The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03
THE RIGHT or
j THE DUELLlST.
Wind.Up Of 4 Poker CAME in the
Lively Days Of the MiMissippi
River Packets.

said Caleb Mix, the veteran bartender
on the Mississippi River paoke, City OF
Natchez. that / reckon mebbe mought
ha KEEP their end up with any o. the high
rollers that ulster whoop things up on the
boats good many year ago, befo' the
war, but don't see none on em dom It.
Pears like they don't have the same am
bition nowadays. t they lister, but reckon
more'n likely it's because things is different
| on the boats
-Mebbe there's just as many high jinks
now as there was then. on'y they happen
somewhere else. Them days the boats
was the place where everybody was lookin'
| for excitement o. one kind or other. an
| there didn't nobody need to look twice.
1t We're always on tap, n the on'y thing
| t was needed was to step aboard an keep
y'r eye peeled. Somepin' d happen all
| right.
Zone thing, I reckon. t made it lively
| them times was t the on'y thing 7 the
| young men had to do was to study up some
new deviltry. an when they come to be
older they was so used to it they couldn't
| change easy. Everybody had plenty o
money. an there was niggers to do all the
work. so the on'y thing f'r white man
to do was to enjoy hisself. An you can
come pretty toll able near sayin' they done it..
"There want nothin that come along
t had any excitement in 1t but what the
young bloods. them tines was into it.
] Mead over heels. whether twas drinkin
| OF gamblin' or fghtin' They'd fight at
the drop o. the hat any one on EN-, an
they thought nothin o playin' away a
years crops in one settin' at a game o.
poker, an when it come to putin away
bulge. there want no limit on the gan9
You couldn't say they'd get real drunk
like man will on whiskey nowadays.
for whiskey want drinked so much then
| as It's now. II was wines an brandy them
for the mos part. with sometimes little
| Jamaica rum. Rum was more Of a drink
| up Moth, though, than 1t were on the river,
40 they tell me- but there want so many
mixed drinks as they is now on'y juleps
an saangarecs, an man don't get the
| same kind of drunk on straight liquor I
| he does on cocktails an such.
But wines and brandy will go to mans
head. If he drinks EN- steady. even II he
don't get drunk. As was sayin', they didn't
seem to so much them times. an when
party o young fellersd get aboard the
boat somewheres up the river, all on the
way TO New Orleans for visit. things was
| tol'able likely to be doin' afore we'd get
| there. specially il twas more'n twenty
four-hour trip I'm where they'd get on,
one night when was keepin the bar on the
old Creole Belle that was burned just out,
side the Vicksburg landin' afterwards. an.
! when seen EN- comm ] says to myself
busy times for me an my niger, Joe: A
man couldn't run bar on one O these river
boats then without havin' helper, an l
alus had my own niger m choice.
Them five was all husky young bloods.
They was big men, such as you find good
yr1n or N
less N six foot nor NOR n rs year old An
every one on EN- had his own body servant
with him, for nobody that was anybody
ever travelled them days without servant
the way they was all talkin' together, an
they was larkin' like schoolboys when
they come on the boat, so ] knowcd they'd
been drinkin' quite some since supper, for
them times when there was strangers
round. an there want no manner o doubt
that these, fellers was gentlemen:
We'll, they hadn't fairly, got, of the gang
plank afG they bs plain enough sh
nessee man named Gaynor that l knowed
for tol'able hard character, him bein' a
fightin'. man an high roller hisself, but
soma down in the world havin' gambled
his fortune, an bein' in the way o gettin'
talked about. even then. He were a pro-
fessional gambler after. but this happened
afore he lost caste altogether.
He stood in the gangway givin' his
Niger orders about something or other
havn' his head turned, talkin' to his friends,
brushed up ag'in Gaynor kind o careless.
"He turned like a flash, when he seen
what he'd did, an takin of his hat, says
polite as possible
Il beg yo' pardon. sir. treaty."
But Gaynor was psppery cuss. an
didn't even wait for him TO finish what he
was sayin', He bust out cussin an says;
What the devil yo' mean walkin' on
THE young Arkansas felter drawed his
self up as stiff as a ramrod. an put his
hat on again, an waited till Gaynor got
through oussn'. Then he said. as polite
as before:
~ reckon l made a mistake. Pears
like | was wastin' my apology, givin 1t
to YOU O. course. if you'd rather have
satisfaction. I'm ready TO give, it to. you.
any way you like to take it. Here is my
90 course, that meant duel. Men
fought in the oldfashioned way. then.
pretty nigh as often rs they did rough an
tumble, an when Gaynor. handed over his
card everybody knowed thered be meet
in between EN- a. soon "a 1t could be ar
ranged. Then they bowed as polite as
two wax figures, an the five friends walked
of as stiff as soldiers on parade.
You wouldn't ha' thought, to ha seen
EN- that night that any one on EN- had any
serious than his breakfast. They was a
skylarkin' again soon Us they'd walked
away from Gaynor, an was all over the
boat for an hour or SO, afore they settled
down to anything, not torgettin to call
on me two or three times for bottle or so
o. the best
"Then they got into the saloon where
there was three or -four games o poker
going on, an for a few minutes they went
from one table to another lookn' on. l
kind o thought they d start game O their
own. bein as there was five on EN-, but they
didn't. for some reason or other
After a little. two on EN- set in at one
table an one at another. an the other two
KEEP walkn' round lookin' on. You see
pretty much all the games on the boats was
wide open, thea, an anybody that wanted
to play was welcome ii there was room
for him an he he'd money.
We'll, the Teller that had the duel on
hand--thcy called him Harry. an found
out afterward his meme was Harry Wells
he sot in alone with five men that knowed
for some O. the hardest gamblers on the
river. Two on 'em was professionals that
always played together, An the other three
was iravelin' men that had business up an
down the river continual but WIS al'ays
playin' cards when they was on he beats.
They played stiff game, but they was
straight enough. an each one on EN-
thought he was fly enough to stack up