Omaha daily bee., 1897-04-05
POKER AFLOAT ON A FLOOD
1t Began Joyously in Arkansas and Ended
Hungrily in Louisiana.
EXP -RlENce OF FIVE STARVING MEN
Opening Jnckpots IN the Roof of n
shnnty In the Midst of n Tor
rcnt-Hot Game for n
Hunk of Bread.

~
Arkansas, to the poker expert Of the NeV
York Sun, yves an everyday occurrence Il
my state before the war. and very ofter
droves Of slaves and whole plantations wer
won and lost down near the Louisiana horde
In the jack pote that were played on tn
packets that piled between New Orleans an,
the towns in southern Arkansas. The gam
| am going to tell you about was far NOR
remarkable than any other, and possesse,
some features that made 1t truly unique
even in that region Of extraordinary happen
ings. IL began on the ouachita river,
little to the north of the boundary, ant
came to an end on the Mississippi il
Louisiana. The stakes were small at III
beginning; then the play grew reckless ant
thousands OF dollars were wagered, and II
the last hand the lives of FIVE men depended
on the cards, while gold and greenbacks lay
on tho table unnoticed and uncared for. II
was a scene to be remembered, and, as far al
1 have heard, without an equal for interes,
and strangeness.
If you have ever been Town In the Qua.
chita district, or are acquainted with lts
geography, you Will understand why II II
that time and modern improvements haven
made much difference with it's general lay.
out. The boats from New Orleans still make
their fortnightly accommodation trips to the
towns In the southern part of Arkansas. and
the spring freshets still continue to defy the
railroads. In fact, aside from the hard
times, things down here today are about as
they were thirty-odd years ago, when that
game started up on a Saturday night well
along toward March. 1t was beginning to
rain a little, and looked as IL it would keen
on raining In the spring style, go the at
tendance at the club was far below the aver
age In numbers. l was one of the five who
didn't know enough to stay in out of the
rain, and the others were about the worst
poker fiends in the whole region. We all
had plenty of coin In our belts with which to
back our opinions, and we all felt that tbs
session was going to be a pretty lively one,
although, of course, we had no idea of the
unexpected extra features that were to be
added to the program.
A GLANCE AT THE SURROUNDINGS.
"The building in which we had met was
Just like hundreds of others that are still
to be seen Whereabouts. 1t was one story
high, with a fiat roof. raised on four posts
like a Yankee corncrib, and looking alto
gether as much like a solid square box as
anything else. 1t wasn't very perfect as to
It's appointments, either, but 1t had a table
for the cards and some stools for the play
es and a very ample shelf for bottles. 1t
was a new concern and didn't leak from the
roof down. Whether it was equally water
proof from the bottom up remained to be
seen when the spring freshet came along,
which happened during that memorable
game.
81 think everybody comedies that time will
pass more pleasantly and quickly in a good
stiff poker game than in any other kind
of amusement, except, perhaps, fighting. All
Saturday night the deal kept going merrily
round. and not until Sunday evening did
the players get thoroughly warmed up and
really settle down to business; then a big
jack started and grew and grew, and was
opened for a cool thousand, and everybody
stayed, and finally it ended by making the
opener nearly ten thousand to the good and
the rest of us proportionately that much
poorer. This made things interesting during
the next few hours, and nobody at the table
had time to notice that the water had been
running slowly in under the door and oozing
through at the sides and cracks, and was
now trickling through the keyhole. Before
daylight on Monday morning it was over
our boot tops. and the panes Of glass in
the window were creaking and straining
against the outside pressure, and the posts
under the corners were beginning to sway a
little as the earth in which they were sunk
became locsened and softened by the water.
There had evidently been a cloudburst to
the north of US. and the Ouachita had been
roaring and swelling and creeping toward
us and had surrounded us, and there We
in the worst spring washout
that Arkansas ever knew before or since,
and entirely too much interested in that
poker game to think Of the flood until it
was too late.
WATER ON THE SIDE.
at was useless to think Of escape, for the
was already too deep for walking and
too swift for swimming. Moreover, the open
would have flooded the house in an instant
and ruined the pack of cards. Then, too,
the poker game was another consideration
to detain us, for three of the players were
heavy losers, and 1t was only natural that
they should want to get even. There was a
door above us. through which we could
ascend to the roof, but as long as the window
Danes held solid We were good for three or
Jour hours more before being drowned out
by the drops that trickled in through the
cracks and keyhole. So we kept on with the
game, and luck Still stuck to the two win
lers, and the remaining three began to fear
We would be drowned before the cards would
our way. Just at the deciding of an
interesting pot, which / won on a
,luf. the lower pane in the window gave
way, and, taking the cards and the bottles
md a stone crock from the shelf, VIC made
or the roof. We made another quick raid
below for an extra pack Of cards, as II was
from the first glance we might be
obliged to have a long siege of it. About all
hat could be seen was the gray sky and the
ops of a few trees about a mile from what
lad been the bank of the river. AS for the
)%uachita, there was no end to 1t. II might
ave been the Mississippi or the Atlantic
cean for the way 1t stretched out on every
ide and surged along and foamed and fought
0 hold its new territory Some of the vii
age lay below us where 1t had always been.
nd we could see the housetops and the peo-
le on the roofs, but a good deal OF 1t had
moved off with the freshet. The rain had
topped and the air was quite warm, so after
10 tired OF looking around we squatted
own on the fiat roof and went on with the
AFLoAT ON THE FLOOD.
ut really wasn't half bad up there, and as
ome pretty high hands turned up at which
had good action and won, / rather enjoyed ,
he turn things had taken. If I could hold
le cards / was sure Of a chance to get square {
'ith the game, as none OF the money could S
away from me until the food went down,
hitch was rather a comforting thought to a 1
ian who was several thousands In the hole.
fter we had been playing for a couple of I
ours in our new quarters something seemed
give way all OF al sudden, and before we '
new II we were afioat, shooting past the l
Nv remaining houses In the little village, C
nd booming along southeast with the main s
nd struck us and knocked us of the corner a
osts. At first the ark rolled and swayed a b
title, but finally 1t righted and started down ]
lie river like a packet under full steam. Z
he novelty OF the thlng took our atten- :
on for a few moments, but we soon got ac- :
istomed to the motion, and went on with
% game. BY s~undown-it had cleared In
e afternoon-l was not only even, but had