The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-05-09

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1900.
HE BET ON THE SEVEN
A GAMBLERS SCHEME THAT WORK
ED WELL FOR AWHILE.
He Forgot One Very Important
Thing, However, and His Last
PIunging Wager Brought Ruin
aud TRAGEDY In Its Wake.

lie Forgot One Very Important
Thing, However, and His Lust
PIunging Wager Brought Ruin
aud Tragedy In Its Wake.
y gentleman who lives In the Blue
Grass and who has been Il very ex-
lensiye Traveller has silver service 50
magnificent In design and heavy In
weight that its peers In the whole
world may be numbered ON the fingers
Of one hand. The owner Is even now,
when past middle age, good fellow"
who loves conylyiallty, and no game is
too hazardous for him IL he has the
amount OF the stakes. lie takes pleas
ure IN telling the history Of his serv-
Ice, as 1t concerns the most audaclouS
game of chance he ever witnessed.
when | was la Bolivia some years
ago" he always begins, Il got In with
crowd of men, English and natives,
whose passion for gambling knew no
bounds. Strange as 1t may seem, none
pf them knew poker, aud | made my
self solid with them by teaching them.
but their grent game was roulette.
i
where they had miniature Monte
Carlo, aud many nights did we spend
around the great wheel, with our mon
ey and prospects hanging on the black
or red. The wheel was entirely made
of wood, and when It was spun around
cover was put over the machine so
that they could keep on betting when
1t had ceased TO turn.
"Therc Is worm down there IN
that climate that gets into furniture
aud bores until nothing but shell IL
left. You may sit on n chair that
looks perfectly strong, but ut the first
touch 1t collapses, This seems irrele-
want, but 1t Is not, rs you may see
later. In fact, that worm plays the
title role In the tragedy | am going to
tell.
"rherc was wealthy Bolivian plant
er who had been a general In the war
between Bolivia and Chile back IN the
early eighties. lie was never absent
Il night from our games. but lie would
frequently stand about for II week and
never make bet larger than $40.
Then he would suddenly cry out just
as the operator was about to lift the
cover and register the highest bet the
house would permit Next he would
place all the money lie could find TAX
ers for among the gentlemen present.
Before the season was far advanced
he had won great sums, and we had
all felt the results of his freaklsh luck.
1t seemed that when he played =
black he could not lose, and lie seemed
10 realize 1t, for when he did call that
number lie would put all he owned In
the balance.
"Still he was n gentleman and fa-
nous duellst and no one cared 10
question his methods. 1t went on this
way for two months. Then one night
the wheel stopped, aud there was the
silence of the pralrles In the room.
We could hear tho ball fall into the
compartment distinctly. We could
hear the distant tinlllng of Il mandolin.
The planter lenpcd up as from cata-
lepsy: Seven black, senores, | Will
take MI any OF you or all of you VIII
bet Wen, l had been winning strong
aud was so much to the good that |
was reckless.
"'Five dollars, | said.
"'Good. senor.' he replied.
"IIe placed his entire fortune in diff
ferent wagera There We're number
of strangers present, and they all
seemed big flush. Then slowly, as
priest officiating at some solemn, bar
barrie ceremony, the banker removed
the top. We nh stood for a moment,
and the tension was such that n car
rlage wheel ON the cobblestones out
side made us all start. Red came
the announcement.
"rhe Bolivian was white rs snow,
but his voice was mistaken as he said:
'Gentlemcn YOU shall all be paid. AZ
for me, | am ruined
"rhat night he shot himself, and his
Will, which had been written Just be-
fore his death. arranged for the pay
ment of all his debts ] was TO re-
ceive the service for my share, though
II IS worth much more. But what l
valued much more than that was
note In which he expressed his attach
ment for me and asked me to accept
the silver as n gift and not debt.
'IIe left also curious manuscript,
written some time before, Which seem
ed to be sort Of private Journal lie
stated In this that his ears were so
accurate that he could detect the diff
ference between the fall of a pin and
needle. one night, so he says, he heard
the ball fall into the compartment with
il hollow thRd, and when the machine
was opened he made note of the num-
Der and color. black Later when
alone for 4 moment, he found that the
ufuipsail worm had bored under that
Commandment He sounded the eXcava-
t!on with straw and found that 1t
extended no farther than that one
uumi,i 4S,p all lie had TO do was
to listen and when his acute hearing
told him that his number had come to
yet all the money possible on 1t.
YES. gentlemen, he had all his plans
laid 20 perfection. There was only one
wonk spot IA his calculations lie for
got that those worms could keep on
BORING" Louisville Evening Post.
Net Rcsponsibie.
"Say. what right have you got to
kick" asked the man. You never