The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
RAISED OVER THE LIMIT.
4 DISAPPOINTING POKER GAME ON
a MISSOURI RITER STEAMER.

BISMARCK, N. D., Jan. st was tho big.
gest pot I ever saw on n poker table in the
early days of Missouri River stoamboatin',"
remarked Ben Jewell, the retired Missouri
River pilot, IAN that is sayin' q good deal, for
the game Of poker in them days was no penny
ante amusement. / have seen n passenger
start up the river'from Sioux City or Yankton
bound for Bismarck with a roll Of bills like a
city water main, and when he reached the
middle of his journey he was a-mortgagin' Of
his good looks and persuasive manners for the
loan OF a little bit of chewin' tobacco or a nip of
forty rod; and not because there wasn'tsplcnty
Of them articles for salo on the boat, neither,
but because he had struck a cyclone O. poker
and been turned inside out-strapped, sucked,
busted, skinned and cleaned up and hung over
the pilot wheel to dry. 1t was a glorious game
in them d%ays-the great American poker.
THE game was aboard the steamboat Nancy
Loo, on her last trip up from Sioux City late in
the fall. The Nancy was a rotten hulk, anyway,
and 1 didn't want to pilot her no moro than I
wanted to pilot o sawlog down tho Mississippi
in q freshet, but 1t was q case of takin' her up
thoriver or losin' q steady's sit with the company,
and I couldn't afford to throw up the job. The
engineer was q reckless cuss, who filed up the
frebox every once In o while full as q boys
stomach on Christmas and let her wheeze and
throb and slash through the water like an ocean
liner. Tho smoke poured out Of her tunnels
like mad. and many and:manya night I've sit
in the pilothouse with my: hand on the wheel
and held my breath expectin' to BIO blowed W.
or three mile, into the state of Nebraska or the
Territory Of Dakota by the Dustin of q boiler.
But we had a streak of good luck and the
steamer hola 'oselne, I'll we reachea u woou
City and stopped to take on a supply'of fuel.
ttyVhan wa yyiipu ntt fnfn thp atream AGAIN
It was at bright as moonlight II and md I , = ssd' the wheel wheel
over 70 the. cub-and went down into the Cap.
tain,s cabin. Tho nirbt was so clear a baby
could have managed the wheel, and 1 wasn't
afraid of nothin' but them cussed boilers, an I
couldn't get EN- off my mind. The Captains
cabin was full and tho guests were just sittin'
down 10 a game of poker. The Captain was
one OF the nerviest poker LENDS l ever saw, ana
the man who tried to run a bluff in on him was
" ou 'poNo. "" Tsns
quiet IKE Tor an hour or TWO. Ihore was a
cattle buyer from Sioux City in 1t, a railroad
W, 80 " hi~S.ora - 80
and the captain. NO dig hahas hea showed up
trorh,e started with n iock mot. and how It
ended I am about to tell You presently.
sk INV nsn .e tno ai eapas iu Mss en ueal5 0 ,o s sne a es s1uint
on his hand and saw nv his LOOKS that he had
openers. and moderate stiff ones, too. But no.
~ III, NC cnTId ~ told IRON, h}s face whnther
t ns hI had I n id fun nSu Wsv y of 7 I witchin' his mustsche
and I inst kent watch OF his mustache. and [
Ind him.
vi guess III tap her for about "a hundred
cenfrc NJ The table
."Tbe cattle bnyer looked studious for n min
nte and fneored over his checks sort o. ner.
vvous like. az II he wanted TO come in, but needed
n hraccr. Finally he STAYED. and the other
= so,I DTeSe dronnad ~ With a b~nd red ariece and
Ho, MI
ana inc win Inat 70 P }oMr ~ n G Kind. n nr he m'n hight a. had a
onIv ore nair or two pair. or three of n kind.
md dravfn' one to fool 'em. The next man
drew two and the boys had him sized np in a
nm ,,aus M naybe! The other fellows drew all
aaronnS til the last man and he snid he'd
stand pat. There was more trouble. Seem a
sort n disturbin' to the others.
!. The CAPTAIN skinned his cards back again,
and o made q q bet ~ anotbnr hnndrcdt The seq.
ond man stayed, and the others dropped in
with a 9gpdred until u nj H. it car came a, to { the last m mG,t
n nIr me- stscis W" ~ Il pe same oe siln Trbbc MttIe
Ash began to gasp. The Captain chewed his
ton attackin' n rubber boot. and syyore softly
Ike to himself. The fellow had puzzled him.'
Tho atba Tah .iiny 3 s ntr thsr ne 70 cns ss,ep o MEN, and
s snr oeng liz teii that SCI Seemed g he did4p't have nave
nolthinn, less than four aces aces. Then he had stood
not IN the srat Mace and that was n yrorrvini
pat N ~ ton nr'i pt Was a tictIisb sitn a ffhhe
rantsin diin't want to run nm AGAINST n snar'
oa1rpoaoSiaIi, sn ciose 10 the end IS ths sens n "uit11,
e a peld Winter to o ahead Of him NJ The other feilows,
nv ~ SSu !" vas too sujft fnr EN- hit The
n w ohn,5 onS cbe,red md chewnS Vii
bis mmstacbe was ragged as a roustabomts
shirt mi and stju he couldn't make up his mind
t nmd I fhe he u was AZ q c JbTc SRA wberrv festiva9I
: a ~ soniehIa and nothin' .vnSr;ed him
IL d iu"n spoor"'i'' oHu Ho'A VII LII"
Du HW y w =; wna N exc;tin. s;tustion Tbev cot
th.rs fcr IL e T , minutes and von canii2 ~
heard ee ITiT droppin' at any time. Finally the
onRhe aa Iea J inna io q AZ n ne on y tam anu
p ad to u eng he strapp abouf IN n" Than ue
90 10 aniastem We aMd u Uou AZ ~ :" o
IWSIns" rer The sqS CaptS aiIn Vent alter Itfbet o po;cE keI.
w nehGter oan tnonhIa W." fnr IT, othar r tsoiins
T ppboS a me ennueh. bundred dnIIIsp hiils nina in ISe
baor ~ w%S L. no a tfSnusand exsn and tbe Santoin
doom 70 ninhoa nons IN IItSI. ~ ~ ~ = abia t and
p paifed " = n p q u said hdu n word Il The str ntr
wa a'I e. t toU fbis cnaI and ssbed II n noctet.
ker uHu nn ~ q ua.Int ~ y p III ~,
po9k from IN hiSuu pooheic - n"S " IN vi VI
oIns = . d ies,Stav ~ y 9eh't IN C mW dp} une afS ou'
e enI sbov ,o t sem ou ~ IN T tbe cen n Of a tSn ts . bIItef'
ana hotSu ~" a ~ NJ II III oio
..rher "a ys you' Ave We or siX Thousand do,lars IN
mere was NV VI 81 npushi uDiidis on
the taoie u l,S pol, anu ! len sou ! ioohou "