The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-19
Wouldn't Quit the Game to Insure His
Return to the United states Senate.
st. Louis Republic.

St. Louis Republic.
''The best poker player Tennessee ever
developed is dead said Maj. A. l.. Tread
way, of Memphis. Il refer to Senator
Isham Green Harris, who died at Washing
ton Thursday / knew the old statesman
intimately for more than forty years and
/ never heard of his getting up from
poker game cent loser. He loved the
great American game as much as he loved
politics. Few evenings slipped by during
the last forty years when he didn't indulge
his fondness for the sport If 1t was at all
possible to make up a game. He never
played for high stakes; % cents was usually
the limit of his games, and he was never
known to go over so cents. He used to de-
clare that poker was essentially a gentle
mans game, but that when IL was played
for high stakes too severe a strain was put
on gentility for the good of both the play
ers and the game.
like Chinese mandarin than Caucasian,
and he seemed to be proud of it. 1t was
probably his wonderfully immobile face
that made him Such a successful poker
player. / have watched him by the hour
while playing, and never once saw the
least change of expression on his face.
When he was last elected to the Senate in
January 1895, the opposition made a big
demonstration to brighten him. lie hurried
from Washington to Nashville and assumed
personal direction of his forces. The papers
said so much about the fight being made
on him that 1 became frightened, quit my
business and went up to Nashville to help
him out. When | arrived there ! hurried to
his room in the Maxwell House and found
MIN playing poker. 1 IEleu TO get MIN TO
quit the game long enough to tell me what
the situation was SO / could proceed intelli-
gently and with some system. He dismissed
me rather CURLY with the assurance that
he would see me in two hours. When the
two hours We're up l went back to his room
and he was opening jackpots with the same
interest he displayed at first. sat behind
him and told him of what appeared to me
to be some dangerous inroads the opposi-
ton were making on him and urged him
with all the force at my command to get
TO work and checkmate his enemies.
"Finally he turned on me impatiently and
said: 'Treadway these fellows are the best
poker players / have run up against since
the war, and l would not quit this game
while ! am loser to be sent back to the
United States Senate How much are you
loser?' l inquired. The senator counted his
chips carefully. and then said: i am 80
cents behind now and was only 20 cents
behind when you came back. You have
bothered me much with your talk that 1
haven't been able to keep up with the
game as l ought to. The, sooner you get
otit of here the sooner tn get even Then
I'll see what my enemies are doing
''The game went on all that night with
out interruption, and II was nearly break
fast time before the senator got even. He
showed up in the dining room looking as
fresh and vigorous as II he had had good
nights rest and devoted the entire day TO
strengthening out the senatorial tangle. At
night he got the same party in his room
again, and they resumed their game with
the eagerness of gamblers playing for high
stakes / learned afterward that during
the entire series OF games not as much as
s. changed hands.