The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-27
WON $4,000
On BUFORD
Sharpers at Cards Got Big Slice
of Money Paid to
Soldiers.

eyes. we had some heavy gambling
on the trip from the Philippines. About
a half dozen men secured some $4,000
in the play. That was the major por-
ton of the money that was paid to the
men on leaving the islands. Our fell
lows know that they have been clean
ed out of their money by gang of
sharp players, yet they don't kick. A
soldier never kicks. He expects to lose
all the money paid him by the govern
ment. He might as we'll lose it at a
comfortable game of draw poker as in
a bowling spree in a tropical port. A.
soldier is a pretty good fellow, any
way." said a man on the transport
Buford yesterday
| 1t seems that games of chance among
the soldiers of the Buford assumed
even larger proportions than they did
among the officers of the transport Re-
| lief The mess rooms of the vessel
were crowded day and night and sharp
/ ers found the soldiers easy picking.
The soldiers knew that they were being
"done''-as many of them expressed it
but did not object, as the big piles of
gold and rolls of notes displayed by the
winners lured them on to play.
The men who made the "clean up
on the Buford are down on the lists of
the transport as "casuals." They are
not attached to any of the companies
on the steamer and are simply odds
and ends from many companies in the
Philippines. They were assisted by a
couple of the Buford's civilian passen-
gers, who have spent most of their
time and some of their money since
arrival in Honolulu down around Wal
bllxi.
The soldiers allege that these men
make it a business of living on trans
ports and taking soldiers money. 1t
is mystery how they secure permits
to travel on them. They go among the
soldiers at the start of a voyage, say
| "howdy do, old chap" to all and sun
dry, and within a few minutes can be
found seated around a blanket on the
floor of the mess room with a deck of
cards and stacks of money in sight.
For the first few days of the voyage
the amounts played for were small.
They gradually increased, and the dis
play of big rolls of notes by the sharp
winners gave many of the men an in
centive to take a hand and try to get
back some of it. But this was practical
ly impossible. Every soldier who went
against the lead-pipe cinch of the pro-
fessionals lost. In some games as
much as a thousand dollars would be
won by one man. 1t was a continuous
affair. As fast as one man lost and
dropped out of the game another man
came forward to take his place. Sol
oiers who won money in the smaller
games among themselves took their
winnings to the big games and prompt
ly lost.
OIficers-that is the commission
ed ones Of the vessel-frequently tried
to stop the games, and on several oc-
casions men who had lost assisted in
turning a hose on the players.
Many of the men of the Buford are of
course broke. Most of them are rag
ged and their clothing, although orig
boilers of the transports engine room.
| Neatly CfGIy dCCAdASS that hC
would not return to the Philippines
under any circumstances. They de-
clare that the islands of the archipel-
ago are only fit for natives and that
America cannot possibly make any
good use of them.
! Now that the war is over,' said one
soldier, there isn't much for soldier
to do there except to kick up a row and
gamble. He can't drink because liquor
comes too high. We are all full of
fever, and but a very small number of
the men weigh anything like what they
did when they went out there. We are
worn out. We have become lazy be-
cause of the tropical heat, and it will
be a long time before the boys get back
that good old lively dash and hustle
which is usually part and parcel of the
American regular in a western army
post. large number of the men on
the Buford have nearly completed their
time and will be discharged during the
next few months, while it is expected
that those who are not discharged will
be sent up to Alaska as soon as they
get the fever out of their systems. 1t
viii be a hard change from the ever
lasting summer of the tropics to the all
the year raund winters of bleak Alas
ka."
ka.
You can bet yer life there'd be a
heap more money spent in Honolulu
by soldiers" said the infantryman, eff
those professional gamblers had not