Evening star., 1898-04-22
RUM ROWS OLD DAYS
"reminiscences Of Gambling on a Once
Famous Block.
ADAM KOCH'S WONDERFUL LUCK
How Keno Billy AspinwaI Saved
the Bank Roll.
f AFRO AND ROULETT E

FARO AND ROULETT E
Fifteen or sixteen years ago Rum Row.
as the block between 18th and 18th streets
on E street was euphoniously termed. was
as lively a stretch of thoroughfare as an
American city afforded. The same theater
and hotel and bar rooms that are now 10
Gated upon it We're there then, and in addi
ton was an assortment of gambling rooms
ranging in character from Parker's ele
CANT resort. where a remarkable cuisine
was one Of the attractions, to a plain room
further down the street where a few
chairs and a faro and a hazard layout
comprised the attractions. Before the time
indicated Rum Row was still livelier, and
some marvellous winnings and losings are
recorded in it's thrilling history. Several
of the old habitues of the Row, who still
hang around it and deplore it's departed
glamour between invitations to drink were
exchanging "reminiscences the other night.
Talking about luck said one, reminds
me of the time Adam Koch won bank
roll at Jones off split red. You all re-
member how close and crony Adam and old
Bill Lunsford were When one had stake
he'd share it with the other and they would
play bank together
But Bill was mighty cranky when he
got full. and the night I'm going to
tell about he was fuller than usual He
had been down at John Ushers arguing
with a lot of fellows about the battle OF
Balls Bluff and hitting the bottle every
three minutes. Old General Alfred Pleas
onton came in and upheld Bilis end of the
war argument and this made him pile iii
more red liquor. About II o'clock the
| usual fever struck him and he went up to
Jones. He took a hundred worth of reds
| at dollar and a quarter apiece and be
| gan to play faro.
\ Stake Refused.
| Adam Koch came in about 80 and
| Bill had eight stacks of reds in front of
him and stack of blues and was playing
| dog-gone near every card on the layout.
| doubles, cases and all.
| adam asked Bill for a couple of stacks
| of reds. To the surprise of everybody
Lunsford refused him. Pretty soon Bill
grabbed up lot of chips and put EN- on
| the corner of the five to take the seven.
| There We're two tives and four sevenS in
| the box. The seven split on the turn. Van
degriff. who was dealing, went to take
half of Bilfs bet and found there were
only nineteen in the stack, SO he took ten
and put split red on the remaining nine.
Bill cuSsed IA minute because he'd bet odd
chips, and then picking off the split, toss
ed it to Adam, saying: There, you Old
Dutchman, siXty-tWo and half cents is
big enough stake for YOU Adam took
the split gOOd-n aturedly.
" Get a hole bored in this and wear it
on my watch chain he said.
you'd better play it and win diamond
locket. Adam, said somebody.
"'Well, I'll just take that pointer said
Adam.
THAT deal was ended then and Van was
shufting the cards. When he showed 'em
in the box Adam put the split in the square
between the ace, deuce, king and queen.
The king the turn. and Van took
the split and put down red: then it
again; then the deuce won: then the queen
won twice. Adam let the sixteen chips sit
still. The ace hadn't shown yet There
were three deuces in the box and two kings
and two queens. Van smiled he pushed
out the last queen, but the smile vanished
when the turn came SEWERAGE. Adam had
won again, and his sixty-two and a half
cents was forty dollars, hard and cold.
4 Forty-DOIIar Bet.
Can she all go?' asked Adam. The lin
it at the game. you know, was SO, both to
cases and doubles. Van nodded. The next
turn didn't give action on the square cards.
The next was standoff, ace-deuce. Then
a jack showed first, followed by d queen
Adam pulled down the eighty dollars in
reds, and Lunsford who had regarded his
luck with amaZement, scornfully said:
Give him the money and let him get
that diamond locket.'
"'No.' said Adam I'm going to COPPER
your bets from now out Bill was playing
the cases, three a side and Adam put a
stack coppered wherever Bill put one opeu
and vice versa.
The news got on the Row that Adam
Koch was having one of his lucky streaks
and the boys came in to see the sport. 1T
half-past l o'clock Adam was $3.50 winner.
ard Vandegriff gave up his chair to Jim
Davis. Lunsford was broke, and claiming
half interest in Adams play and demand
| ing settlement. Adam kept him from get
| ting ugly by sending for a quart bottle of
champagne every ten miuutes. Finally
Inn n a
degriff. who had again gone to dealing,
cashed $3.50 worth of chips for Adam, and
| he quit. He was sixteen hundred winner"
Reckless Enslishman.
81 saw another great game up In Ned
Jones' room one night" said another one
| in the crowd. when the first speaker had
| concluded but it wasn't faro; it was
| roulette, and Keno Billy AsDinwall, poor
| little fellow, showed more nerve and keen
judgment than any gambler I ever saw
| twirling ball. A foreigner came In, an
| Engishman, who was born in ConStantinople
| and reared there. He a corker; big
| handsome picture and dressed regard
| less, with as many diamonds as an actress
on him He wanted to play roulette, and
| Keno Billy went behind the wheel. The
| stranger began to play the most reckless
| game of roulette L ever saw. He started
| in with blues at fifty dollars a stack and
| took five stacks. The limit was $40 to
| number and SO to coors and $3.50 to the
| columns. He lost the first $3.50 in hurry
| and took $500 worth more, taking yellows
| at s. apiece. He lost that and took
| other 500 worth. Then he began to win.
| ] never saw anything like 1t. Every time
| the ball stopped it seemed to roll into a
| number he had covered. He won out all
| the chips in the roulette rack
| BILLY sent over to the odd faro table,
| there were two you know, in Jones :,
| where there was no game going on AMI got
| the rack of chips. The player didn't make
| any move to cash in any chips, and you
| bet Billy wasn't anxious for him to. Now,
| mind you, every chip was going at five dol
| lars, whites reds blues, and, of course, yell
| lows. That English-Turk kept winning
| steadily until only two stacks of chips
| We're left in that faro rack. He easily had
| $4,000 in front of him. If he'd cashed he'd
| have smashed the bank in,o smlthereens.
! Ned Jones was nervous and Vandegrif
| was pretty near having fiji. Keno Billy
| was cool and imperturbable. He cracked