New-York tribune., 1902-02-23
TURNED A SHARP CORNER.
SPEAKER on CHINESE QUESTION EN-
TRICATED HIMSELF FROM PLIGHT
SENATOR JONES AND
THE GAMBLER.

In earlier days on the Pacific Slope before Chinese
exclusion became accomplished fact. but while
the agitation to that end at its height.
speaker of note imported from the East TO add
the weight of his voice the aut-Chi0ese party.
When the Eastern arrived in San Francisco
he found to be densey ignorant of the cause
in behalf of which he had come to plead. but that
defect the committee tried hard remedy. and on
the evening set for the first meeting supposed
it had succeeded IN accomplishing. The
from the Atlantic seaboard when his turn
arose on the platform, and TO the horror of all
present announced the doctrine of the equality of
man. ''Al men, he declared. ARE born free and
equal and in this great and glorious republic IL
has been decreed that they shall be treated such
That the equality of men should caused
fight devastating war. and that great and
prehensive constitution OF has been
amended that the right of citizens to vote shall
not be denied abridged by the United States or
by any State account of race. color previous
condition of servtude That gentleman. he con
part of the sacred constitution. and 1t applies
it maybe they white. be they red or be they
yellow. Why. gentlemen"- But just here an in
terrupton occurred. For some time the agitated
committee had tried but failed the orators
eye. Then one of its number had hastily pencilled
a note and this 1t was that had interrupted the
flow of eloquence. The Eastern man glanced at the
want TO keep the pigtails out, not let them in
There was an ominous pause; an expectant au-
dience waited. agonized committee sat on pins
and needles. while distinguished orator sought
sponsors from dficult position Once, twice and
again did he seek aid from a glass OF water and
sought. Advancing with hand outstretched he
he Went one witbof the gnye ~ H aTad
OF which have just spoken Is the perncious teach
deude you into believing is the course we advocate
They rest upon the Fifteenth Amendment of the
admitted. They And so he swung S5i2uto on to pe
peroration did much to place the coping on the
wall OF Chinese exclusion.
When John p. Jones. Senator from Nevada
first visited California, he travelled by the 18th
milan route 1t was a mixed company aboard ship
and among them the gambling fraternity was well
represented. One of this ilk showed to the future
Senator cunningy devised roulette wheel BY
simply raising the knee the ball could be made to
drop into the red or the black hole will. then
proposed that they "go cahoots' and work their
! fellow passengers. This Mr.. Jones declined 10 do
but the lesson he remembered Some months later
being in a mining camp he strolled into gambling
saloon roulette game in full swing, and he
| idly watched II for a time. Finally he became
conscious that when the majority of the bets were
on red the black came up and vice Then
he watched the man who rolling the ball;
at regular Intervals his knee raised, and when
| II did the ball invariably fell into a black hole
With these calculations to go on the Senator laid
ms bets As he not absolutely certain he
seae mem pa tentatively small but he won and won
stakes he was ahead $50 AT this juncture he
the cTounier Va on bt IN tie slang oI TO-DAY
position in1preenabia n DuI MI ZONES; feeling his
/ had counted without his banker however for thai
into G ni% speer Tth s ss 2ou
there" he called out i've been watching you and
Work W2 II, II here Now you pull our, do you hear?'
tempns 11F saPdps az ing MS ground and at
at the fringe Of hostile eyes surrounding however
$50 Which the Of tbe sa@beP EP
had not despoiled him. At the door he turned and
eye save that OF the gambler was full of contempt
Then the almost superhuman nerve of the proceed
| ing came home. and Mr.. Jones raised his hat in
recognition OF the genius that could so turn
dereat INTO victory & Not muscle OF the gamblers
raised hat his eyelid momentarily hickered.
In the Northwest in the seventies horse and
cattle thieves a general rule worked their own
wills, and those wills were not sweet ones The
ranchers were scattered and usually too weak to
cope with or to prevent the depredations of the
thieves. The frontier soldiers were supposed TO
guard them equally from murderous redskn and
thieving white, but the soldiers although willing
10 do their share greatly handicapped by
the laws which made 1t necessary TO prove guilt
before taking action. Suspicion alone could not
superinduce punishment; it was necessary to prove
an overt act. As most of the were done far
| from the range of human eyes. in the case of
lifted cattle and stolen horses, and none left to
tell the tale in of murder proof of guilt
was extremely difficult TO obtain. retired army
on1cer speaking OF the Northwest of that time
SAID; 1t was a curious state of affairs that con-
rronted us in a border post that I comma nded
/ there We would have dozen frontiersmen stop-
ping at the post half OF whom we were morally
/ certain were desperadoes OF the worst sort only
Hsiung chance to commit deviltry Yet We
10 act wh vnIen III dhem and could only wait for them
imaRinsTy en handed % dozen miles away across
rule was dfersni % sTitsh II & ground and there the
on on Aaneriean ground you had prove him guilty
In settled communities The Amer,nsn lhofent
"est' out In settling frontiers prefer the