The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-18
A GAME ON SUNDAY.
THEY WE'RE BETTING ON A JACK POT
WHEN THE YACHT UPSET.
Imprisonsd In tho Cabin Until Guided by
Fish Line To swim to the surfsce-A
Rsminiscsnco Of Poker Playing on sh6
! Long IsIand Coast.

"Reminiscences Of Poker Playing on th6
Long Island Coast.
"The closest call I ever had, mid tho
gray haired, young looking man, "was In
q game OF poker, and, curiously enough,
nobody called In that particular deal In
which Il occurred.
perhaps you remember one summer
about ten years ago when succession OF
squalls struck tho south side
of Long Island on four successive Sun
days. think 1t was just ten years ago.
Eve had u clubhouse, eight or ton OF US,
that summer which was located on Hicks
beach, on tho extreme western end of tho
Great south bay.
1--WE all knew something about smiling
Il least Of nll--but tho commodore, as
we all called him, was the best amateur
sailor ever knew, and naturally we MADE
him skipper, and nobody else assumed or
felt any responsibility when he was ABOARD.
"On this particular Sunday, the fourth
IN the series of squally Sundays. there
were seven Of us on the yacht. We had
been weak fishing all the forenoon about
four miles east of Wreck Head, and had
had fair luck, but 1t was wretchedly hot,
and, tiring Of the sport, we had run back
nearly to Hicks beach again and come to
anchor of the best bathing ground In the
neighborhood opposite the life saying sta
tion. Then we had plunge and after
4, ,essing had gone into the cabin. Two OF
ths ro.r had gone to sleep and the rest OF
,,s had begun game Of poker. 1t was the
Isst eame ever played ON Sunday.
After an hour or 70 there came jack
, -,ot an which there was some Of the most
, ,arkable drawing ever saw. The
TN; had opened 1t on pair OF queens,
T TroA~ -uodoro sat next, and having .
ING Cum = came In. The doctor had
III Oh s y a queen at the head, and
snr0s spnuos Wa r at all times pushed
being bvssh pls3> :, HAVING orast iuck
in hts chips ] had bse. reIy on tt AZ +
Tor time snd decided = the vver
came in with an aes, GA> t,vo rstia
can,e also, thowgh be had Oh ont all
four spots In his hand. We f0aA t"noth.
this long afterward when we wess 'oe ure
or one night talking over the adSvAGA "a
and at tho same time ws learned whv$ T.
draw was. 1t seemed 20 curious to n1o
that I wrote IL down. SO I speak by fte
card In telling It. The doctor was dealiBg;.
90 drew the first c&rds. They were an
other ace and three eight spots. The law
yer caught another four and two tens. The
caught seven and two mines, and the |
Of queens was high hand before the draw,
and there were four fulls and . flush
around the board after 1t.
Naturally enough, the betting began
furiously, and the chips on the table were
all in tho pot presently. We were betting
money and were, some Of us, feeling
through our pockets for our rolls, when
suddenly the commodore threw back his
head and raised his hand with a sudden
gesture that arrested our attention in
stantly. Dropping his cards, he sprang to
his feet and started to rush out. on deck
when lurch of the vessel sent us all
sprawling. The squall had struck us. For
q moment, while we were scrambling
up we could feel the yacht tug at her
anchor, and then with a sudden drive dash
onward somewhere. Almost ut the mo-
ment of the swapping Of the cable, for 1t
had snapped, we heard a tremendous crash
overhead, and we afterward learned that
the lurch of the boat had thrown her stick
out Of her.
"The sudden drive meant that we were
drifting helplessly toward the mud flats
on the other side of the channel, but be-
fore wo could ascertain this-in fact, be-
fore any of us could get to the companion
way-the wretched boat turned turtle. l
have heard it denied that such boat could
turn turtle under such circumstances, and
don't pretend to explain how or why 1t
did. All l know is that 1t did, and 1t
looked as IL we had reached our last quar-
tor of an hour.
1.-THE confusion was indescribable. OF
course we were Immediately standing or
scrambling on the ceiling Of the little cab
In, while everything that had been on the
floor fell with us. Tho water rushed in
more than waist deep, and for few mo-
ments 1t looked as If the little room would
I'll up completely before we could even
think what possibility there was of get
ting out Fortunately, however, there was
buoyancy enough about tho miserable
craft, and the cabin was deep enough In
the hull to keep 1t pretty near the water
level, and the air In tho room was not i'm
mediately displaced. AT least, that was
how reasoned 1t out All that can say
positively is that whereas / expected to be
totally submerged found that / could
easily enough keep my head out of water
What air there was In the cabin doubtless
helped to keep us afoat, confined as 1t
was, and for time-it seemed u very long
time-we were tossed about, splashed and
thrown down., as the boat rocked and
pitched, but we were not drowned.
Sat first no one spoke. The situation
was too awful for words, and II seemed as
II we were all 30 shocked as to be mentally
stunned. know was for one, and II our
escape had depended on my thinking Of a
means we would all have perished then
and there. Fortunately the commodore
grasped the situation, and, as we could
talk and understand one another we'll
enough, he told us his plan In few
words It was simple, and It gave us ut
least chance for life.
You can all swim, he said. Find
fishing line. There are plenty In the cab
In
Somebody produced one In moment
IL was on reel
Hold fast to tho reel, said tho COM
modorc. I'll tako ono end of the limo and
dive through tho companionway. think
i can find my way over tho side and up
on the bottom of the boat I'll hold my
end. and when Won feel three Jerks make