The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-09

iii NOA0 dOOut the BdInDleTS on lHc
Mississippi" said Caleb Mix, the
veteran bartender on the Mis-
slssippi river packet City OF Natchez
mat piled. some time ago, between Mem
phis and New Orleans. Some on 'em was
true, dom make no question Some on
EN-, L reckon, was fixed up with so many
frills I the very fellers they was told
about wouldn't ha' reco'nized 'em If they
was to ha' heer'd 'em. An some on 'em
was just plain lies
There amt no doubt but what there
was gamblers enough on the boats UP to
the time o the war-I mean the really
an truly war we had at home here, not
that there little squirmish with Spain the
little boys is talSin' about. Alter the
war the gamblers was drove out by de-
grees, till ther amt no more poker to
speak OF On the boats. There'll be a
game, now an again. mabbe, but t won't
| amount to nothin'. Moren likely it'll
be 81 limit, or SUCH
But before the war, when there was
people travelin' the river t had more
| money'n they knowed what to do with.
there was them that follered along to get
what they could of it. An the gamblers
was the most conspicuous.
"A gambler. to hold his own in the
kind o. game that was played continual
sid'able OF a man. First of. he had to
| look like a gentleman. an dress like a
| gentleman. an behave hisself like gen.
teman. Leastways he had to make a
blum at IL.
Hard to Tell From the Genuine
They useter do their best an once in
a while you'd see one that couldn't be
told easy I'm the genuine article. but
most times you cd tell em as easy as you
en- tell imitation lady FIN a real one.
Then, o. course, there was other things
about EN- that you cd notice IL you paid
attention. They had to be good players,
naturally. an there want much use o.
tryin' TO make a business o. draw poker
thouten a man knowed consid able more
about the game nor a honest man has any
call to know.
Bein' as they did make a business Of
| 1t. every mothers son of 'em had card
tricks down fine, an the only time you
| cd reckon on 'em dealin' square was
when there was some other man in tn
game that knowed as much as they
| did.
Then. they was all hghtin' men. I
don't mean they was lookin' for fight,
| not all of 'em wasn't. not all the time;
but 1t were pint OF honor them days
| to fight at word an the gamblers fight
in word was anything that might be said
about his play
They want so all fired quick about
takin' up a quarrel on other matters, but
IL you was to say a word to a gambler
about the way he handled the deck. YOU
had to be ready to draw at the same time.
II you didn't manage to be a little bit
ahead. An IL were a good thing to know
too. whether he usually fit with a gun or
a knife.
Looking for Gun
I've saw some bad mistakes made that
A man'd ha
gun to be pulled. an the other feller'd
| jump at him with a knife instead O.
standin' off an shootin'. Just naturally a
man'H get confused when that happens
an it's mighty bad business gettin' con-
fused in any kind OF fight
There was a feller named Ed Atkins
Z Travelled on the old Creole Belle consid-
able afore she were blowed up, I had
| the name O. being the quickest man on
the draw Z there was on the river. o.
! course, that on'y meant that nobody ID
ever got the drop on him.
Such things want never timed with a
stop watch, IS fur g 1 know. But Atkins
| had fays been a bit quicker N any o.
the men he'd been up against an so he
| got the name
He were a gambler, all right. an a
| monstrous slick one. There want nobody
| had no doubt but that he were as crooked
| as the rest. but If anybody ever catched
him at it they didn't say nothin' about it
aIter he shot two men in Natchez one
night fr tellin' him they seen him deal a
card off N the bottom % tn deck.
% course, he'd had some little scraps
| afore that. but they didn't none on em get
| talked about so much as this did seein'
these two was fellers that had swore
they'd kill him If they caught him cheat
| In. an they was both reck min on doin'
| 1t, all right, so o. course IL were a heap
more to Atkins credit for to get away
with the two on 'em to oncet
Alter 1t come to be knowed all along
the river t he really had did it. he come
| to be looked on as a bad man for sure.
an it were a long time afore he had oc-
casion to draw again. He played right
/ along an he were mostly ahead o. the
| game at the end of a sittin', but there
didn't nobody find no fault with his play,
| or. II, they did, 1t wasn't while he was
! round, not until a feller named Slocum
drifted down I'm somewheres in Arkan-
sas an took to playin' on the boats I'm
Arkansas City down. / never knowed him
to go up the river. He'd aPays stop off
to Arkansas City. 1 reckon he had folks
1 there.
Different From Atkins
"Slocum were different sort o. man
4 VI.
| He were a big, lumberin' loose jointed
| feller t peared TO spraddle all over the
| floor when he walked acrost the room,
| awk'ard as a goose on land, an slower n
| cold molasses when there want nothin'
| to hurry him, but he could be quicker'n a
| flash o lightnin' when he felt like it,
They didn't nobody know that, but i
knowed it, f'r 1 stood on the upper deck
one day lookin' at some passengers comm
aboard, an / seen him comm along, slow
and keerless like he al'ays did.
He must ha' been fifteen feet away
fm the gangplank, when there was lady
| just steppin' on the plank caught her foot,
or tripped, or slipped. or somethin', an
| she fell fiat. That want the wust of 1t,
for she fell right on the edge O. the
| plank an rolled over, clean offn il.
{ Her niger was right behind her car
rpin' couple o. valises but he war too
slow or too skeered to do anythin', an
seen Slocum give a leap just as the lady
| fell. What he did. he 'peared to do with
i one motion but 1t were a whole heap.
He covered that fifteen foot between
him an the lady. an he swep' the mig
ger outen the way with a wave O. the left
arm that near knocked the life outen him,
an he throwed hisself fat on his face at
| the edge o. the gangplank. an shot his
! right arm down just in time to catch a
| holt o. the lady's clo'es, just afore she
/ touched the water.
| "It were the quickest thing I ever "a u