The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1901-06-20
|noN / DULUTH PORTER
| ACQUIRED! WEALTH.
8n0 Retired Gaabler Tells m lnter-
esting Group the story 81 ChiDs,
the stickum and "Aike."

The fortunes WHICH q number Of Duluth
1ane have acquired during the pa5t SIX
ncnths. in stocks. mines. etc, formed the
tnplc of conversation ut an impromptg
enthering few evenings ago. when one Of
the number, retired professional gambler.
Was reminded Of the time several years
eGo-to be more specific, when the boom
Was ON, and everybody had money and
everybody was making lots Of 1t. A full
0edsed gambling establishment was then
being operated on the top floor Of one Of
the local hotels and q person could get .
rpn Tor his money In most any kind OF .
game.
II was not everybody, however, that vas
admitted TO these games. The patrons
were principally well to do men who would
not patronise an ordinary gambling es-
tablishment owl, & to the publicity that 1t
would bring To give one an idea Of the
stiffness Of SOM Of the games, ON one oc-
casion the sum $4,000 was piled up be-
fore the player and q measly three kings
gathered It all in. Alfonso Whiteman was
dtting In the game at the time, but he
was not the one who held the three kings.
Il was NO uncommon thing for men-to visit
the place In question and win or lose all
the way from 81, 900 to $1,000 In an evening
-and think nothing more about 1t. But
this Is not the point.
the one who made the best thing out Of
the game and 1t was a case Of heads win
and tails you lose" with him every time.
IN short he was genius In his way and II
1t were not for the fact that slight ac-
cident occurred one evening he would prob
ably have acquired enough money to put
up handsome business block on Superior
street. Az 1t was, he acquired compe-
tence, for him, and when he left his job
said that he had no kick coming.
1t was the custom OF the players to pay
for everything in chips and the bar receipts
foil ho1n niuhf he ri
would be ordered for the crowd, or the
cigars, as the case might be, and the one
ordering would throw down a certain num-
Der OF chips In payment. The porter then
went to the cashier, got them transferred
Into money and proceeded down stairs where
he fled the orders, paid for the same and
kept the change. There was always change
because the chips were never for smaller
denomination than rs cents. and frequently,
when the players were feeling real sporty
their value was increased to a big round
dollar. The 'rakeoff'' from this was
source Of revenue OF no mean proportions
to the porter and he was soon making al
much money as the proprietor Of the hotel,
and mOre-but he wasn't saying a word.
At length he became dissatisfied with the
amount of his nightly income and bright
thought entered his head which he put into
execution "a hours later believing, and
very correctly, tina would add very ma
terially to his receipts. He went to a neigh
boring drug store and secured several sheets
OF sticky fly paper. Then he gummed the
bottom of the large server which he used
In serving drinks. He was afraid of ordin-
airy molasses because it might not spread
evenly and besides, it might run. The fly
paper "stickum" was the thing and, as it
will appear, it served it's purpose well.
The ingenious porters first name was
Nike, but as he Is now a promising young
Attorney, and has Abandoned everything but
. legitimate means Of earning livelihood.