The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-08-29
WON $4,000
On bUFOHO
Shsrp,p q, Cards Got Bis Slice
OF Money Paid 10
Soldiers.

Yes. We had Some heavy gambling
on the trip from the Philippines About
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
cd out Of their money by "A gang OF
sharp players, yet they don't kick 4
soldier never kicks He expects 10 lose
all the money paid him by the govern
mcnt. lie might as well lose IL at "A
comfortable game Of draw poker as In
a bowling spree In 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 die
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 IL
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 We're 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
XXI.
The soldiers allege that these men
make II business of living on trans
ports and taking soldiers money. 1t
~ "A 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 few minutes can be
found seated around blanket on the
tloor of the mess room with "A deck OF
cards and stacks of money i'm sight.
For the first few days of the voyage
the amounts played for We're 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 n hand and try TO get
back some of II. 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 continuous
affair. As fast as one man lost and
dropped out of the game another man
came forward to take his place. Sol
diers who won money i'm the smaller
games among themselves took their
winnings to the big games and prompt
ly lost.
OIfcers-that is the non-commission-
ID ones Of the vessel-frequently tried
to stop the games, and on several oc-
casi1ns 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
Sed and their clothing although orig
inally khaki, is now the color of the
boilers of the transports engine room
Nearly every man declares that he
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 a soldier
to do there except to kick up row and
gamble. He cant drink because liquor
comes too high. We are all full OF
fever, and but very snail 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. A large number of the men or
the Buford have nearly completed theii
, time and will be discharged during the
next few months, while II 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. II
will be a hard change from the ever
lasting summer of the tropics to the all
the year raund winters of bleak Alas
ka"
you can bet yer life there'd be a
heap more money spent in Honolulu
by soldiers. said the infantryman, III
those professional gamblers had not
tied up all the men on the way from
the islands"