The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1902-12-26
Letter From The Far West.
Denver. Colo. Dec u, 1902

reaching me Monday.
Please permit me to correct the follow
ing errors: You make me say the third
child of Mr.. Neil M"Fitchen's was
named Jesse, when it should be James.
Also you make me say Miss Tense Adair
when it should be Miss Tinse Adair.
Well we have begun to have real
Christmas weather out here. 1t began
snow ing at a. M. Saturday, 18th, and
never stopped for moment until noon
Sunday, 18th, but the flakes were very
small and only appears to be 10 or II
inches deep on the level; the sun came
out at IL a. m. Sunday, lith, bright and
clear, bnt the snow blowing from the
mountains did not quit falling for more
than an hour later; it really looked more
like spring time than winter.
Well had promised to tell something
of the dark side of life near Hunters
Bend. | assure the dear readers of TIE
TINES that it is not at all Il pleasant
task to tell of many things that one will
see and learn while passing through a
very thickly populated district like the
one Just mentioned, and it is not for the
qualification of our sensational mind that
| shall attempt to tell of a few things
that occasionally occur at this famous
Bend, but it is for the information Of
the readers of our bone paper and for
those who are really desirous of knowing
the truth whether good or bad that l
shall tell of some things to be deplOred,
as is well known by all who are familiar
with the life and character Of the Mex
leans or Spanish Americans, as they are
sometimes called. Gambling Of all
kinds is one of their chief attractions,
their greatest amusements and apparent
ly their highest ambition in their own
State they have bull fights, cock fights
and dog fights, with many other birbar-
Gus manifestations of ancient barbarity,
where they can win or lose all the money
| they may be able to get hold of, but such
sport as they like best is not tolerated in
Texas or any other part Of the United
States. SO they have learned to amuse
themselves with many games, the chief
one seems to be what they call Mexican
| Monte. The negroes all seem to have
learned this game as well rs many Others,
but they have n great fascination for
this one especially, and some Of them
are playing all the time whether day or
| night. They have a law in Texas pro-
hibiting gambling of this kind, but it is
| an absolute impossibility to stop the
practice or even check it very much.
| The negroes and MeXicans are not the
| only ones who are fiends of this fashion,
sad to say, there are great many white
people who belong 10 the gangs who
| spend all their spare time gambling, that
| is when they think there is not detec-
! tive on their trail. 1t is a very common
sight to see negroes, MeXcans and
whites going towards the river early
| Sunday morning, though many of them
| 60 there Saturday night with the excuse
of fishing, and they really do fish some,
but they also play Monte as well They
are not afraid of the settlement people
| seeing them, but me bsing a stranger
they would almost have fits trying to
hide the on~cle Md ~i,~----- 49, -.--ooVi,o
| place where they were playing and all
would begin talking at once about the
fish they had or had not caught. A
| great many stay on the river all night
Saturday night though they have no sign
of fish when they come home at 10 a.
m. Sunday, but they can tell interesting
stories of fishing and are ready to go
again the next Saturday night. DuIing
the summer when there is very little
work to do, and when the weather is TOO
| hot to do that little work, the gambling
| maniavDecOmes more intense, but the
| river being from one to two miles dis
| tant from the majority of the shauties
and these llends of Monte Carlo not be-
| ing OF a very laborious turn OF mind.
especially at this season of the year and
under the rays of a semi.trOpical sun,
| they usually seek more convenient and
| nearby resort, there being several bluff,
| running through this bottom or part way
through it, some of them fifteen or
| twenty feet high and 50 steel, that they
cannot be cultivated, and they have al
| lowed bushes and vines bushes are usu-
| ally box elder, elm and live oak; vines
are the mustang grape) to grow all along
| where they can't cultivate. Some OF
| the bushes are fifteen or twenty feet
high and together with the vines make a
very good shade when all are in full
| foliage. These bluffs form an ideal
place for the gamsters, so they rep,re to
| these places rather than walk mile or
more to the river They frequented
these resorts so often that any one in the
| bottom could tell almost to certainty
where the gang could be found at play,
but the inhabitants, for fear or other
wise, would not give them away, but
there were detectives sent to catch them
which they succeeded in doing at several
| different times. There was a very fa-
vorable place for the gang not far from
the home of Mr.. j.. II. Galley, and when
the gang was brought TO trial the in
dictment was for gambling at Bailey's
Bluff and nearly all the testimony bore
evidence OF gambling at Bailey's Bluff,
though the place had never had any
name, more than Bluff, yet the familiar
ity with which the new name was used
and the excitement over the trial of so
may, established a permanent notori-
Gus name for that particular Bluff, and
since that day Bailey's Bluff has been
second in Importance only to Hunter $
| Bend. Notwithstanding the lessons