Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-04-02

bitten on the arms, none or tnelr
wounds being very serious. The dog
also attacked a cat and literally tore
1t to pieces.
ON THE RUN.
How Passengers Bet on the Perform
anee of Steamships.
It was the smoking room steward
on one of the big Atlantic liners who
spoke, and he was relating some inter-
esting stories in connection with the
many big sweepstakes he had organ
lied on the ships daily runs. Fol
those. who never cross the Atlantic II
may be mentioned that 1t is always the
smoking room steward who gets up
these little gambles-collects the
names, rakes in the money and hands
out the prize. For this work he is
generally paid per cent ON the amount
received, though Of course there Is no
obligation to pay him anything should
the prize winner feel so disposed. But
as a rule the smoking room steward
comes off very well, and what with
tips and interest in the sweepstakes he
probably does better than any other
servant on the ship.
The steward, a round faced, good
natured German, who spoke English
without an accent, stated, In reply To
a question, that he had been getting up
transatlantic sweepstakes during the
last ten years, and he thought 1t more
than likely that he would be getting up
transatlantic sweepstakes for ten years
to come. He had handed out many
valuable prizes during that time, ano
the amount Of money which had thus
passed through his hands would prob
ably total up to tens of thousands OF
pounds, had he only kept a record
But, unfortunately, he had not. though
he acknowledged that he could recall
many remarkable sweepstakes which
he had organized, the prizes in which
would have made any ordinary mans
fortune.
Probably the biggest sweepstake
that I ever engineered" he said, was
in 1S97-Queen Victorias diamond jubi-
lee-when we had on board a whole
bunch Of American millionaries. There
was a coterie Of these men-twenty In
all-and they stuck together during
the entire trip. They played cards In
groups Of fours and fives, dined at one
table and had little to say to the 9TH
er passengers. They had left theiI
wives behind, for, as one Of them ex-
planned, they were out for a good
time.
well, the second day Of the trip one
of them came and asked me to get VI
sweepstake between the party, and
put the entrance fee at $40. got the
names, collected the s400, distributed
the numbers, and the prize was woT
by a gentleman from Montana. Wher
1 handed him the money he picked out
two twenty dollar bills, handed them
to me and quietly pocketed the re-
mainder. Then he ordered drinks ano
cigars all around, and five minutes Ia
ter had probably forgotten all about
the matter.
Later in the day, however-the
ships run being posted at IL noon
these gentlemen called me up and said:
| Kaiser (they called me Kaiser fol
fun), we want a sweepstake with
li;tle interest in It, not the kind Of
guIne a lot Of schoolboys would joir
| H.. hut something woriE while. Now
i.:sl abe out another II t and put the
entrance fee at $500. Stick the notic'
on the board, and mention that there
is no limit to the number allowed tt
enter-wenl welcome every one OF
board this tub. Mark the twenty O.
US as paid. and then. If you'll come
back we'll hand you the cash."
well, 1 did as they said, and wher
I returned each man handed me notes
for e10O 1--WE were running easD. The
1900 1 promptly deposited with the
purser, and 1 felt a good deal easier
when I knew 1t was in safe keeping
AS l had anticipated, no outsider came
into the game, and so the result la!
between the twenty Americans. B!
a curious coincidence the gentleman
| from Montana won again, and when
| handed him the money he gave me ter
G5 notes for my trouble. When, W.
| arrived in New York we found that th'
news of the big sweepstake had pre-
| ceded US, and as soon as the gang
| plank was run out / was surrounded
by reporters all clamoring for details
However, l didn't tell them very much
though every New York paper cam,
out the next day with about a column
Of my remarks" and the good -naturet
German laughed heartily.
| The ordinary Sweepstake runs from
| a sovereign to G5 ticket, so tha
even in the smallest sweep the priz
is worth having. Some Of those wh'
go in regularly for these sweepstake
are extraordinarily lucky. On ou
last western trip, for. instance, ther,
was an Englishman on beard wht
went in for G 5 draw six times. Thu
first three he won straight off the reel
and then finished up by anneXing tn
last. Altogether he won G200, withou
deducting the ESQ which he had him
self staked.
After the first couple of days tn,
passengers get to know pretty wei
| what the snip can do, ana
the elements are favorable then ther'
in quite a little gambling among th'
members Of a sweepstake in biddin,
for the supposedly winning numbers.
have known a man hold a favorit'
number, for which he paid original!
e1O, sell it for G25 buy rank out
slider for 6 Is. and after that carry of
the prize. OF course. in ninety-nin
cases out of hundred the result can
not be anything but chance, though
there are times when sound calcula
tion will go far toward landing th
| pool. Bits.