The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-01-15
OVER THE LIMIT.

~, vas the biggest pot I ever saw on
n ,otrr table III the carly days OF Mia-
'.'rl r,yer stcamboa,ln',"rcmarked Ben
,.ss,I the retired Missouri river. pilot,
san, that Is suyIn' good deal. for the
.,-c Of poker In them days was no
a,rny.antc amusement. have seen q
,,,,crsc. start up the river from Sioux
xiv or YanlItOn, bound Tor Blsmorck,
,rIib n roll Of bills llke a Guy wntsr
b. ,r"In. and when no reached inc middle
n his journey ne was n-mortsasiM os
Ms GOOD looks and, persuasiVe manners
nn ,Sc Ionn OF a little bit Of chGwln' to-
w. ~ ar min OF IO-rod; md not because
10 wasn't plenty OF them articles for
..ic nm Inc boat. neither, but because
lad struck cyclone O. poker. and
"a bccn turned ln5ldc out--strapped,
.n"sscd busted, skinned, cleaned up,
81 hung over the pilot wheel TO dry.
=, ''H r.es glorious game In those days
~ Srcat American poker. THUS writes
n Dako,a correspondent OF the New
4 York sun"
"rhc game was aboard the steamboat
IN Nancy Lee, on her last trip up from
cIomy city. lalo In the fall. The Nancy
,r,s rotten hulk, anyhow, and / didn't
want IA pllot her no more than wanted
~ nilot Il saw log down the Mississippi
IN 4 frcshct, but 1t was q case OF takin'
hrr I'M the river or losln' n steady alt
With The company, and couldn't afford
N throw up the Job. The engineer was
nrkless cuss, who filed UP the flre-
Soyr5 every once, In while us full as a
boys stomach on Christmas, and let her
rbeeze and throb and slash through the
wntrr Ike nm ocean liner. The smoke
ro,,ed ont OF her tunnels like mad, and
many and many night I've sat In the
nIIot house. with my hand on the wheel,
and holdIn' my breath, expcct!n' TO be
d bowed two or three miles into the state
Of Nebraska or the Territory of Dakota
nv the Dustin OF n boiler But VIC had
n siresk OF good luck, and the steamer,
hed together I'LL We reached wood
yard a couple OF hundred miles up from
1 Sioux City, where we stopped 10 take on
supply OF fuel,
again It was bright moonlight, and l
/ turned the wheel over 10 the cub, and
went down to the captains cabin. The
4 night was so clear that baby could
have managed the wheel. and wasn't
| afraid OF nothin' but them cussed boil
trs. and couldn't get them off my mind.
1 The captain was one Of the nerviest po-
kcr fends ever saw. and the man who
tried to run q bluff In on him was
busted spoke. The game run along sort
II o quiet like for an hour or two. There
4 was n cattle buyer from Sioux City In II,
/ A railroad contractor from Yankton,
4 several spectators and the captain. No
4 biz hands had showed up. and luck was
4 about an even thing. The:trouble start
4 cd with Jack pot and howiit ended,
am about TO tell you presently. d j,
Il when the cards was dealt out the
captain skinned EN-, along Just enough
Il 10 get a squInt ntfhis hand, and I saw
d By his looks that he had openers. and
moderate stiffS ones at that. But no.
body but me could "a told from his face
whether he had q full house or the mca-
sles The captain had a funny way Of
twltchin' his mustache when ne had a
eood bite, as We used TO call 1t. and 1
Just kept watch OF his mus,ache and
had him.
az guess I'll tap her for about n hun
i, drrd," says the captain. shovein "A stack
over Into the center OF the table.
Il The cattle owner looked studious for
minute, and fingered over his checks
sort O nervous like. as Il he wanted to
III tUlit NV bul I4t'sASN IL ~ atEt l. -
naily he Stayei, and the other fellows
dropped In with a hundred apiece, and
the draw began. The captain drew one
card. and that puzzled 'em. He might
a. been DRAWN to four OF kind, or he
might a had only one pair or two pair,
or three Of a kind, and }drawin' one to
fool EN-. The next man drew two. ana
the boys had him sized UP In q mlnu:e
as gettin' ready to bluff on a pair o.
4 queens. may be.. The other fellows drew
all around, till the last man said he'd
stand pat. There was more trouble.
Secin hundred dollars openin' and
staudin' pat was.a sort o; disturfln' to.
z the others
The captain skinned his cards back
again. as II 10 make sure that he had
what he thought he had. and made bet
Of another hundred. The second man
stayed. and the others dropped in witha
hundred until 1t came TO the last man,
and he followed up his pile Of q hundred
with four more stacks of the same size.
Tho little fish began 10 gasp. The cap
tain chewed his mustache like the mem
Der OF an Arctic expedition attackin' a
rubber boot. and swore softly 10 himself.
4 The fellow had puzzled him.
Il The captains nerve never failed him,
but the other fellow set there so cussed
quiet and serene like. that 1t seemed he
4 didn't have nothIn' less than four aces.
Then he had stood pat in the first place.
and that was worryln. matter, too.
! twas tlckiish situation. The CAPT ain
clcnt want to run up against snaE. az
4 pec1ally so close TO the end OF the season,
with cold winter ahead OF him. The
i other fellows. could see In n minute.
I Intended todropout. The current was too
swift sor 'em. But the captain chewed
4 and chewed until his mustachc was
ragged as roustabout's shirt, and still
he couldn't make up his mind. And that
otEer cussed icicle sat there and wills
tel Ike he was at q church festival or
lawn soc!ahle, and nothin' was worry
In him but the weather.
4 well. 1t was an excItin' situation.
A They sat there for fifteen minutes. and
YOU could a heard pin drop at any
tine. Finally the captain reached down
IN his inside pocket. and pulled out q
long leather pocket book. and started to
rEasteH the strap about 1t. Then We
Il looked for squat. and considerable
one. too. Whenever the captain went
after that pocketbook 1t meant trouble
ior the other fellow. There was enough
a hundred dollar bills In the book to make
i a'aorcand even. andythc captain push
Cd en- nut into the middle Of the table
4 AMI waited. Not person said q word.
Ihs stranger unbottoned his coat, and
4 fshed up 4 pocketbook from an inside
pocket. Il was rs full Of bills as leg
islatire session. He pulled out enough to
stack up with the captains offer, and
sn6Ted EN- out In the center OF the table.
y call y9u." ne said.
Il There 81 nm nv &c nm nm TIM a h1n
IN the pot. ard l tell you II looked to
roor devil like me the revival OF pros
nesity. II the captain won he had q
stake 10 keep him n whole season In clo-
yer and nary 4 trip. We oil held our
Df"athe. The captain started TO place
ms hand face up on the table, when
-T-r- n To oh nut