The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-04-29
THE SHARKS
Civil Engineer Too Lucky In
Poker Game.
RUN OF BIG HANDS
BAD MEN THOUGHT HIN A CARD
TRICKSTER.
Would Have Lost His Life But For
Intervention of ''Wild Billn-He
Has Shook the Game, Deciding
That He Was Not Lucky Enough
In Elrding Sheer Bull Luck.
(Chicago Inter ocean.)


played draw since" said a civil en-
gineer who helped to build several Of
the railroads west Of the Missouri. ''It
happened in Abilene in the summer of
10. We. had then pushed the road
about eight miles to the west of Abii-
enc: You know what Abilene was in
10. Dodge City was then g camp
meeting grove compared with Abilene.
The men belonging 10 our construc-
ton gangs were a bad enough lot to
make it worth any mans while TO go
light on them, but they were cooling
dove2 alongside of the evil batch of
devils who had thrown the town of
Abilene together in anticipation of
the building of the railroad. Before
we got anywhere near Abilene there
was a pretty fair sized and comfort
ably filed cemetery plotted out near
the town. But when we got close
enough to Abilene to make it practi-
cable for our construction men TO put
IN their spare time there, drinking
'Sumac whisky and playing cards, be-
tween knock-off on Saturday afternoon
and Jump-in on Monday morning, Joe
Geddes, the pine-box undertaken of
Abilene, had more bushes than he
could handle, working night and day.
Some old timers tried to talk me
out OF my determination TO have a look
around in the town where so many of
the men of the construction gangs were
being killed off-for l wanted to see
what thorough out-and-out bad men
looked like They told me that if
ever wanted TO see my folks back east
any more I'd better not do any mon
keying around in Abilene But l knew
IT all in those days, and so, without
letting any of the men in my gang
know anything about it, I slipped over
to the chainmen'S tents one night and
roped in a couple of them to handcar
me down to Abilene. When we reach
ed the town 1 sent the chainmen back
With the handcar, telling them to re-
turn for me in the morning.
Abilene rather surprised me at first.
l at least expected to have my hat
shot off a few times in the course of
an hours rambling around, and, in
fact, I was prepared to do a little i'm
prOmptu dancing for the edification of
Abileneites, who enjoyed toying with
strangers. Nothing Of the sort hap
pened. Instead, the fellows hanging
around the whisky mills and the brace
faro lay-outs good naturedly took me
in hand and started in to give me a
good time. l was a breezy young chap,
you see, and able to hold my own in
any public exhibition of the swelled
head 1 unquestionably possessed at
that time. Any how, things had not
thoroughly warmed up for the night
when l fell in with the gang early in
the evening. 1t all looked so smooth
and easy, and the heavy-artilleried
chaps that ran into seemed $50 square
and peaceable that drank good deal
more sagebrush whisky than had any
right to drink or than 1 had ever drunk
before
Around about midnight five of US,
including Jim Cathcart, a bad man,
who was hanged a few years later
for the murder of a sheriff in Texas,
pulled up at Toole Kingsley's Kansas
or Bust's saloon and faro bank. The
three other fellows 1 was with were
Outlawed cowboys, although / didn't
know it then, and even if 1 had it
wouldn't have made any difference in
ed a game of draw. He had probably
noticed my good-sized wad of money,
and 1 guess he reckOned on getting it.
didn't have any more sense than to
agree, and, the other three chaps being
also willing, of course, we went up to
the second floor of Kingsley'S rum and
faro houlEatonk and waded in. When
Cathcart suggested the game l noticed
that a tall, broad-shouldered, very
mountaineering man, with long hair
and a heavy muStache, who was stand
ing with his back to the bar, eyed US
pretty carefully, and at the time
rather wondered what he meant by it,
though 1 forgot all about him five
minutes later in the intensity of the
game.
Intense is not the word to describe
that game of poker. / had been plug
ging along at the game of draw more
or less ever since 1 was a growing lad,
and after I had begun to shoulder an
azimuth l had been an onlOoker at
some mighty queer games But never
saw cards run the way they did that
night 1t was embarrassing for a
while, but later on il became danger
Gus; for 1 was total stranger to
these four men, and good deal oilier
in manners and speech than they-a
thing that was likely to excite suspicion
in towns like Abilene in those days,
especially in the minds of men steadily
losing in a game of draw.
Every man of the four persisted in
giving me such massive hands to play
against the utterly no-account hands
they dished out to themselves that 1
didn't know what to make of it. All
poker players, but they were none Of
them ort-cards-able to stack a
deck-and I had certainly never sat
into a auuarer game of draw. But my
own luck was absolutely magical. Pat
hands were. given to me about as often
as pairs were served out to the other
fellows Every time this hap
pened, and one or more of my OPP
ponents determined TO find. out if 1
was bluff1ng on my pats, laid down
the hands with a little fear growing
within me; for after we had been play
ing for an hour or so l noticed all four
the tails of their eyes.
After 1 had continued whacking all
four of them pretty hard on their own
deals (rarely dealing myself hand
worth anything) for couple of hours,
the Luck took a peculiar switch, al
thous it stayed with me. 1 began to
get Tothing whatever on the deals of
the other fellows. but on my own deals
1 fed myself with hands that actually
smelled of birthstone, they were so
weird and inexplicable.
Zone time 1 got four Fights pat on
nv own deal. I drew card to give
the impression that 1 was either draw
ing to two pairs or bobDing TO a
straight or flush. and won corking
not. / was given some bad looks for
this. Ten minutes later, when it was
nav deal. l was kind enough to give
myself a pat full, kings up on sevens.
and. the whole four staying, l raped
them again with all my might, al
though the chill of fear was creeping
over me, in spite of the copious guam
titles of fiery red liquor 1 was getting
outside of along with the others.
This extraordinary luck jumped me
on my own deal only once after had
caught and played those two self
dealt pat hands for all they were worth.
The result was that l was out of the
game for quite a little while. none of
the other men serving me with hands
fit to draw to. Meanwhile the four Of
them played listlessly with me out of
ii. for I had a good deal of the money
nf each and they wanted il back !