The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-17
PIRATES DARING BLUFF.
Poker Game That Knew No Limit Be-
tween Reckless Pfayers-He
Raised IA Half Million.

Everything was wide open on the |
train" said the gray-haired, young !
looking young man. Ordinarily, the |
p. ID. O. railroad company was con-
Quoted much AFTER the fashion of other |
corporations pref, ndIng to respectable
ity. and "a trip IN one of it, fairy Well
equipped sleeping cars was NJ more ex-
citing thah any railroad trap IS likely
To be- There We're. 1t is true, long
stretches of travel through some of the
widest parts of the West, and timid
people were sometimes perturbed by
the possibility of an attack by Indians
or train robbers, such as had been made
more than once during the time Of the
construction of the road. Mining Seri-
Gus in that line had occurred, however,
since the passenger service had fairly
begun, and no particulars had ever
been published of the earlier troubles,
so there was nothing to make one really
nervous. 1T was not quite hrst-clasS
read even for those days, but a toler
ably good bluff had been made. and the
advertising did the rest. so it was of
fairly good repute and had become
fayorite football in Wall street
by some means never clearly I'M
derstood outside of that street one of
che bold buccaneers who prey on COM
meree there became possessed of a con-
trolling interest in the stock of the
company, and therefore sole and indis-
putable owner of everything belonging
to il. from the seal of the corporation
to the last spike in the ties. That he
had any equitable right to anything
whatever was not pretended. but for
the time at least there was not way to
prevent him from doing anything he
chose with the whole concern.
His little game was to sell it out
right to a syndicate of plutocrats from
the old world, but being a young man
of liberal ideas when he played on vel
vet, he used the road for while as a
plaything And as 95 per cent of the
whole business was velvet to him, the
sport he had was. little short of imperial.
An enterprising man can get good
deal of fun out of a railroad, when he
controls it absolutely. and he was GER
tainly enterprising. The fact that he
was commonly alluded to as the Pirate,
troubled him not a whit. even if he was
not secretly proud of the title.
Ordinarily. as / said, things We're
run on the z. ID. Q. II. X. about the
same as they We're on any other rail-
! road. and poker, if 1t was played at all
on train, was a comparatively harmless
| game. in which no outrageous sums
We're likely to be won or lost. and over
| which the conductors exercised enough
| watchfulness to make sure that no
card sharp could make a fortune on a
single trip. In fact | don't think the
game was allowed on the trains.
This. however, was a special occa-
sion, and almost everything Went. The
Pirate had special end in view, and all
pressure was on, with the safety valve
buttoned up tight That may not be
technically correct, but ii wasn't q
technical trip. The Pirate had ideas OF
promotion and publicity that Were
enough to make Major Handy pluck
out fistfus of whskers and turn pinl
with envy, and this time he outdid him
self. The trip was journey twice
across the continent. The train was &
long string of the most SUMPTION:
apartments that then ran on wheels
The appointments, including edible!
and potables, We're of the choices
known to mankind. The party was
large one. and While it was the mos
heterogeneous | ever saw, it had beef
carefully selected. Not a man wa
there whom the Pirate had not picked
out for a purpose, but scores of then
would have jumped off while the traii
was at top speed rather than femai
for a moment if they had suspected
that they Were being used. There wer
a dozen titled aristocrats, including tW
of royal blood, one of them being al
Eastern potentate. a despot in his OWL
small realm. AS many representative
of our government included one eabine
officer and three United States sena
tors. Capitalists from all parts of Eu
rope were Ill the party. olle Was hlioN
to he q representative of the RotnS
= childs, one was a Jew from Armen
with an unpronounceable name: som
, We're successful Spectators from Paris
, London and New York. and there Wel
mine owners. cattle kings, damon
merchants. railroad magnates and pro
, motors till you got tired counting. A
least 80 men on the train could hav
had their individual checks cashed for
million apiece al their own banks. An
there was a picked contingent of news
paper men from half dozen capitals
= "Ostensibly it was a trip of inspe'
ton. Really it was a VIGOROUSLY eXtra
VACANT reveI that closely resembled a
orgie at times. and almost resulted
physical breakdown of the entl
: crowd before we reached the Atlant
e coast on the return. There was no la
:, but individual inclination aboard II
train. and no order but choice.
a Naturally, there was poker playe
! in almost all the cars. and some OF
: was for big stakes. In some OF u
smoking rooms the play was eontinl
GUS day and night. fresh players 81
ting in as those at the table dropp'
d out exhausted or broke. There was
4 such thing as calm 10 be had anyWhef
:, but as might be expected, the most e.
eitement was around the caro- tables
Il sat one night until breakfast TIM
i
: ceeded in interest any other ! ever sa
/ not only on account of the amounts
Il stake from time to time. but by feas'
of the way Ii was played. | don't TIM
the story Of it was every told, ana
wouldn't be nov but for the fact tn
three of The players are dead and q
cumstanees have SO changed with I
u other two that the telling will not hu
; them
= 1t was the climax Of IA week or mo
, Of general play. in which the I'VE M
achieved distinction as the most Nlclo
plungers in all the crowd. They II
y marked one another's play. ana
!, / occasionally encountered one amour
II at this table or that. but 1t was
=, first time the five had sat together.
IL BY some quiet agreement that was L
known to The general party tneS II
arranged Tor an unlimited game aflo
A. / themselves Two other men, besle
is myself. had suspected something, d
T f.4I Il fr..r hA