The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-21


whether you can play il well or not,
its fascination holds you in a firm grip
Sometimes I think that it is the man
who plays least wen who is most de-
voted TO the game. know its that
way with Tenney-
He is, / suppose, the best friend
have on earth. and I have been IN
many a poker game with him. Wheth-
or il was penny-ante, Decent limit. or
table stakes ne always came out al
the paying end when the session broke
up. but that never in the least checked
his ardOr.
He was always ready TO play, and
any sort Of game suited him. I've
known him to spend half a day getting
up "A game that didn't take an hour 10
break him. and he'd be just as cheer
ful and smiling the next day and ready
70 get up another"
The doctor paused and gazed
thoughtfuily into his empty glass AS
the woman said TO me the day We got
into Peking," he went on, with a glance
OF cheerful inquiry at his friends,
what viii you have2 Shall it be
Scotch or rye?"
Aroused Carruthers' Curiosity.
The boy went to replenish the glasses
and the doctor contemplated with evil
dent satisfaction his fresh cigar. One
who did not know him well might have
thought that the subject was dropped
But CarrutherB' curiosity was aroused,
and he did not propose to lose the story
He waited until they we're all set
again. and then cast his fly
We'll Doc" he said, is that all
there is about your friend Tenney2 1
guess we all have known that sort l
knew a missionary in the east ana
the editor of q religious paper here
In New York who both had the same
failing. It's curiosity, that's all, plain
curiosity They can't help seeing what
every other fellow in the game has"
But there is more than mere curlos-
ity in what I mean" replied the doc
tor 1T is a general inability to recOg-
lize and understand the Fundamental
principle of the game. And that was
queer about Tenney, for he was one
Of the best readers Of human nature
that ] ever knew
Played Wisely Just Once.
Never but once did / know Of his
playing as if he had been watching the
game. and that once the thing he saw
was so plain that every other man in
the game had been banking on it all
the evening. But he made it work, and
guess that was the only game of any
size in which he ever held a hand that
did not cost him a lot of money"
When was it, Doc?" asked McDon-
aid.
1T was on a transport off the north
coast Of MindanaO, during the Philip
pine insurrectiOn, said the doctor. I
believe il is forbidden by the regula-
tons for the government Of the army
and navy 70 swear or drink or gamble.
know about the swearing. They put
price of a dollar a cuss on il, but
somehow there never is a court TO
assess the damages.
Its queer, too. for there's no set OF
men 1 know who can swear with finer
fiuency. drink with greater ability or
play cards with more success than the
officers of the two services. The big
gest and steadiest game Of joker I ever
saw ran in Manila the first summer We
we're out there.
II was doing surgical stunts. you
know. with one Of the volunteer Tegi-
ments, and, although I had plenty to
do, there was time enough away from
the hospital for me to get into the
game occasionally. Some Of the of
hCers OF the regulars were chartered
in one Of the big cigar factories, and
their place was sort Of headquarters
for any fellow who wanted to risk his
money.
Played With 'Dobe Money.
Every body played with 'dobe' money
out there. They tried to stick to our
kind at first. but Mexican was the
money OF the country, and we soon fell
into the way of using that
The result was TO make the game
bigger, / suppose, than il would have
been with human money, for the Mex
seemed so cheap that nobody thought
ne was winning or losing anything,
even II he had 10 get boy with a ca
70 carry it around for him.
Tenney was out there then doing
stunts for his newspa per and incl
oentally trying 10 learn something
about poker in that game. It wasn't
much use. but ne kept at it,
When my regiment came home to be
mustered out I stayed out there 1
liked IL well enough and wanted to see
some more Of the service. so I went
into the new volunteers.
1T happened that my new regiment
was sent down to garrison the towns on
the north coast of MindanaO Tenney.
who was still there. Went along with
the expedition. He was crazy about
the crooked knives and fancy shields
that the MOrOs use. and that was 4
nne opportunity to get hold Of d bunch
OF them as well as TO see the country.
1t happened that two OF the officers
VINO rad been regulars in the game in
the ola cigar factory had got -MeXica1
commissions i'm this regiment. We
used 10 call it Mex rank out there when
man IN the regulars got promotion
in the volunteers
Started a Game on the Transport.
"Of. course they started a game lust
as soon as the transport was away
from Manila and Of course Tenney went
in II was a steady game, all day and
haif the night There was not much
else 10 do. Our transport was bound
for the last Of the towns that were TO
be occupied. and while all the others
were busy we had only TO wait
-On those little transports that are
used in the service about the islands
no one lives below. We ate and slept
and spent the time always on deck.
As soon as the table was cleared after
meal out would come the cards and
the game would go On
II the wind blew a little too strong
FOR comfort the awning was pulled
down or the weather stripe strung
along the rail At night a couple OF
candles in glass globes gave all the
light that they had.
There was man in this game
whom I did not like. and so 1 kept out
OF ii, but I used TO sit around and
watch it a good deal There was not
much else TO do except sleep, and you
couldn't do that all the time
This fellow was one OF the majors.
He came from Arkansas. and ne talked
as If he were the greatest poker player
that ever threw a card Probably he
thought he was, but after had
watched him for a while came to the
conclusion that he was a good man to
avoid Tt wasn't his skill so much IS
it was a readiness that I thought I