The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-25
STEVENSON AT POKER.
HOW HE NET THE AMERICAN GAME
IN HAWAII.


Kings-When the Season Closed
the Novice Was Ahead.
Washington Letter Chicago Inter Ocean.
Turner c. Northrup, the California grape
grower who taught Robert Louis Steven
son how to play draw poker, spent a few
days in Washington last week He is a
typical California ranch-owner in appear
ance-the sort of man that Stevenson in
dicated liking for in many of his works.
Il met Stevenson when went down to
the islands to look after the coffee-rais-
ing business in Hawaii about eight years
ago" said Mr.. Northrup Stevenson was
then living with his family in a comfort
able frame house at Waikiki, pretty SUI
burb Of Honolulu Every day he would
come into Honolulu in a Observation-Disclosures
ing ola top buggy, driven by a Kanaka
boy. On these occasions he would dismiss
mas coachman for an hour or two and
prowl contentedly through the streets of
l1onlulu. He would usually wind up these
tours by repairing to the docks, where he
would engage the Kanaka longshoremen
IN talk Che could speak their language
welD, and pick folklore stories out of
them, treating them generously to their
beloved sak the while. Comparatively
short as Stevenson's residence was in
Honolulu, / suppose we got to know more
or the Kanakas there and was better
liked by them than many of the white
residents who have spent years in the ISL
ands.
was down at the wharf one afternoon
Mhen the American steamer came in. A
Honlulu newspaper man was with me- He
pointed out to me a man leaning alb
stractedly against pile of fruit crates,
watching the debarkation of the passen-
gers. He was dark, thin man, with a
Chinese sort of mustache dressed in spot
less white duck. and pulled somewhat
over his large, piercing eyes, he wore I,
broad-brimmed straw hat with a wreath
OF red and white flowers around it,
That's Stevenson my newspaper
| friend told me.
The man that wrote the "Silverado
| Squatters?" 1 asked, for 1 had read the
| book, and it had struck me as being
| mighty fine book, although didn't know
| much about the writer except that his
| name was Stevenson, and that he was
| consumptive Scotchman. I told the news
paper man that I'd like to meet Stevenson.
So he took me over to him.
Friend of mine from the coast, who
| raises grapes was the way the newspaper
man presented me to the Scotchman. Stew
| enson seemed to catch at the words, and
| ne sized me up and gave me a grip with
his long, bony hand, which had a lot of
| strength in it for a man who looked so
| delicate
Stevenson rolled cigarettes necessarily
as he talked. and his whole left hand
was yellow with them. l mentioned this
| cigarette business to him one day
should think those things would
damage you some.' 1 said
I Doubtless they do he replied. More
| over, fear the vice is unamiable in the
G r. -
| l hardly feel equal 70 the punishment of
I abandoning them
After the first visit Stevenson invited
me to drop around states fashion, any
| evening, and I was glad of the invitation
| for he was a good fellow-he spoke the
| language of my tribe as we say out on
| the slope. l got into the habit of driV-
| ing out to Stevenson's Waikiki house a
| couple of times a week, always in the
| evening and generally in company with
| the newspaper man who presented me to
| him. This newspaper man was a Chicago
| boy, who now owns 800 acres of the finest
| coffee land in bearing on the main island
| of Hawaii. The three of us would sit on
| the second-story veranda of Stevenson s
| house, smoking, slipping whisky, and talk
ing. | think Stevenson did most of the
talking, although never in an obtrusive
| sort of way. He talked in so low tone
| that sometimes we'd have to bend toward
| The dullest man IN the world couldn't
help but see that Stevenson was a first
rater, man among many millions, after
five minutes conversation with him. He
was an admirabl story teller, too, and an
| excellent mimic-which latter fact I've
never seen pointed out by the people who
have written of him. l happened to men
ton one evening that when l was a pref
ty young fellow 1 had fitted up schooner
at San Francisco and done a couple of
years of profitable trading in the South
Pacific The information | had picked up
on this voyage about the islands below the
line seemed to interest Stevenson aSgoud
deal, and he asked me many questions
that stumped me a bit-for he wanted to
know chiefly about the personal charac-
teristics of the natives, to whom | never
paid more attention that was needed to
get the greatest quantity of their cochineal
and conches for the smallest quantity of
cotton and beads when l was trading
zone evening, when the wind was pref
ty high, and sitting on the veranda was
therefore not pleasant, Stevenson invited
up into his den for a game of cribbage.
The newspaper man didn't feel like play
ing, for his eye had caught sight of a lot
of queer books as soon as we reached
Stevensons library den, and he wriggled
out of the game in order to have a chance
to look over them So Stevenson and l
played. He was a pretty good player,
without being particularly lucky. didn't
take much interest in the game, for
never cottoned very hard to any kind of
card game except poker. anyhow. After
We had played a couple of games of crib,
each of us winning one, said to Steven
son:
What's the matter with a two-handed
game of penny ante poker?"
Nothing whatever the natter said
he, except that 1 can't play the game,
anxious as I've been to learn it since first
read Bret Harte. Are you a good play
err?
We'll, this was kind o. mixing 1t up
bit with me, and the best / could do was
to tell him that 1 knew the difference be-
tween an ace full and pair of fours.
American way of saying that you
know all about It, said Stevenson. Teach
me poker, now
Now, I've taught a good many men
how to play poker, and it's a pretty dan
gerous thing to do-for the teacher.
mean. About every man ever put In an
evening with teaching him the poker
hands has wound up the night by getting
everything / had on me, except car or cab
fare, maybe. The luck of the poker begin
ner is simply something that can't be ex-
planned man that's got only a general
of