he is not so now. poor man.
"Isuppose everybody who plays poker believes
in luck. Certainly l do. and l have seen certain
things at the card table that in their way were
as remarkable us the runs of n single number at
roulette. that make up the pretty little romances
-. 80. ..-. Nf.rtn II ne tf--aa orI shat
used to be dated laden Baden. l sat watching
o game one night at n friends house In st.
Nicholas avenue. in which only Intimate friends
were playing. and two of them were ladies. l
did not join. as there were six at the table. and
l don't like q game with seven in. There was
absolutely nothing in the game to distinguish 1t
from any other OF the hundreds OF games that
go on in the family circles of up-to-date New
Workers every night. The limit was five cents.
There wasn't a player in the game who knew
enough of card manipulation to deal a crooked
hand. and there wasn't one there who would
have done 1t under temptation. And. moreover,
there wasn't anything like temptation.
Yet one woman in that game held a success
sion Of hands that would have made a fortune
for an ordinarily good player IL be were lucky
enough to hold them in n stiff game. She had
been playing with Indifferent success for per-
haps half an hour. and l was amusing myself by
noticing her essentially feminine style Of play
when she began suddenly holding Pushes. Five
times in succession she held a flush before any
special remark was made. or course. there was
the usual chatter and chatting. but when she
showed down the fifth flush in five deals. there
was q general outburst of comment. and a con-
fession by her that 1t didn't seem canny.
at will give me the shivery creeps il | get
any more was tine way sho OK pressed it. and l
conld sec that she really was nervous. That. nat
urally. amused me. for II was not so very OK
traordinary. though 1t was certainly unusual.
The next hand she held nothing. Then she
got n four flush aud filled. Then she got a pat
flush; then, drawing to the ace and king Of
spades. she got three more spades. The next
hand was nothing. and the next was q pat flush.
BY this time / was excited myself, as was every
body In the game, and ! made a memorandum
OF tho last eleven hands, and began jotting down
each hand ms she held 1t.
In thirty-slx consecutive hands she held
twenty-seyen lushes. None OF the other nine
hands held even a pair. Five OF the twenty
seven were pat hands; nine times she drew one
card, eight times she drew tive three times she
drew three. and twice she drew four. There
seemed to be no distinction of suits. The flush
was of one suit as often as another. 1t was
absolutely impossible that there could have
been trickery. for there were six dealing In
turn. The lady herself was exceedingly ner-
vous about 1t, and although she became so ex-
cited as to continue drawing for tiushcs, she
ceased to try to play them scientifically. In
deed. tho other players ceased after n time to
bet against her, and the cards were Mt length
dealt more from curiosity than from any In
terest In the game AS u game. At length. how
ever. the lucky lady grew 80 nearly hystcrical
that her husband made some excuse TO break
mp the game. | was sorry It had TO be done,
too, for | wanted to see how long such n run
would continue. but the lady has told me since
that she never, before or since. had any SINH
lar experience. though she plays frequently.
II never saw anything exactly similar tothat.
but had "a run of luck once myself thut seemed
to me almost as curious. | went to visit n friend
and there was invited to sit down at n poker
game with some men ! had never met before.
Tho fact of not knowing tho other players did
not worry me-, for ] assumed that they were ali
friends OF Harry's, but it was not long before
the fact that they did not know me began TO
worry Inc most confoundedly, for ] never had
such cards In my life before, and ! don't dare
even to hope that | will eyer hold them again.
II the circumstances had been different and |
could have felt free to play to win, ! could have
won big money. for they were playing an open
game, and the limit was Sc. At first played
my hands for what they were worth. and | won
more than half the pots | PLAYED for-a big per-