The sun., 1897-10-10
THE TEN-THOUSANDTH MAN
HE owns sTEAMBoATs WOW AND
CANDLES NO NoRB
ne rrreus n nnnL In spokane aud Another In
Portland. and Then quit Pia' Tor Lire-A
Gaino or stud Pokor That Turned ON Case
or s,r,on.Pure Nerve and . Rob Plush.

or siu,on.Pure Nerve and bob Flush.
WARRINGTON, Oct. o.-"About ono man in
10000 is lovcl-headed enough to quit when no
pulls a big stake out OF some other fellows
game" said Frank McGoniglc. an Idaho sheep
man, to party hero the other night fho
.en-thousandth man was out my way couple OIL
years ago. He was Joe Gilbert, a conductor on
the Spokane Northern. Joe had the run be-
tween Pendlcton, Ore, ana spokane he
brought his train, tho flyer OF the line, from
Pendlcton to Spokane every other Day lie
always managed to dress ana eat ana urlhk
pretty we'll when Off duty, and he never lacked
few dollars to go up against tho spokane tiger
Up to the time am going to tell you about ho
never managed to do much more than hold his
own at tho game, and 1t used to surprise his
friends that hc even did as we'll as this for he
was u reckless and errntic player.
"Joe's game was faro and ho played II in
Spokane at Goetz g. Bacrs 'Cnur d'Alcnc. l
believe tho 'Cu,ur d'Alone is the biggest insti-
tuition OF its kind in this country. You can get
anything you want thCrc-a shavc meal, a
drink, q lodging, or fortune, II you have the
luck. The faro bunk is the mainstay OF the
house. The game is on the level, and 1t has
several times been cracked pretty hard by pro.
fcssionals who journeycd from Denver and
Cheyenne for the purpose. But tho CGur
dAlene' faro box had never been turned until
Joe Gilbert made thom turn 1t. The rule Of tho
house was that when the tiger had been baited
to the extent of $4,000. the box should be
turned and play should cease for the night. This
rule had never been put into practice until the
night, two years ago this fall, when Joe Gilbert
struck Spokane with what gamblers call n
hunch and bad light In his eye.
"'rhcro are several faro layouts at the 'Cnur
d dAlenc'-tables for the chubbers who sweat
short stacks, lose hard. and then go up against it
for meal tickets, and two or three tables for the
big play men, who slap stacks of blues and yell
lows all over the cards Gilbert picked out the
swell table of tho lot on this night He took
two stacks of yeows for the $500 he had
brought along. He was one of those players who
never use pencil or paper, and he had as much
use for systems - he had for hoboes on the
blind baggage. lie split his stacks and planted
them on the first case cards to show in the box
on this night, and the luck his from the
fall of the flag never saw such absolutely un-
bcatablc luck. When the deal had gone on for
fully half an hour, with scarcely q word being
spoken at the table, the man in the blue uni
form had lost only ak bets in the whole play,
and he was nearly $500 ahead Of the bank.
The dealer became mighty uneasy. He changed
tho deck half dozen times, and switched the
lookout twice. But 1t was no go. Gilbert kept
right on winning, all Of the time playing what
any sane man would consider the most utterly
fool faro that could be studied out by mathe-
Inatician. One minute he would copper about
all the cards on the table, and the next he would
brush all the coppcrs Off and play the whole
table wide open Yet he couldn't lose. The
other players made bets only here and there.
they were SO absorbed in the conductors play,
and it looked like deal for Gilbert alone.
FINALLY Gilbert asked the dealer % open the
500 limit. Tho lookout gave tho word and
play was resumed. Without winking an eyo
the 500 month man piled his 800 stacks all
around the layout. Every deal for three solid
hours saw his row OF chips swellcd by several
stacks. In less than that time he had all the
yellows out, then the blues and finally made in
roads upon the larger number Of whites. He
won ten bets where he lost two. New dealers,
mors new cards, different lookouts, other deal
boxcs-the house tried everything. but all OF
the schemes failed to break the spell of Gil.
bert's phenomenal luck. The conductor tossed
IS chips to the fellows standing around who had
chubbed In their last twobit piece and, oddly
enough, nearly every man whom he SO favored
picked up good roll at one Of the other games.
'At Q o'clock in the morning. after Joe had
been at 1t for just five hours. the dealer turned
over the box and announced the game closed
for the nght-ail the checks out and the bank
$4,000 without counting the chips. Gilbert
handed me the money and asked me to keep 1t
"'You'n sleep just about thirty nights before
you get a centavo OF this roll back, Joe, said l.
and meant 1t. But when Gilbert came
around the next day and told me that he must
! have the SlO.OO0-that he still had his 'hunch
with him and couldn't afford to neglect it-I
handed 1t out to him.
:. You'll be broke in twenty-four hours.
X ot ,nucb won't he rsnIiad Gonna on
| down to Portland with me-
II wanted to go to Portland on business, any
| that he would need friend consolation when
| he dropped his pile down there. l wanted 10
| boot him when he sent his resignation as a con
| ductor to the Omaha office of the line but he
wouldn't talk to me about 1t:
Wait, was all he said in reply,
'Thc night VIC reached Portland Gilbert
| went right down to the Arion Club without
:. Well said to him in disgust II you re
| not an easy money juniper Ill eat all the pelts
Walt he replied.
the same sort OF luck at the Arion Club that he
had back in Spokane, and it took him exactly
nightly limit OF $4,000. After the box had
been turned and Joe had got his money / took
him out into the night air and told him that il
| he put another nickel on u card US long M he
| lived I'd have him put into lunatic asylum.
Easy my boy. said he. know whcr
wal, Gilbert went up to the Puget Sound
| country. bought IL drst-rate excursion steam
boat with his $50 1000, and began to make more
| money than he could count. lie owns three
| steamboats, on the Sound now. has II cOrkine
| big bank account and when the boys try to gel
| in their teeth.
| mot any, thank you.' SAYS Joe. I don't
make any oets , on darus ar i.s lohG a. nie' '
ITO get back to the Cour d'Alene in Spo
| kane. I've seen some queer plays and player.
| been running. Four years ago United States
| Army soldier came down to Spokane from Fort
| Sherman He was an Irishman, Denny Iianne
gan. He had been a sergeant in his outfit and
| had just been paid of at the end OF II three
year, enlistment, His pay amounted to $500
kane. He walked straight to the C0ui
| dAlene from the station and asked for tn,
| boss. Jake GoctZ came out OF his office anC
| asked the soldier what he wanted.
-" i want an even show to double the 5000
that Iye got on NJ me- said the the Irish sergeant serge. \.
90 broke and do II on one play. ! don't wan