The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-13
old III" PIERCE Is DEAD.
In His Day He Won and Lost Many Fortunes
More Prosperous sports viii Bury Him.

In His Day He Won and Lost Many Fortunes
More Prosperous sports VIII Bury Him.
A veteran sport" and gambler. Old ri"
Pierce. lately Of the Bowcry but In former years
OF New Orleans. 81. Louis and the Mississippi
River generally. died yesterday In 81. Ninoents
Hospital at the ago Of u. Old III" was known
In his palmy days anon the swell gambling
fraternity from California 10 Maine and from
this Gulf to the Great Lakes. In his best DAYS
he was several pegs above the Ordinary run Of
adventurers OF his kind. With u substraium in
MS character which was alphabetically eX-
planned by his pals and cronies on ihe ground
that he came from q good New England family
and could not wholly overcome his ancestral
tendencies. Tie was born in Quincy. Mac.
and his family was remotely connected with
that Of Franklin Pierce, although the story THAI
he was a nephew Of the former President Of ths
United States he himself never insisted upon.
lie started on his gambling and shooting
career by being a village bad boy. with an
abnormal fondne's for bowling and a Iskill
self TO its pursuit. He had bowling, pIaNes OF
his own before very long and was kGUwn as
much for his readiness to bet on anything
Of his boyhood. Hs driftsd to New .Orlean;
Just before the outbreak OF the Civil Var ana
became an all-around gambler well known
WI III tttSFtNNtDIl Ntt0TuDOAtS WnSIc hAti
ran high ~ those halcyon days Of river travel,
when darktes were often played for lost and
won a. various games OF cards, old HIS.
dozen or more independent fortunes in, hls
day. Tie had all ths professional gamblers
faults a. well n his good qualities. and these
His generosity was proverbial even In a co,erie
where n certain type of or-hand. lavish liber.
alit,y Is supposed to be a kind Of fetish FOR good
luck 10 come. He more than once gave back
his VlnnlnUa "a b.Ara tho lnsnr txn- aninn IN Ina
greatly distressed by his loss. But at the
rambling table itself he was cold and relentless
as fate. He was never satisfied until his op-
ponSnt was stripped clean and helpless at his
feet, That was part Of his business, But with
the battle over and won, his generosity to the
fallen foe was open handed to q degree,
run Of the criminal and partly criminal barro0m
crew he associated with. was ia his respect for
religion and for his responsibilities M a hus-
s esfa pn "hiI ,s,aer and ~ =. h "a, a good VIE fsr and
tact with the Mr: Hyds side Of his character,
tie enSoqrased them to go to church and
church work. although he would not So far
play the hypocrite as 10 go to church himself:
lie wanted his children to grow TO be good
citizens and TO lead orderly lives, and therein
hs puritan ancestry cropped out,
When, in 1915. the blow came which took
nom MN all his family save one child his for
and three children were ali swept away bv
diphtheria within q short lime Of each other
and he buried them in the Greenwood GEM
etery lot which he had bought and where by
the charity Of sports now more prosperous
he will himself be buried. From the time Of
his loss he went on the downward path. lat
terly he has been living In BOwery lodging
houses through the bounty Of friends who
knew him for what he had been. lie gambled
10 the last whenever he had ANYTHING TO gam
BILE with, but the old tlme luck Of the days when
he always carried a $1,000 roll IN his pocket
never came back to him. II was only the
trcmendou. vigor of his constitution which
enabled him TO prolVns his life. which latterly
had been very sQualid. 10 the full-rounded
measure of years he attained.