Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1897-06-26
"A GAME ON SUNDAY.
THEY WE'RE BETTING ON A JACK POT
WHEN THE YACHT UPSET.
Imprisoned In the Cabin Until Guided by
Fish Line TO Swim to tho surface-A
"Reminiscences of Poker Playing on the
Long Island Coast.

Imprisoned In the Cabin Until Guided by
q Fish Line to Swim to the Surface-A
"Reminiscences OF Poker Playing on the
Long Island Coast.
The closest call ever had" said the
gray haired, young looking man, twas in
a game of poker, and, curiously enough,
nobody called in that particular deal in
which it occurred.
Perhaps you remember one summer
about ten years ago when succession of
tremendous squalls struck the south side
of Long Island on four successive Sun
days. | think it was just ten years ago.
We had clubhouse, eight or ten of us,
that summer which was located on Hicks
beach, on the extreme western end of the
Great South bay.
We all knew something about sailing
u least Of all--but the commodore, as
We all called him, was the best amateur
sailor l ever knew, and naturally we made
him skipper, and nobody else assumed or
felt any responsibility when he was aboard.
son 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 it was wretchedly hot,
and, firing of the sport, we had run back
nearly to Hicks beach again and come TO
anchor off the best bathing ground in the
neighborhood opposite the life saving sta
ton. Then We had q plunge and after
dressing had gone into the cabin. Two of
the men had gone to sleep and the rest of
us had begun a game of poker. 1t was the
last game l ever played on Sunday.
After an hour or so there came a jack
pot, in which there was some of the most
remarkable drawing I ever saw. The
broker had opened it on a pair of queens.
The commodore sat next, and having a
pair of seyens came in. The doctor had
three spades with queen at the head, and
being brash player at all times pushed
in his chips. l had been having great luck
for q time and decided to rely on it, so
came in with an ace, and the lawyer
came also, though he had only two little
four spots in his hand. We found out all
this long afterward when we were togeth-
or one night talking over the adventure,
and at the same time we learned what the
draw was. 1t seemed so curious to me
that wrote it down, SO l speak by the
card in telling it. The doctor was dealing,
SO drew tho first cards. They were an
other ace and three eight spots. The law
yer caught another four and two tens. The
broker got three jacks. The commodore
caught a seven and two mines, and the
doctor got his two coveted spades. A pair
of queens was high hand before the draw,
and there were four fulls aud a flush
around the board after it.
Naturally enough, the betting began
fuTiously, and tho chips on the table were
all in the pot presently. We were betting
money and were, some of US, feeling
through cur pockets for our rolls, when
suddenly the commodore throw back his
head ard 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 q lurch of tho vessel sent US all
sprawling. The squall had struck u.s. For
a moment, while we were scrambling
UP we could feel the yacht tug at her
anchor, and then with n sudden drive dash
onward somewhere. Almost at the mo-
ment of the swapping of the cable, for it
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.
1.-The sudden drive meant that we were
drifting helplessly toward the mud flats
on the other side of the channel, but be-
foro wo could ascertain this-in fact, be-
fore any of us could get to the companion
way-the wretched boat turned turtle. 1
have heard it denied that such boat could
turn turtle under such circumstances, and
don't pretend to explain how or why it
did. All l know is that it did, and it
looked as If we had reached our last quar-
ter of an hour.
The confusion was Understandable. OF
oourco we were Immediately standing or
scrambling on the ceiling of the little cab
in, while everything that had been on the
floor fell with u.s. Tho water rushed in
more than waist deep, and for a 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 the miserable
craft, and the cabin was deep enough in
the hull to keep it pretty near the water
level, and the air in the room was not i'm
mediately displaced. At least, that was
how reasoned it out. All that can say
positively is that whereas expected to be
totally submerged l found that 1 could
easily enough keep my head out of water.
U3ilb 0li IHGIO Was III lIl6 CdDlD QOQDJlGSS
helped to keep us afloat, confined as it
was, and for tilne-it seemed very long
time-wo were tossed about, splashed and
thrown down, as tho boat rocked and
pitched, but we were not drowned
At first no one spoke. The situation
was too awful for words, and it seemed as
if we were all SO shocked as to be mentally
stunned l know 1 was for one, and if our
haa Il aol IN, -, ;,,1
means we would all have persisted 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 u few
words 1t was simple, and it gave us at
least chance for life.
" You can all swim, be said Find a
fishing line. There are plenty in the cab
in
Somebody produced one in q moment.
1t was on a reel.
Hold fast to the reel, said the COM
modore. IN take one end of the line and
dive through the companionway. l think
can find my way over the side and up
on the bottom of the boat III hold my
end, and when you feel three jerks make
this end fast Then you will have to fol-
AoNJ pAiS az q IllllG. lJOu u I6b 90 Oh b06
line as you go out, and you can't miss the
way. I'll bold the other end.
Very good, commodore said the
broker, but I'd better go first. You know
what a swimmer 1 am, and reckon tho
man who goes first will have the hardest
job
1.-THE commodore was disposed to dis
pute this proposition, but the lawyer spoke
up sharply: Let him go, commodore, he
said. It's forlorn hope at best, and he's
far and away the best swimmer So it
was settled, and in another moment the
broker had disappeared.
"Well, that's all the story The plan
worked, and we were all perched on the
keel inside of ten minutes. There we were
seen by the life saving patrol and were all
taken off safely soon after. New York
Sun.
Tufts Di1lS