The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-02
YASQUICK VITHAGUNANDV Won
fuCLy POKER on AN OLD-TIME
MISSISSIPPI PACKET.
An EXCITING Trip That Began With a
Mutiny Ct the Negro Crew INT In
Guided the shooting OF = Gambler by
,hc Man lie Was Trying TO Cheat.

HiIftlRG III NlAVVAtf's ~ ~
,hr Man lie Was Trying TO Cheat.
.,Tain't no unusual thing for to have
,oro totally unexpected thing happen
-. r,ye- boat" said old Caleb Mix, tho
yo,.,on LagEccper on the Mississippi River
.oaL,+ Nnt~IcZ. IAN sometimes the on
-.ctad = full o. cirprise fr all hands.
We lnoycL il 20 De co when & bi!er d bust
:, .bc old DAYS, right in the midst Of a eS-
c;,;p, NICE. with tie t"U boats -ido by side,
40 a,c on en- a blame eight higher the
III ,hor was any wavs comfortable.
o,' tho othor boat crowcin her higher
-, SIGH tir,,s ,htv "a usually considerable
.,,t,,,,oot roin'. at . biler dustin amt
,,rI,,cd 10 .oo,lr nobody's feelin's non
.Ril.,, don't bust nowadays likes they
,sotar though reckon. maybe. they
h,ili ON lcttsr'n Troy dill. for one thing.
,u'thoy don't usc 'cn the same. for another.
aBaro' the aCr ;Eere was racin' on the
r,c- pretty nigh all the time. an 'twan't
no "ausral thing for . cnp'n to take all
tbn chances they was to take. rather'n
a. ssr the other boat get ahead. I've
tcar'd stories o cap'ns that d burn up
ti.ir ta.-oeG Il Get niggcrs on the safety
valve. ruthar'a De beat, but ! never seed
n,'ain' quite like that.
There wns excitement enough. al 'bilers
enough bustcd. without that, but ! don't
sly il didn't happen. Some o the river
trcn them days was reckless enough to
a. most anything.
Whatever waru't likely TO happen on
4 :rip up an down the river gently did
lp3ucn, whether II were a improInptoo
duel on the upper deck, or a fire on board.
You never kGowed whether IL would be
ycI Of the other foller that wouldn't finish
the trip alive. an whatever else you might
miss "a u packet ride, you Narn't likely
81 miss excitement.
"1lc"e was one trip the old Louisiana
made f'om Memphis to Now Orleans In
N, spring - 'Oi. though. that held the
record !or II good many years, an so fur
a. I kraw. holds il yet. There were more
nryilurnt on board them few days than
! ever a'cd afore o. since inside Of a month.
an. l,ul.ip' back OF Il now. Iain't surprised
.; rutiin' nut the fact tina the old boat
:u..ict the trip on top o the wator. Pears
No she'd oughter have struck a snag. OF
caught Ere on the WY. SOS to kind o
round things up like. But she didn't.
Tho trouble began efore We left Mem
pills, on the main deck. The niggers was
Troublesome, an had been for some time.
You see, the war was comm on, an
;.crc was any Gods quantity Of Adolf
..puists tryin' To stir 'em up. We kept a
'uokout for 'em as well as we could. an
vhen we'd catch one {. d be all day with
aim. but avery one we'd hang, OF throw
overheard, d seem 20 leave two in his
place
Somehow. they'd get hold O. the rousta-
bouts on the Louisiana, while we was a
,oadin' up at Memphis. an the crazy fools
got It into their heads that they cd seize
he boat an run her up North, where they'd
stand a chance o. goin' free. Course
they had as good a chanel as a bag o
feathers in a blast furnace. but they tried IL,
"One powerful big black niger hit the
mate back o. the ear with a balestick. an
four or Ave others made a rush for him to
throw him overheard. The Lord only
knows what they expected 70 do next. hut
.here warn't no next.
a little fellow from Texas stood on the
upper deck that was a crack shot. an he
had his gun out an shot three Of EN- dead
IN their TRACKS afore the cap'n seed what
was goin' on. noon ~ he seen II he jumped
In. an ten minutes later every live Niger
on board wa IN irons.
we left that crew in the Memphis Gala
boose an started with a new one the came
cYen.n'. The mate vas only stunned not
killed. an he made Il mighty pleasant for
them other niggers for three or four days.
Then there was a game a. poker started
Ia the saloon after supper the first night
that finished up In as fine a mix-up as | ever
zee. There was "A coupls % New Orleans
sports that had come up with us on the
lat trip, lookin' fos game
They found u. too. for they Was playin'
all the way up tho river with some young
bucks that had more money than they had
knowledge 81 the game, an they made
cpnsid'able moron exps,nsss bsslde~ what