The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-11
BLACK TROOPERS BETS.
GAMBLE ANYWHERE, ON ANY
THING. TO ANY EXTENT.

Two Men Posted on san Juan Hill.
From the New York Commercial Adver-
tiser
A camp Of negro soldiers is not the place
in which a conscientious Sabbatarian
would enjoy himself most on a Sunday
afternoon. The average darkey will bet
a every opportunity and gamble when he
has the chance, and this opportunity comes
most frequently on the quiet Sabbath sf-
ternoon when there are no drills, and all
the officers, except those on duty, have
left the camp. Then the black man Is in
his glory, he will gather in all the money
ne can beg, borrow, or-get otherwise, and
go in search Of a game" of some sort.
Last Sunday afternoon trooper in the
Ninth Cavalry at Camp Wikoff was sitting
disconsolately in front of his tent. Before
him, folded neatly, was an army blanket,
and on the blanket was a stack of chips.
He was leaning back whistling softly to
himself when another negro came along.
The new arrival had evidently been sue
cessful in some other game, for he had
broad smile on his face and wore his cam
paign hat well on the back of his head.
AS a rule a careful observer can tell
the state of a darkey's feelings by the
manner in which he wears his hat The
better pleased he is the further back Re
wears II, and the broader is his grin. When
he feels mean" or has de misery" he
pulls il down over his eyes and scowls;
then he is a bad niggah," and il is we'll
to look out for him. The man with the
chips and the blanket had his hat pulled
we'll down over his face, but perhaps that
was only because he was facing the sun.
He looked up as the other darkey APP
preached. pushed the chips more into the
center of the blanket and more ostenta-
tiously shuffied his cards The cheerful
darkey's grin broadened as he saw the
challenge, and he gave a little chuckle of
anticipation. Standing directly in front of
the blanket he spread out his legs, put
both hands in his pocket and began to
jingle some loose change.
"I1eah dat boy?' he said. Oats win
nins. Use jes' goin' Toun' pickin up
money desc days. Oh, Lawd; oh, Lawd;
dis sphotin lifes KILN me, Use gettin'
dead tiahd of wealth. Is"
The other man stopped shutting his
cards long enough to put one hand in
his pocket and pull out roll of bills.
These he tossed carelessly on the blanket
and again shuffled his cards without look
ing up or saying a word.
Then the betting commenced and they
each raised the other the limit. About
$50 was at stake when they finally laid
down their hands. The dealer had call
ed" his opponent and he put down his
cards one at time.
zone LIP four" he said two LII
fours;" then, CHANGING at his companion.
tree lrl four, ana King-an blessed If
here amt a other III four"
He reached forward to take the money,
saying:
5of 4 ,fro
I done tole you to han 1t ovah. You
might jes as"
"HoP on!' said the other. yes you
take dem hans off. heahs one liz
ten, an two III tens, an a bullet (ace)
an tree LIP four an'-well you kin hab
dis pot, but don get so fresh mex time,
OATS all
An officer of the Tenth Infantry says
that 1t is impossible to prevent the negroes
from betting.
They will bet while they have life and
money" he said. LAS an instance of this
I'll tell you story-and it's no fake,
either. I posted two men on the small
bridge leading over the creek at the foot
of San Juan hill, after the rest of the
regiment had charged up the hill The
bullets were coming around those men
like hail and yet they couldn't stop bet
ting. When I brought men to relieve them
I found that they were at it, as usual.
They would count, one, two, three, then
they would both spit into the water rush
10 the other side and bet on which would
arrive first They lost sight of their dan
ger in the excitement of their bets"
The inhabitants of the tents near the
signal station, which constitutes the
Newspaper Row" of the camp, were
awakened the other morning by an I'M
earthly din that seemed to come from the
seashore. 1t could not be the surf, for no
made q like that II mig NJ
have been an animal of some sort in It's
death agony but no animal is capable of
screeching in several different keys at the
same time. The noise would continue for
perhaps a minute, die away in a feeble
gasp, and then start again louder than
ever few minutes afterward
A curious reporter started out to ascer-
tain what Ii was. Seated on a log on the
beach like black crows he found six naked
negroes. The ebony color of their backs
was accentuated by the white of the foam
AS the reporter drew nearer he saw that
they each had a bugle to his mouth and
each was blowing into II TO the extent OF
his ability. He touched one on the back
The negro boy turned round and looked up
without removing the bugle from Ills
mouth. His chest were distended and as
he continued to blow into the instrument
he slowly and solemnly winked at the
reporter, then turned round and sounded
his call toward the sea.
The same performance was gone through
with another man, and as he could get no
satisfaction the reporter concluded to wait:
at isn't reveille," he thought, at isn't
assembly and I'm sure it isn't taps
He hadn't decided exactly what 1t was
when one bugle stopped then another, I'M
I'll finally only one little fellow was left
who with one shrill blast of triumph also
subsidized. When they had regained their
breath they told the reporter that they rad
been betting as to who could blow the loud
est AS all the bugles were pitched in diff
ferent keys the result was not melody.
A Ninth Cavalryman went into the post
office at Montauk one day last week and
asked for a money order for $500.
Pay asked the clerk mo; craps"
responded the negro.
The airbrake was invented by West
in0house in 1874 the tornado nv Rushraei