The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-23
Fishers Lively Poker Game.
An Adventure at Cairo During the Time of the
Flood.
New york Sun1


foot AMI inch by inch till the gauge
showed beyond the question Of a doubt
that the river was ffty-one feet higher
than It's accustomed level and Cairo
was coming ro a realization of peril.
BifJy-tWO feet was the height of the
level in those DAYS and the citizens
had been accustomed 90 see the floods
come twice year and rise threaten
lngly thirty or forty, or even fOTty-hve
feet before receding. but Fifty had been
looked on as more than The limit Of
danger. The food of 1S8z, however,
broke the record, and even at ffty-one
feet there was 10 sign of recession
Up 8nd Jlp came the water, and
every report from the upper Mississip-
~ and from the Ohio as we'll showed
reason 20 fear further rise. The seep
water soaking through the muddy
ear,hworks flooded the streets til
there was little of the fiat level Of the
ground back Of the levees visible. and
every house in the city was an
island
A few inches more and the Hmitess
low would pour over the top Of the
levee, and Cairo would be totally sub
merged to the top Of her highest build
ings. Yet even al that stage OF the
aOOd 1t was hard 70 realize that any
hour might see the destruction of the
city. and there were hundreds who
fneered at the mayors proclamation
calling on every citizen capable OF
handling a spade TO help in throwing
up a dam on the top of the levee. De-
spite these sneers. however, the dam
was built and though the water rose
eighteen inches against that, the city
was saved
Vosrr,-- ETreLo- --,oL~frrr hi
way south as best he might. and who
had found that he could not so further
by rail, bat must wait for a river boat,
was dumb with amazement when he
learned these facts and saw for him
sef the apathy Of the people Of the
town. Business seemed almost entire
~ suspended outside of the retail liquor
traffic. but no one seemed perturbed,
and, seeing their curious calm, he grew
calm himself after the first few hours
and sought for some amusement to
while away the time till he could take
boat for Memphis.
Beyond the hospitality of the saloons
he found nothing, but Of this there
was plenty. and. stroning into one Of
the most pretenti0us Of the many on
the main street. he became aware of a
game of poker that three men were
playing in the back room with the
door wide open.
Being a dabster at the game himself,
he walked back and looked on till he
felt the fever and ventured to ask if
The players objected TO his taking
hand. There was no objection and he
SAT down.
The play was not heavy enough to
daunt him. for though they were play
ing table stakes, no one had more than
$50 in front of him, and his invest
ment of $40 in chips was satisfactory.
Almost as interesting 20 young Fisher
as the game itself was the study Of
personality presented by the three men
with whom pc found himself playing.
The most picturesque of them was
the oldest. He was a man well past so.
who showed unmistakable signs of a
dissipated life. but who was strug-
Cling desperately against his age
he was well dressed and well
grComed after his fashion. His mus
tache and hair were dyed painfully
black and reeked with pOmade His
necktie was a noisy red in color and
carried a huge stone that might pos
sibly have been a diamond.
His hands, withered and trembling,
were we'll kept and white, and his eve
sight was questionable. Fisher 4
NC Jaw very AaEHs Jul the Dll man.
whom the others called the major.
complained that he could not. and dealt
the cards when it came his turn with
such deiberatiOn that il seemed i'm
POSSIBLE for him to miss any Identifying
marks that there might have been on
their backs.
It was this deliberate dealing that
speedily convinced Fisher that he was
up against il, and the bearing of the
other two men confirmed the thought.
One was a tail. straight-backed buc-
cancer OF some IS years, who might
have been carved out Of wood for all
anyone could tell from his manner
His expression. so fer as he could
be said to have any, was that of a
thorough biackguard and the compla-
cency with which he watched the ma
ior's evident efforts at reading the
cards was a sufficient proof that he
was a confederate. His name appeared
10 be Hall. and the third member of
the trio was called Smith He was a
r0Ggb looking customer. who talked a
lot and played the part of a rank out
slider but il did not take Fisher long
10 decide that they all stood together
snd that he was being played for a
victim
This did not concern him greatly, for
the country was new to him and he
was perfectly willing to drop SO or $50
in the qualification of his curiosity.
knowing enough of poker 70 avoid any
obvious traps. and realizing that he
could drop out at any time If the
game should become too heavy, he
continued playing with fully as much
enjoyment as the others found
lit was clumsy work at best. and
could not have deceived any hat the
ereenest greenhOTn, and Fisher was not
that Whether because the shaTpers
desired to whet his appetite or because
they really had not much money among
them, he could not readily decide, but
they made no effort to push the play
3nduiy, and. as he played cautiously
the game continued for perhaps twenty
minutes v idl no serious injury 10 any
enc.
Then another man came in. He en-
tered the saloon bareheaded and in his
shirtsleeves. indica ing that he was
probably a near neighbOT. AS it proved
he was tie proprietor of the saloon
next door. They called him Jack, and
Fisher never inquired as to his other
name.
He was strikingly handsome. with
black. curly hair. fine features, and the
build and carriage of a trained athlete
Ills eyes were a trifie bloodshot, and
his manner nervous. as he STROBE up to
the table but he seemed sober and
sane when he said
Playing poker. hay? Any objections
- my takine a hand?'
None at al said the major, speak
ing for the party. and, accordingly, the
newcomer bought chips and sat in
Fishers conclusion, formed speedily
was that the newcomer was 10 be
played. as he ives. for a victim, and the
game became even more interesting to
him than IT had been before. They