The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-23
NE ATH ONLY A STEP AWAY.
~ TyIUCKY GAMBLERS ENGAGE
WENT WITH DdTF JONES.
~ cot on n FerrJboat to Keep It and
Thrn something Happened That Drove
An thoughts of Suicide Out of His Mind
..,,,,t, az Peoulc in Face of Death.


49,, ,rh,uphts of Suicide Out of His Mind
,,tItud, Of People IN Face OF Death.
"p,cc I'm whe II comes to every man.
-, " said the cross-eyed gambler. to
r,,,, how he would face death If 1t came
,, .I,wn TO cases. Taking 1t all in all, there
80, many of us ever called on to do any igur-
at,hot sort Either man gets passed out
,,,,,,,. sort of accident SO quiet that no time
4. ,tysr for calculating his own feelings. or
49,, hc dies " an illness that saps his vitality
sr,juulIy, so that whom tho end comes no sim
~ drops away without struggle. It's
i-b,v few chance OF man going up
,,.., IN, final with pair OF flcldglasses
MI. ayes. 50 to speak. and a first
rh,r view OF tho whole field. I've al
.,,. thought that If l was in q crowd.
tln, yas on the edge. Id want to keep tabs
A., their actions. only I'd probably be too
,,,,,irI myself to think OF anything but keep
Inc steady Jaw. Well. I've had the chance Of
~, life a. that. under conditions when didn't
bn,r ~ ge, ratified fUrmysclt. and can hereby
n,rI,y YOU that once is enough. Interestingly
". +. ru-t swcated interest, that performance
A.. and didn't miss much that was going
.,,hrr But. as said. once Is all want to chip
r,fr Hrsiirs. I've got my own life to look
st.ruuNa lays. Then didn't have.
,N., [ wasn't dead one. Just getting
-e.Iyrn ba That's all. What the preachers
=. rrn,En Providence had handed me a
cor,.c ~ uppcrcuts that Just about got me
r..,iy for Il PERMANENT nap. Never mind what
I, wa. ,ust all kinds OF trouble. and when
L,.,.lrd thu ferry boat in brooklyn had calcu-
l,iel L cave my last quarter on tho deck for
some uchIer b"ttor and Just mOdestly slip
r,,r,h rail into oblivion. On the whole. l
.c.,.iu't,lt-rpvor that | made a great hit by
living. Uurc over the rail 1t would be cinch.
forl couldn't swim stroke and figured that
nv rrk wasn't Of the kind that would make
49,, ofN a boat into the arms OF life
rrr.rlyrr. 50 matter how far down you are.
though. there's always n little natural
hesitation when it comes to dropping
the nag | stood ont on the rear deck. because
didn't want to be chawed up by the paddle
wheels. which is "A rough deal even for sui
c,Gr Well, stood there trying to pick out n
Ia'ch Of river that looked little less cold and
wet than tn" average. aud wishing I'd blown
f., rh,. quarter for drink to brace me up n
litt-. when / found out that something was
la,l.uIus out in front. There was n great old
rur.u. md a footing and shouting. then we hit
something Ike running into an express train
head I,n and it was only by a champion clutch
tia saved myself from going over the rail
before my time. That Jared all the suicide
right ont of ne. started forward and found
q ,,rst.rlu-s riot going on in the cabin. 30 |
went through the carrageway, and a pretty
gay time had Of IT, TOR all the horses In the
pac" we're doing luickstcps
Getting trumpled to death by horses wasn't
any part Of my programme and ! performed
some grand lodging before l reached open air
ON the other side. Then there was another big
hump. and ! dved into a post with my head
and Just about put myself out. When | got to
my feat again and things stopped whirling
around Ike roller coaster thought was In
an asylum. sure There is a streak Of insanity
In an Of US. and it takes a sudden danger to
bring it, out That whole ferry boat load OF peo-
pie vera acting ike u sieshow to Blooming
dale. yelling and bowling and dancing and
making faces al each cther.
" In the cours" OF a long and unsuccessful life
I've hal occasion Ia see my imminent finish a
number OF times and hope l can nut up as
Epyd a front as the next man. but when felt
that solid deck sort ot losing its solidity under
NV f""t-or thought | did had powerful
h"r.h - make a running Jump OF it and trust
+" adding somewhere. One thing is sure: the
.'nn .o!, had got Just Knocked the suicide
gan" "eln out Of my memory and | forgot
what was there for. What with the yelling
nihootnE and general dopeness Of the bunch
ar'Hn. me- soon got my wind back and be-
glntpe2e up the situation. Out a little be-
yuna 0, IN tho fog ] could make out one OF
the" ~ river tugs looking pretty sick. with
lie: POM stove up into several kinds Of lam Der.
She iGnt look as il she was in a position to
u much sod If it came down to cases. and
as everybody was yelling that we were sink
Nc or words to that effect it looked like a hard
dra tor the III" insurance companies. As near
as | could figure out there were about three
women to every man aboard the ferry boat. and
Wheh " came TO question of figures it seemed
- lie up to ne TO get at east one female out Of
The scrape II | could do il. so l made bolt
mo the cabin, cut loose q couple OF life pre-
servers and looked around for lady that
looked as il she would float easy. First thing
s'FArE was "a iUu-puunder: don't believe you
could bay" sunk her with wagon load OF lead.
QUIZ as she was leaning against the wall trying
o. 'a h tucked hcr UP IN the preserver.
i .EaGI onto her, and ali the while
she had me 10y the neck and was praying mo
not 10 iorrakc her There was more business
!, lie done IN other places. and broke out OF
,hht GlNch though II almost cost me my shirt
needed 10 be saved Something hit into me
IInrhUy hHrd and the next knew young chap
,, Ny name $ lorder he says in a sort OF
%.lhist.ysTueak oh, my God! Tn going to
GF2ySn. ! can't swim. Tell 'em my, name 5
lie made break for the rail: lie moved
the leg
Hold on. Corder.' says. Take u life pre-
eei,It. ~ Il come in handy
sinking 49,
II" beat at me with his open hands like an
INV woman when she gets mad and had to
uoMM nm, II didn't seem to be Il me for
e ,w.,9 measures 80 when got him down
NG,r nm apMHah toQuIrt him. and lie quit his
~ ing. Then yanked him to HIS feet and
~ nun mere wer" women aboard 10 be saved.
az " ne didnt lay himself out to take care OF
' n.,H' uI them IA lay him out myself, He was
hnI" al i he shook like a At of tho aguc, but
""r.sSSwwhllei himself ike good ono and says:
QUO lhamKS. I'm all right now. Got ratified, l
SUES Where are tn" prescrversp
rih ,hdcr tho seats, l says You'll do all
We lifted in and got all the prescrvors We
oooM,u carry, ana went out TO fix up the women
ath.H' must say that the women took 1t bet
", man III" men on the average, Some Of EN-
~ niuNhI aud gruaurd. but all tn" how'll =
e., lulaGlg was uouc hy the stronger sex.
i ~ what som" Of tn" men were all right.
i,,,'"N I'"" ArEr .ProsIcrQus looking banker
i"nh Ms look that I'd like TO chang, wad !
NUM- ~..r, iW"Shi"g around giving good advice To
lLrre : lots Of time was his tune. We
t'"y "w' down at all, and II We dol won I
n.y." we y" al Ia. chance To get on Don
'"ilti 't Nuu get the word
III h' 'hI i."ntY Of opposition. though. for
'"'' N"i" ,v,uts AL over the place that didn't
- a tIt