The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-02-27
Straight Flush
and -Four Rces
The Parson Was in the Game and 1t
Broke Up the sunday schooi-hnew
Few Things About Cards
From the Philadelphia Times.

From the Philadelphia Times.
mo two men, | imagine, play poker
alike" said the gray-haired. young
looking man, in the club smoking room.
"Certainly some men seem TO have TAR
success at the game and TO be account
ed good players who govern their play
by rules that others would laugh 70
scorn. And the others are good players
too. | remember reading an lnterVle"
with Gen. BENJAMIN F. Butler good
many years ago. IN when ne % -.
ported as saying that he would never
fgo in with less than pair OF eishts
in his hand before thes draw. II oc-
Cured To me that he must nave oeeh
misreported. or else he spoke carelessis'
for of course. such rule Wouid Dr.
vent him from trying TO MI slfalshs
or n flush and that seems to me 10 pe
a highly desirable play on occasions.
But. waving that point, the reHafh
seems to indicate that he was mercy
a type of many players VINO are eau
tious to a degree, and VINO Wouia ny
dream of taking what other men Wouia
call ordinary chances. Yet these same
careful ones are as frequent losers as
more liberal players. ] remember play
ing a far more open game than lhat on
one occasion. and ! split pair OF kings
and o. Baptist Sunday school square IN
I'VE were trying to build up the town
as well as we could, to compete with
another one-horse settlement about
seven miles below us. in southern lll-
nois. and among the expedients TO
which we resorted was hiring one OF
those boy preachers to go about the
country instigating revivals. Don
imagine that | am speaking disrespect-
fully of genuine religion. | hope am
not capable Of that. But what we got
.1Ekxsx a ii
no right to complain about that, though,
for it was unhappily true that the
whole thing was purely business
speculation on the part of half dozen
of us who put up the necessary money,
but who. | am glad to say, took no
part in the proceedings.
THE fact was we had town lots to
sell If it had been 20 years later /
suppose | could say we had town lots
to burn. Anyhow, the only chance we
could see of ever being able TO get away
from the place was by inducing other
people to come there and settle. And
as the burning ambition of every in
telligent person in town was to acquire
residence elsewhere. we We're indus
triously cunning for settlers.
THE idea of the revival was sprung
ON us by the postmaster one night after
we had stopped playing and were en-
joying a social glass. One after another
told a story. and finally Bob Finley
sprung one that is old enough now to
be new again. Tt was about the man
| who laid out a town site on a tract of
land that he owned and got everlast-
| ingly rich selling town lots. As he grew
richer he grew more enterprising and
more liberal and he put up several pub
/ lie buildings at his own expense, such
/ as a library and a town hall and a
church. And one day a travelling
/ clergyman. inquiring about the place,
| expressed great delight at the condition
! of affairs and asked him if he belonged
to the church. And the man said:
'N-no. Not exactly. In fact. the blamed
thing belongs to me.
I'VE all laughed and some body was
about to spin another yarn. when this
postmaster smote his thigh and ex-
elaine: BY gravy, that fellow had 6
| good idea. We haven't got any churcr
| here and those fellows over in Dinkus
haven't got any, either. Now. il WI
want to get good, solid citizens in here
with money, we must have a church
and a Sunday school for their wives
and children
1T was voted good idea and WI
took UP a subscription on the spot and
| raised $500 for preliminary expenses
besides appointing Jack Whitaker
committee Of one TO set the ball rolling
Jack was a harum-scarum sort of fel
low, who had started in business as
real estate agent. and was likely (,
starYe to death soon unless we coult
manage TO attract new settlers. 70
there wasn't man in town who wouit
buy land at any price. We all wanted
to sell
1T was no trouble at all for Jack Il
get a donation of good corner lot for
church site. and after two or three days
of hustiing he succeeded in getting
enough money to begin building "A mod
est little chapel, which. though IL wa
Of anything else of the kind in our sec
tion of the state.
You see. all we have to do Is [,
make good show of beginning, sal,
Jack with a grin. j can mortgage TIL
whole outfit with some one of my com
panies to finish her up i'm good style
For he was an insurance agent also an
represented very company that care
to do business down our way
$50 far everything seemed entirel.
satisfactory, and we began TO thinl
more highly Of Jack than we had. blu
when he reported toward the end of tn
week that he had hired a travelling
evangelist To come and hold a series o
meetings we We're inclined to think per
haps he had gone too fast. especially a
he acknowledged that he knew nothin
about the preacher and had never eve
seen him.
How did you get hold Of him
dShGu Itts bldFhHIllIlIs WIZ NdSt III IiipA
senses than one. a solid citizen and
man of great influence. He could hit
harder blow with his fist than any othe
amateur 1 ever saw and he played
excellent hand at poker. Besides tina
he had money in bank, in addition to hi
real estate holdings.
- advertised for him. of course
2 said Jack You don't suppose | have
wide enough acquaintance with prDfeS
: sonal clergymen TO enable me to pic
out capable man from among my pei
!. sonal friends do your
: We are discaimed that idea promp
ly and he went on: 4 put an ad.
4 the Chicago papers for a first-class II
givalist who would guarantee to get u
! a lively public interest In religious maj
!. tiers inside Of week. | said he mu
n be a hustler, and that If successful
might get a permanent engagement
e This fellow answered. His name Is Rui
z. nd I as4 u i'm nv rataf M