The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-10-04

it is known that Smith nor his pal was
very flush at the time they arrived
here, ana as gambling had about died
out after Trussel's death, they had lit
tie chance TO make a stake
Smith. however, soon fell in With a
notorious woman who gave him money
TO furnish and open q gaming establish
ment in a little two-story building On
Randolph street. about where the Schii-
Ter theater is now located. After fur
niShing the house in splendid style,
Smith found that he nad Little money
left to go ahead and Go business with,
and 1t was just at this time that the
Hawkins trio-George, al and jeff
came along.
The Rankins boys had some money.
They were fresh from the mining
camps. and there we're two versions at
the time Of their reason for leaving the
west One was that the vigilantes aad
become tired of their presence and mad
sumDlaT5ly chased them out Of the hills,
and another was that the brothers,
finding the game tough" in the camps,
and having heard of TFusseIs death,
I had decided to try their luck in Chi
cago.
BRING $4,000 WITH THEM.
Whatever the cause of their coming,
the three arrived here in 1855 with
about $4,000 between them. JEFF came
! into town on q stretoher. He was SUI
feIing from broken leg. How he came
TO break his leg is not known for sure.
Some said he tripped over a stump
! while chasing down q mountain with a
committee behind him, and others had
ii that he was thCOWn from a Wells
! Fargo coach while leaving t,ne scene of
/ his achievements in the brace faro line,
/ the company paying him heavy dam
ages for the injury. Jeff Hankins WAS
J lame from that accident up to the time
! Of his death.
| Al Smith welcomed the Hankins boys
( TO Chicago with open arms. He showed
/ ;lh5Gn 6me fine gambling rlcns, eX-
! planned to them the Unfortuna&a cis'-
! cuTnstances OF rl9e "shNp." bank rot4
! and soon engineered a deal whereby
1 the brothers paid laGn q coed rctar21
! sum for the house and t;5loJk possession
That was the first of the famous Ham
/ kins gambling houses IN Chicago.
a story is told of an occurrence IN
C1e of THE HaE1l1bns' establishments
! SHORTLY after the fire tLlat we'll Illus
| trates Al Smiths snlo5th and easy SO
! sng was that won him fame as a gam
| bier in the early days from Chicago to
! tine Pacific ocean, and also the super
stitiouS character OF %he Haakins
! brothers. One night the three Hanliin5
| BIZ hers ATTENDED the tileater. iaaV; rllg
! street, in charge of SGnlGh, who was
eCrPloyed as a faro dealer in 4Eaa G0ouzie
AKA also given a 10 per cent interest in
| t,le establishment. a gamblt- named
| Niiir5r strl3iled in soon after tine broth
GUS had lett and commenced to play
faro at the cable wIleGa S7llfiAa was Off
eating. Luck was wuSh him. aaati s0cn
| ne had many stacks of checks before
! llLrn- After Playing q couple OF hours
he rassd HIS oI-eieks, a:nleuatirl.y to
| $1,000 10 Smith, requesting that they be
cashed. just then IN came the three
HalG1iats boys.
Hello said SMITH. How was tine
! sCloW?''
All right" rerl;s7 George Hank'ns,
and the three smaIed as they mated thar
all line tables were crowded with play
erS
Good game we've got here" re
nsgked Smith. You ought TO make
the place a winner
Yes, it Looks int way replied Al.
We a1ould get ne n-cney VITA this
| kind of a play"
TRY TO BREAK THE HOODOO.
just theta Smith handed a big bull1Ae
of money across 1he table.
Here you are Mr. Nllllar,'' said ne.
Twenty-Five dauslldTed. Count it and see
that it's right"
Z
! they saw the money pari OVER to Miner.
Twenty-Five hundred dStlars put Sc
! we're cJcnlp in their bank roll at tIaat
time, and they nevsT forgaYe Smith f7r
she ItkIe "iolly'' he gave them THAT
night about having a paying business.
That night, after the house closed up,
Al, jeff and George adjourned 10 a rear
room i'm tlle building where tastr gain
ing house was located. There they
fillad a big kettle With cid shoes and
rubbers and. afl65r setting them c1 fire,
tEley Joined hands and danced slowly
about the kettle and its snouldering
contents, chanting in slow tunes 10
break the ho0do0 up. This Story is
Vouched for by many of the cd EiIEeus
in Chicago. The Hankfns brothers
We're aYowed spiEatualisits, and were
even much more supeEstfttous than men
of their calling are popularity supposed
to he.
II was not long after shIs that one of
the Hanhins boys struck Miller, the
gabbler Who had won the money, with
the butt end of a revolver. Thu assault
took place i'm a basement saloon on
Clark street.
Someone mad told the Hanl1ine
brothers that gle money was u1st WCu
by NIlleG- ION tina square, ard tlll-
summary method they took of getting
even cost them a dead of money To gei
tlhe affair blew over. Indeed, shortly
after this Al Hanlklns went TO Salt
Lake City, Utah, where he dealt far1
bank for some time, and where, It i
reprrted. Gle Joined the MounTl church
10 avoid having trouble w n tl.r3 au-
3i1cc0des. The Mornons oi2rn&roElisI
everything cut there n those days.
The gaming houses OF the Hankins
brothers before the fire was located at
81 Dearborn street and 10 RauGClph
street, and in the Morrison block, at
125 Clark street. Here they ran
Square" houses and accumulated
much money. After thu fire they went
temporarily to the west side, until the
down town district was rebuilt. They
conducted houses on Cana and Ran
dClph streets and at 154 West Madison
street When the building on the pres
ent site of the Chicago opera house
block was erected nay removed there.
RIVALS IN THE BUSINESS.
During tads time Their principal rival
for the title of boss gambler of Chicago
was Michael Cassius Mcdonald. who
retired from business some u years
ago.
Mike" Mcdonald as he was and is
still generally known, was undoubtedly
the most successful gambler that ever
did business in Chicago. Before the fire
he conducted houses at 81 Dearborn
street, SO Clark street, y Randolph
street and after the town had partly
recovered from the effects Of the great
conhagration he opened 9 = his fam US
The Store" at Monroe and Clark
streets. Here he conducted one OF ine
biggest gambling establishments in the
country for many years, finally retiring