The record-union., 1898-03-23
FAMOUS MEN At POKER.
CONKLING FOUND FUN IN THE
RATIONAL GAME.
Gen. Sherman Once Thought That
His Full House Was Good, But
Conk1ing Had Fours.

His Full House Was Good, But
Conk1ing Had Fours.
Roscoe Conkling was as fond as the
next man Of a little game Of draw"
said an elderly Washington club man
who for a generation has been on terms
of social intimacy with famous men at
this Capital and he was as charming
poker antagonist as ever tried to fill
an in-the- middle straight or bobbed to
flush. Conkling was unquestionably
a man of great natural hauteur, yet I
have always believed and maintained
that the somewhat arrogant and dom
ineering manner that he exhibited in
public, and that often caused him TO
be so thoroughly misunderstood, was
more or less of a pose.
The newspaper writers set him
down and paraded him as an Ajax from
the very beginning of his services here,
and it suited Conklings fancy, when
he perceived that it would be quite
impossible for him to clear himself of
his reputation, to study the part that
he had perforee to accept. and to por-
tray it with consistence and elaboration
throughout his public career. But in
social life. in daily intercourse with
men that he knew and liked, Conkling
was prince, and as gracious, gener-
Gus and accomplished a prince, too, as
ever gained the affectionate esteem and
admiration Of his friends.
He liked l say, to play poker, and
during the last four or five years Of his
Senatorial life he would drop in at John
Chamberlain's occasionally while Con-
gress was in session and sit into
game with friends. all of them public
men, who liked the mental stimulus
and excitement of drawing cards, and
who We're always more than willing to
engage in game in which Conkling
was one of the players-for the cultured
| intellect and Well-stored mind of the
New York Senator never shone more
brightly nor more variously than dur
ing these memorable sessions at cards
with his friends.
quite often those Of US who were
not fortunate, or unfortunate, enough
to be sWirlers in the vortex of public
life would be invited to take hand at
these delightful poker seances; and I,
for one, possess no more valued recol-
lection than those that often recur to
my mind of the dozen or so occasions
on which l played draw poker with
Roscoe Conkling sitting opposite me.
General Phil Sheridan was often one
of the players at these meetings, and
when General Sherman was living in
Washington he, too, would occasion
ally happen around when the game at
Chamberlain's was in progress and
take hand. With Conkling and Sher-
man in the game, the talk of the poker
table was a good deal more interesting
to some of us than the game itself. for
both men would constantly exchange
witty dabs at each other, and the oral
sparring between these two remarkable
men was brilliant and entertaining in
the extreme.
Their pOkes at each other were al
ways perfectly good natured and harm
less. Different as they were in profess
sion and temperament, Conkling and
Sherman were about evenly matched
| in wit, and their mastery of repartee,
and both seemed to find huge pleasure
in practicing on each other in their
hours Of relaxation especially at these
card meetings.
" Conkling,' said Sherman one night
to the New York Senator when the
game was in progress, that Hyperion
curl of yours may now assume an add
ed twist, the effect of woe, and that
Hercules chest prepare to array itself
in tunic of penitential sackcloth-for
I've got you licked Full house, jacks
up on Fights, and Sherman spread his
hand out on the table.
Sherman, said Conkling, beatific
smile pickering at the corners Of his
month, when you marched to the sea
at that exceedingly theatrical period OF
your career, and reached the sea, had it
not been better for you if you had kept
right on marching, even to the point
of complete and final submersion, thus
to have spared yourself the mortifica-
ton of being thrashed right out of your
boots at this epoch Of your history by
mere civilian? Four sevens,' and Conk-
ling raked in the pot with a flourish,
grizzled old Tecump chewing the butt
of his cigar thoughtfully.
But Conkling played his hardest
against General Sherman The two
men were great chums and confdants,
but when they got into a poker game
together it was. of course, in a good.
natured sort Of way, give and take, and
no quarter. When Sheridan was in the
game Conkling simply devoted all Of
his study and skill to the task Of beat
ing the hero of Winchester and, on the
other hand, Little Phil would pay
hardly any attention at all to the other
players, he was so eager to roast his
friend Conkling. Very often the rest
of US would, at a sort Of tacitly under
stood signal, drop out, even when we
had good, playable hands, Just for the
fun of seeing Conkling and Sheridan
at each others throat
Phil said Conkling one night when
he thought his hand was invincible, be
advised. / have your interest at heart
We all admire your historical and pres
ent rashness-but, Phil, be advised.
Consider your natural aversion to
pipe; if you proceed with me on this
you'll be compelled to smoke a pipe
until your retirement This time you
are not alone twenty miles away; you
are 10000, 100000 miles in the dis
lance, and you really can't traverse,
the ground Call me-
"'Conkling,' replied Little Phil with
those two red fighting spots of his
burning brightly on his cheekbones.
you're a stupendous buffer and I'll
see YOU dangling from that sour apple