The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-03-07
POKER FOR HIGH STAKES.
a sOUT WIN cam SHARi<ERS on
A MISSISSIPPI BOdT.
Fart Taken by n Woman In n scheme TO
Fleece n Cotton Factor In the Old
Plush Days-sleight of Hand.

f.fpi flNtI eltHHin'aAaf N"iN N't' e'"9
haired. youne-looking man in the CLUB
smoking-room.
1t seems TO be the generally accepted
belief that forty years ago or 50 people
went up and down on the bosom Of the
Father OF Waters IN floating palaces, en-
3oying something like the extreme OF
sumptuous luxury. Maybe that IS true.
didn't travel the river so long ago as
that. and. OF course. j can't say what
tho condition OF things may OF may no'
have been when l wasn't there 10 see
What l can positively say Is that u
it was true In those days. the war or
some other disturbing cause ohanseu
things very materially before / became
as familiar as / did afterward with the
river boats.
MY notion is that the whole thing IS
a tradition. resting on very little fOun-
dalton excepting comparison. Inc mere
fact OF having stateroom 10 sleep I'D,
with only one stranger as roommate
and a seat at table with room Tor
waiter to pass behind you served 10
make YOU think YOU were in luxury, be-
cause YOU hadn't experienced IL before
And | imagine, from what ] know OF
later period. that that was about the eN-
tent OF the luxury.
Certainly none OF the boats ! was ever
On. i'm tho COS and 'los compared with
tho Ncrth river or the Sound boats OF
the same time. And even nose Woulu
rot seem very luxurious TO travellers of
the present day.
"But there we're a good many stories
fold about the oid-tme Mississippi boats
that am fully prepared 10 believe. That
49, Sd lH e.
as 80 never has elsewhere. before or since.
seems entirely probable
"a have seen games that made me hold
ny breath because Of the size OF the
stakes. and because Of the fact that
knew the players were all armed. and
shot or q STAB was certain TO follow a
l.sty word or a suspicious act
1T was on a trip from Memphis 10
Eatohcz that first saw woman gam
lie ln public. The boat wasn't crowd
Cd. but there were perhaps fifty passen-
gers on board. and among them Were six
or eight ladies' and this woman. That
she was q social outlaw vas evident at
81 glance.
Not only were her clothes of a fash
ion too pronounced for responsibility and
her iewclry too ostontatious for daylight
wear. but there was frank deviltry In
swacger i'm her carriage that told the
story all to- plainly.
Her behavior was correct enough. She
was or seemed 10 be. travelling alone.
and She took the somewhat too conscious
avoidance OF the ladies i'm perfectly good
part. pretending 10 he utterly uncOn-
scious Of IT, and ignoring them as com
pletely MS they aid her. Neither did she
give any overt encouragement 10 the ef-
forts that some Of the men made 10
cultivate her acquaintance
1T was evident that while she took no
pains 10 conceal her character she did
rot pronoee 10 make herself obnoxious.
Naturally every one was curious 10 know
who she was ana l soon learned as I
supposed the other passengers all did.
that she was a notorious character I'm
New Orleans. where she was known as
Flash Kate
"What her business ad been I'm Mem
phis did not hear. hnt q dozen stories
were told Of her rccklessnoes and gem
cral cussednc-s. ana among other things
IL WAS said that she was Il confirmed
gambler
After supper tho first evening we
were ON board. the tables en- the main
saloon were cleared. and. ms IL it were a
matter Of course. two games of poker
were soon in progress. 10 was plain
enough that two of the men in The game
that / watched at first were profession
ais. but the game was small and 1 found
no great excitement in IT, though il was.
IN way, interesting 20 notice how easily
the others were being nceced.
firing. after time. of watching so
bold fraud. I sauntored over 20 the
other table and found a very different
game in progress.
In the first place. it was bigger game
they were playing table stakes. and
each man had wad Of groenbacks living
alongside his chips. White chips were
dollar. and bets Of ten or twenty at
once were common. There were several
thousand dollars in sight and fl looked
as n any moment might bring on a strug-
gle between hands that would draw down
biz money.
Then it did not take long for me TO
determine that two Of the men I'm this
game also were professionals. The third
man at the table / knew. lie was a
factor from New Orleans. who had Teen
up the river on a business trip investi-
eating some Of the advances he and lis
partner had made 10 the planters
lie was young-not over 30, / should
soy-but ! knew he had the reputation
I
seem surprising TO see him az cards. The
other two men-there were five playing
puzzled me. One was q veteran soldier.
You could tell from his military bear
ing without waiting 10 hear him address
ed as Major but an oX-soldier Of either
army might be anything from q gambler
10 a bank president.
The other was nondescript There did
not seen 10 be any points about him TO
distinguish him from anybody else. but
/ afterwards learned that BE was a cat
tie dealer.
"rhe game lasted far into the night.
and was interesting an the way through.
but. somewhat 10 my surprise. there was
no very desperate struggle over any sim
gle pot. The hands ran fairly well. and
some few big ones were held. but no
two unusual ones happened TO DE held
I'm the same deal.
So far as 7 could see the play was
absolutely fair. ana ! wondered little
that the gamblers should attempt no
tricks. Later on / understood IL. They
were laying The foundation for the sec
ond nights play andsthoir game was 10
lose little al the first sitting.
Accordingly they did so and one pulled
cut soon after midnight. saying with "a
laugh that he lost an he wanted TO- The
cotton factor was loser too. though
not 10 any very serious extent. The 9TH
or two were ahead.
Altogether IL was q pleasant sitting.
and 10 was a forofone conclusion that
tho came would be renewed ee {. u,as