The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-08-07

Graham took the dealers chair and began
the deal. The king won down near the
middle of the box, and McGregor scrawl-
ed a check for $4,000 on the Bank of
California and handed it over to Pan
coast
"Pancoast shipped the eighteen hairs of
Badly Graham's head with the razor
edged blade of pocketknife, had the
housekeeper at his hotel tie them up in
tiny pink ribbon, with a double bow to
set them off, and exhibited the tuft in
the window of the Bella Union, labeled
| Badly Graham's scalp
"There was rough -and-ready Gus
toner flying high in San Francisco in
those days named Tom Tobin, who had
made large fortune by selling to the
Comstock people number of claims that
were supposed to tap the main streak,
but that afterward turned out to be of
no account whatever. He came to be
known in San Francisco as Tune-up To
bin because of an expression that he al
ways used in connection with a peculiar
habit whenever he fell to bucking the
bank
"'Just turn up the seven for me, will
your Tobin would say to faro dealer,
and the dealer who knew Tobin would
understand what that meant
'The dealer would request the regular
players around his table to suspend oper-
ations for awhile. Then he would take a
fresh deck of cards and slip them out of
the box three or four times, while Tune
up Tobin would watch the conduct of
the seven or any other card that he
wanted to have turn up-the seven was
his favorite. Then, after imagining that
he had got a line on the card that he had
picked out he would begin to buck that
card for $1,000 turn.
81 saw. Tune up Tobin do this at Burt
Mapor's faro bank, the Tuolumne club,
one night, when he lost $4,000 in less
than fifteen minutes. He kept the cop
per on the seven for five turns, and it
won five times running.
''Then he fiicked the copper off and
the Seven lost four straight times. That
made him sore on the seven for the night
He wrote check for $4,000 and handed
it to Major-he always cleaned up his
losing account on one card before he be-
gan to toy with another
"'Now tune me up the ace, jack he
said to Jack Gaskins, the dealer, and
after watching three or four boXfuls slip
out Tobin went at the ace
''He picked it right open and coppered
for half a dozen deals and was $4,000 to
the good when he quit. In the long run,
however that tune up system of Tobin's
turned him up for his whole roll, and he
knew what it was to work with shovel
for Chinese truck gardener at days
wages before he died.
''ln those days most of the bonanza
men with homes in San Francisco used
to own houseboats on the San Joaquin
river up around Stockton, and they'd
spend the duck and snipe shooting sea-
son on their households. Jim Murga
troyd was the gambler who first tumbled
to the possibilities of this situation
"He had magnificent houseboat built
in San Francisco, rugged it up as faro
bank and had it towed up the San Joa-
quin alongside the pleasure Households of
the high flyers. They couldn't be shoot
ing duck and snipe all the time Jim
knew They welcomed his scheme with
enthusiasm and gave him their play.
"Jim's floating faro bank hadn't been
anchored in the San Joaquin near Stock
ton for a week before all of the bonanza
mems households were huddled at anchor
around it, and from that time on the
ducks and snipe alighted fearlessly on
the households they had nothing to fear
Inc owners of the households were too
busy bucking the tiger on Murgatroyd's
faro boat to think of wing shooting.
s9AI,Iroo trovd olaoroJ exon 00O Ioeo,o
the Stockton authorities put stop to
bis game ON the ground that he was di-
verting money from the town by an
nexing all of the bonanza mems velvet
himself. One afternoon during that sea-
son George Farnham, who had made his
pile dealing in mining options, had his
houseboat poled alongside Murgatroyd's
floating faro bank.
"'Jim, said Farnham to Murgatroyd,
cody. Games open for you to try it on,
if that's what you mean
"'Well, I'm on said Farnham, and
Murgatroyd went in to deal the box him
self
''Farnham lost out on his $4,000 call.
He sat down quietly at Murgatroyd's
desk, wrote a check for $4,000 on the
Bank of California and handed it to
Murgatroyd.
cts case of all in with me, JIM
Farnham said without any visible excite
ment, and then he stepped back onto his
houseboat, locked himself in his cabin
and put ball in his brain.
'Murgatroyd went down to San Fran
cisco from Stockton on the sternwheeler
that same evening. he found that Farm
hams account at the bank consisted of
just $4,000 and some odd dollars. He
drove out to a convent, outside San Fran
cisco, III which Farnham's only daughter
and only living relative was getting her
education, and placed the $4,000 check
in her hands.
"'Theres no fun for me in money that
takes mans life along with it, was his
explanation to his friends of this gener
Gus deed-and he didn't mention a word
about it either, until they had found
it out
''The preliminary whistle footed by the
San Francisco bound boat fifteen minutes
before she had left Stockton was just
sounding one evening when Joe Parrish,
who was then engaged in sloughing off
the millions that his daddy had made in
the Chinese trade, pulled alongside Muir
gatroyds faro boat in skiff, which was
being pulled by couple of the members
of the Parrish''s houseboat crew. Par
IRISH hailed the Muragtroyd craft and Jim
himself came out and answered the hail.
"'Going down to Frisco and I've only
got two minutes, JIM said Parrish, hur-
riedly. Just fetch a box out and deal
80 q 4,,,.r ,,riIl ,rnr from wharn YOU