Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-08-11
ANECDOTES OF VEST.
How Missouri's Senator
 Won a Jack Pot.
AN INSTANCE OF HIS READY WIT

AN INSTANCE OF HIS READY WIT Used It With Crushing Effect When Interrupted In speech-How the l Senator Lost His Teeth-A Gallant
 Impromptu Speech at a Fourth of 1 July Celebration.
 Years ago the late ex-United States l Senator George G. Vest when a young I man occasionally indulged in the fasci- mating game called draw poker, a game which we know is thoroughly under stood in all its details in Clinton county. l Mo-, more especially Lathrop. Well, once on time Vest had tried case in little county seat and received large fee for clearing his man, says the La throp Monitor. So much money i'll the l hands of the young lawyer was as tempting to the deniZens as n cool wa l termelon to hungry negro. The re- suit was game of poker was got up. I The boys intended to fleece Vest and of l course stacked the cards. They had no place to play in but little shed that had no floor but some fresh dry wheat l straw. It was a five handed game, and l dry goods box served as table. It l happened to be jack pot and Vest l opened it on three queens. The cards being fixed, the other fellows had better
 hands and of course raised before the draw. Vest stood the raise and drew I two cards. As luck would have 1t, he got the other queen.
 The betting commenced and grew ex-
 ceedingly warm. They would raise the young lawyer, and he would see them
 and go little better. An outsider who
 Vests shoulder and saw what formi-
 dable hand he had. He held up four
 fingers, shook his head and in other
 ways tried to warn his friends, but to
 no purpose. He saw that Vest would
 break the crowd, so he lit a match and
 set the straw floor on fire and told them
 to run for dear life. That cool head I which served him so well in after years l and which never let him become rattled
 did not desert him then. With one
 hand he raked in the poodle. with the
 other he exhibited his lovely queens,
 and as he went out of the door, with his coat tail on fire, he said:
 Let her burn; the pot is miney'
 A Missouri paper revives an anecdote
 Illustrating Senator Vests readiness of l wit and sarcasm. On one occasion,
 some years ago, the doughty senator
 used his gift with crushing effect on
 man who interrupted him while he was
 making speech in the Johnson county
 courthouse at Warrensburg, Mo-, the
 home of his colleague, Senator Cockrell. I The room was packed. Vest was
 speaking in particularly happy vein
 when Warrensburg editor who did
 not like him arose and asked him a
 question. It was courteously answered,
 and the editor followed it up with an
 other and another. To the surprise of
 most of his hearers, Senator Vest kept
 his temper and continued to reply cour-
 teously.
 Finally the editor asked long and
 very involved question. The senator
 listened to 1t with the same attention
 as he had given to those that preceded
 1t, but just as he seemed ready to reply,
 ''and while," says Frank Frayne, who
 tells the story, "the audience was per- fectly quiet, awaiting Vests answer, a q little yellow bench legged cur came
 Jumping up the aisle immediately in front of the Judges stand, barking
 furiously at him. As quick as a flash Vest turned and, pointing his finger at
 the dog, said: One at time, sir. You are out of your turn. Wait till get through with the other one, then will
 reply to you.'
 According to the Saturday Evening Post, Mr. Vest had artificial teeth and was not at all ashamed of them; on the } contrary, the relief that he left after he had all his natural ones taken out many years ago, made him rather : proud of the false ones. One day, soon after the artificial set was fitted, he started on horseback for a country town, ten miles or so from his home in : Missouri, where he had to argue an l important law case. It was a cold, } bleak day in November, but he tried to !. forget the discomfort of his ride by : thinking over the case and rehearsing his speech.
 About half way to his destination he had to ford stream, as no bridge had ! then been built, and was getting along , finely, when suddenly his horse stepped , off ledge into deep water and had to , swim for 1t. MT. Vest did not lose his
 seat, but in the excitement of the mo- ment he did lose his teeth.
 , As he was then only short distance
 from the other bank he urged his horse
 on and soon landed. But what to do
 without his teeth? It was case of
 no teeth no speech. So he tied his horse to tree, removed his clothing
 and diyed to the bottom of that almost