The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-24
LOST ALL TO HIS WIFE.
GAMBLED AWAY 4 MILLION TO
Her AT DRhW POKER.

SO ns TO kecp tho Money in tho Family
He Consented ana tho Money IL In tho
Family siiii-Ne TciIs His own story.
WARRINGTON, Oct. o3.-"one OF tho woalthi.
est men In my town hasn't got n cont to his
name,' said George Withcrby Of Butte, Mont.
IN q hotel cafe hero a few nights ago.
Tho mon In the party Dyed Mr.. Withcrby.
Fact, l assure you, he wont on. THE man
has the usc OF tho money, no uses It In his big
operations just as freely rs II II belonged to him,
nnd he Is rated \ No. l for tho wuolo pilc by tho
commercial agencies. Moreover, Ito made
every dollar of tho money himself. All the
same, he can't call a sou.marquis of it his own,
Hc told me himself only the other day that
he didn't have the price Of n nccktic in cash that
belonged to him. and that IL he happened TO DO
called upon to poy in coin of his own for the
haitsoiing OF his shoes, he'd probably have 10
go barefoot
SOHO of tho men around tho table were bo-
ginning to regard Mr.. Withcrby with mani
testify distrusttul looks, but ne wont on:
II guess about "A million is the figure this
man has accumulated and has got the use of,
although he doesn't now own any of II any moro
than you fellows do. 1t belongs to his wife.
No, he didn't transfer tito her in order to avoid
the payment of debts, or anything of tho sort.
Hes n dead-squarc man, and his word has al
ways been as good MS his bond. And he didn't
marry n wealthy woman, either. for. as I've nj.
ready said, he earned every pcseta of the pile
himself. 1t is simply this: During the last four
years this man has been playing poker with his
wife, and she has been cleaning him out from
the go.otf. She broke him in less than two
years after they started the game, and she has
kept him fiat broke ever since. lie hasn't got
10 cents worth of stocks or bonds in the world;
he's got no personal property except his clothes
and his watch and chain-hi1 wife has won all
the rest of his iewclry, though she lets him wear
1t: he doesn't now possess 30 much ns an SNlO
rouSh.board shack out Of the hundreds OF thou.
sands of dollars worth of real estate that uscl
to stand in his name. His wife has got it all.
Yet they are the hnppiest couple in the North.
west, go everywhere together, and arc genuine
Chums and swccthcarts. 1t l. IA queer business,
I'll admit. and I'll have to give you the details
before you'll he able to understand it.
Up to about four years ago, rs most OF you
probably know. Butte was probably the warm
est gambling town in this country. There were
half n dozen games on every block. and they
weren't smothcred up on the top floors. either,
nor perforated with pecpholes with n house
man at every hole to size UP the proper people
or the dangerous ones that tinklcd for admit.
tancc. They were run full blast on the ground
floors, and the chatter of the chips and the rat
Ting of the wheel marbles were just as COM
mon sounds in tho ears of pedestrians on the
main streets of Butte rs the moan OF the
tamalc man is on the streets of san Francisco.
All OF the joints were called clubs. and there
was n very wide ganut between the best and
the worst of them.
at faro bank you could get anything you
wanted in Butte. from two-bit limit to no limit at
all. and all the rest OF the games, from mustang
70 ~ loo opl stud ,,nl-,r a rnp m tbn op,p
scale to accommodate tho purses of both punt
crs and performers. There was no municipal su.
pervision Of the games at all. The only eX'
action was that every layout should be run
strictly on the level, and this was not n munich
pal c~xaction. but was a rule that proprictors OF
the big institutions took in hand and enforced.
II the manager of n punting game got caught
in the most vcnial sort of crooked work. or
even an attempt at crooked work. his place
would be closed up in jis time by the Chief OF
Police, and no explanation would be given why
this was done. But the hig bank proprietors
would know why 1t was done.
"Well. this wealthy man Of Butte, now with.
ont a cent OF his own. was one Of the most prof.
liable patrons Of tho high.class games until
tho reform administration came along. about
four years ago. and swept about eight out OF
ten banks out of existence and forced the sur
viving institutions. the leading ones of tho
town, to carry Oh business strictly on the quiet.
He made most OF his money in working Mon
tana's gem fields, and he was a Shire wd investor
and n rafting good business man. But he
was one Of those fellows the like OF whom you
occasionally run across, with an irresistible
mania for gambling in all its forms, yc,
altogether lacking in the temperament,
skill and experience required for success
iul gambling. lie went against all tn
~ .-s. H., d.. 49,,
der the old regime, and he got hit hard by
nearly all of them. He lacked the will power
to let the tables alone, however. and after a white
his steady losses began to prey on his nerve.
and to injurc his health. Although he never
encrOached upon his capital, he, %oloughed away
the green cloth, and if the reform administra
ton hadn't happened around just about when il
did, there's no telling how far he might have
gone. Although he kept Mt it for n few week
after the beginning of the reform, he was Toe
upright TO be able TO stand for Shaking "
hole by hangcrs-on for faro hclis. But his wife
was chiefly instrumental in his giving tn,
"Iie had gone back to New Hampshire and
married the sweetheart OF his boyh"od aftc'
he began to pile up money in Montana. IL
everything in the world for her but the one
thing that she most wanted him to do, and that
"!..After a While iii let the banks 90. Jimmy,
he'd say to her. L want 10 give en- one, good
| nara welt, anu SfI 1T lttlSl SJIlt vi IL 'tth, illli
then You and III spend our EVENINGS pla! inl
checkers, an dyou wont worry any more.
"W"ll, You all know how IL goes when n frl
low stacks up against another NAL. 5 same iOi
tho purpose OF getting his money back. Tn,
player plays with desperation and imhcCility
and he gets worse mircd all the time. Thai
was what was happening to this man when hi
wife got into the game. She was and Is ,
pretty, level headed and accomplished woman
aud clever enough to keep the %slnartCst men 81
their nrttlc on any subject.
Tom said She 10 her husband very carl,
ono ,...rt.t,,Tr "a han In nHIlsn hama tU!ft /, n tEnr
ricd look ON his face, YOU know I'm no Mrs
Caudlc and that ! haven't sat up to lecture you
You've hCcn at tho bank. haven't you. Tomf
And You look as il you were hit prett!
hard. | suppose you wcrcI
"'Middling hard SAWS Tom.
"''Ncl, now she went on. I've been hear
ing to-day that the i!rst.rate men don't pla!
bank any more. sine" they've been cOmpcllc,
to 20 about it in u Stalking Kind of way. And
after having had the honor OF your acquaint
anco and your regard ever since 1 was n liltl
Girl in short frocks. 1t is clear TO mo that yol
belong to the tribe Of t~irst-rate men,
Ton smoked his cigar and kept his moutl
closed.
- Tom Mrs. Tom went on, L believe tina
YOU just naturally lCyc to gamble; that yov
were born that way: that you have y passion
fnr Cruturinp Nour money iusi for thu cSritp