The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-21
POKER THEIR SALVATION.
HAR e
~Se6S
All the mer IN own Lost Their Honey

'The strangest episode in the sport
ing life of the Southwest" said the
man from Arkansas, occurred at a
little mushroom town that sprang into
life about forty miles to the south Of
Camden before the Iron Mountain rail-
road was laid down in our state. EV-
erybody knew that railroad was go
ing to be built somewhere through that
region. and bands of grangers from
Texas and northern Louisiana. as well
as river men from the Ouachita district.
used to travel about taking UP claims
a"d laying out little villages, so as to
sell out al a good round profit in case
they were in luck enough to get in the
way OF the railroad company. There's
nothing like the report of a railroads
going through to start activity in
God-fOrsaken district like that, and if
half the land schemes down there had
ever got any further than wind and
paper and a few cabins and tents the
loss by flood during the next spring
freshets would certainly have been ap-
palling. The town where Preacher Pei
let made his remarkable crusade
against poker and cleaned the entire
male population out Of money and
wickedness was about the most hopeful
settlement of this mushroom class. and
while it lasted made a record for evil
and good that wasn't approached by
any other village in Arkansas
after stalking out the home claims
and building a few cabins and hanging
a general store sign over the wagon
that carried the provisions, We didn't
have anything to occupy the citizens
time at first, except to sit around and
speculate on which would get to the
town first the railroad or the spring
freshets. Eventually time began to
hang pretty heavy on the corporation S
hands and it was the most natural
thing in the world that all the men
took to playing poker to drive away the
blues. For the same reason the women
took to religion.
There was only about 5000 in cash
r. the entire outfit. and the way that
$500 circulated in that poker game was
something to arouse the envy of bond
syndicate. One day one man had most
Of the 5000 and the next day the money
lodged in somebody else's clothes. and
then for a change the cards would
run evenly and the coin would be dis
tributed pretty equally. 1t got to be
the secret ambition of every male in
habitant. from the oldest down to the
youngest, to get hold of every one Of
those $500 and have his seat at the town
NEE ting vacant the next morning. Ev-
cry player at the game had been
brought up on poker and could cheat t.
but a game like that is apt to be pretty
square, for one man is likely to be as
smart as another and afraid of his
righbor. and the consequence is that
an Arkansas game among Arkansa
people is generally on the dead level
The town ought to have erected q mon
ument to those 5000. for certainly every
body owed them a big debt of gra
tude for the time they killed for US
while we were waiting to hear some
thing definite about that railroad. They
would certainly have been missed if
they had taken wings and departed.
and the chances are that the entire col
Ony would have gone in pursuit Of them
without waiting to have to swim away
In the spring washOuts. AS it was.
they seemed to be perfectly inexhaust-
ible. and every one OF them opened more
Jack pots and backed more pairs and
got away with more bluffs than fifty
times the amount has done in other
sessions of poker at which I have been
present
Meanwhile the women in the colony
were about as Industrious in their re-
Tgious exercises as their husbands and
male kin were over fifty-two cards.
They built a platform near the general
store wagon, about 100 yards from the