The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-09
BOTH FIRING WHEN LAST SEEN
CLIMAX or A POKER GAME ON A
TRAIN BEFORE THE WAR.

Byutander with IN Old u Both
Put on to Fight II Out-The Con-
ductor's Interpretation of the Ruies.
The ride across Kentucky on the old
Louisville and Nashville Railroad q few
years before the war. : said the g~ray-haired,
young-looking man. used to be sometimes
very exciting. It was not that there was
no very much more shooting done In the
Blue Grass State then than there Is now,
but things used to happen on the cars that
maze .hooting necessary. according to the
customs Of the community.
Novher else were the merits Of poker
more readily appreciated than in the Mis-
sisslppi Valley. and naturally. the great
river boats became the favorite haunts OF
m. gamblers, 30 that a great number,
perhaps a majority. Of the old-time poker
stories are told as occurrences on those
same boats. II is not to be supposed,
however, that all the poker was played
there or that there were not exciting in
cidents arising from the game elsewhere.
have seen some stirring things on the
railroad trains as well ar on the boats.
The road | spoke Of was a favorite route
between the North and the South at that
time, and the run between the two cities
was long enough TO make scquaintances.
% that the professional gamblers found It
9 good hunting ground.
The rules about card playing on the
trains we're lax enough in those days, even
if here we're any. / don't remember ever
TO have seen a ga me stopped by a conductor,
no matter how high the betting might run,
and | fancy any interference on his part
would have been resented as q piece Of
u~nwarrantable i~mpertinence.
Most Of the gamblers were over-dressed
and showed a trace Of vulgarity somewhere
In their manners or appearance, but now
and again you would find one who looked
and acted the part Of a gentleman well
enough to disarm suspicion. | remember
one of them, Sam Austin by name, who
would never have been suspected OF being
q professional gambler by anybody who
SAN him the first time.
slight in figure, rather understood, blue
evsJ and almost afeminate In his looks.
ho was well educated and even refined.
Judging by his speech, and 40 quiet in
m1n'-r A. to seem almost difident. Yet
his ',iue eyes could blaze. his quiet voice
could ring out strange oaths, and his white
hands could handle q knife or Il revolver
a. dsftly as the next, and there were dark
,fories of the deadly work he had done
o two or three occasions when he was
driven TO bay.
Il saw him stirred up, once. and the
transformation from man to wild beast
was as startling "a a nightmare. 1t was
In one of the smoking cars and he was
In a game with three others. none of whom
/ knew.
"0ne of them had asked me to Join in a
navna 80 n arda hnt 7 had ref,,aad mot On -
ing to gamble with strangers, and know
ing the usual course OF events well enough
Co feel confident that the gan for amuse-
ment' would soon be played for money.
The party was easily made up without
me and Austin was one Of the four who
began playing Old sledge. The other
three were certainly not professionals.
One was a planter from further South,
beyond a question. His look. manner
dress and speech showed it. for the typical
Southern planter In those days was like
no other man on earth.
One was a drummer from the North
a he took pains to explain to every one he
talked TO, for tho methods OF drummers
forty years ago were not the methods OF
to-day. And the other looked as If he
might rave been a merchant on his way
North to buy goods.
One thing was certain. They all hac
considerable money with them, for when
after half an hours play the planter de,
clared the game slow and proposed tc
change it to poker they all agreed and nc
objection was made when he called the
brakeman and asked for chips. suggesting
that they make the white chips a dollar
the reds five and the blues twenty.
sIf av,ar n Marty WalkaH into ha pars
that was act for them. that party did It
putting themselves in Aus,in's clutche:
without a move on his part, for all he hac
done thus far was to listen and agree &c
what was proposed.
After that he was more active. Each
one Of the -four bought a hundred dollars
worth TO begin, and the game started witt
a dollar ante. As | knew something OF
Austin's reputation as a card ~manipulator
! moved up to a seat close by where |
could watch him, for l have always taken
a keen interest in studying the tricks OF
crooked play. and / was positive there
would be some before long.
1T was a long time before l could detect
anything wrong, and | am inclined 10 think
he played a perfectly straight game at
FIRST in order TO study his opponents. Az
all events, he lost some during the first
half hour though not as much an the planter
who bought his second and third hundred,
" u" iH'NNIlhlN III a kth' nv W Nv
boneyard. The drummer was the only
winner, and l looked to SEQ him get flushed
with success and begin to play recklessly
but he was a prudent sort Of chap and the
more he won, the more carefully he seemed
90 NAV.
There was no talk Of a limit, but the
betting was not particularly heavy for
that sort of game until they had played
for an hour or more. Two or three times
there had a been a bet Of as much as $50
or a raise Of that amount. but only once,
as l remember, was il called. The most
OF the betting was from 81 to 80 at a
CLIP, showing that none OF the party was
specially anxious TO press the game.
mat, OF course, was not going TO last
but Austin knew that there was plenty Of
time ahead before the game was likely
y break up, and for some reason he did
not want TO rush things. At length, how
ever. the cards began to run his way very
bard. He made a number OF suspiciously
lucky draws on his own deal, and ! watched
more closely than ever 10 see how he did il,
but for some time ] detected nothing.
was positive that he was not holding
out, and | did not believe he was stacking
the cards II he did he was uncominonly
clever at II, for his slunia WINS aDpareutly