The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-01-11

York Sum-
Shortly after the congress convened
last winter six wives of representatives,
all from the south and west, organized
themselves into a poker club Not be-
ing women of fashion they knew moth
ing about bridge except that it was the
rage in Washington, as everywhere
else. But they knew all that they
needed to know about poker in order
to extract fun from the game.
They were all middleaged
most of them with grown children, but
they enjoyed poker, and played three
afternoons a week, from 2 until G..
They played in rotation at each others
homes, hotels or boarding houses, and
a little luncheon preceded the game.
The ordinary ante was five calls ten"
cents, and the limit was a quarter, eX-
cept for jackpots, which could be OPEN
ed for four bits
The six representatives wives found
a lot of pleasure in their little poker
fiestas. None of them won or lost very
much While none of them were rich,
they were all in such circumstances
that neither winnings nor losings of a
mild little small limit poker game
could affect them in the slightest way.
There wasn't a greedy woman or one
over-eager to win in the group. They
merely played for pure fun.
Then a new member of the poker
group was admitted. The new member
was several notches above what is
hnrn oo11aJ Tho CONGREGATIONAL cot Che
was above all official connection, al
though she trained with Washingtonts
top Hottest official and diplomatic set
when she wanted to. She was a widow
with plenty of money. One OF her
daughters had married into the Eu-
ropean aristiOcracy.
She was addicted to cards, but Curl
ously enough had not been swept from
her mornings by the bridge craze Pok-
er was her game. She adered poker.
She knew one of the women who be-
iOnged to the little poker group COM
priSing the six representatives wives.
She had only to hint that she would
like to join the party to be instantly
admitted A woman Of her social i'm
pOrtance could not fail to impress a
party of women who moved within the
somewhat limied orbit of congress-
mems wives in Washington. She cele-
DRAFTED her initiation by giving the first
of the poker parties after her admit
ance at her suite in one of the main
hotels here. The luncheon that she
served was extremely dainty. She was
brilliant and engaging, albeit a trife
naughty and distant on early acquain-
tnce, but the half-dOZen representa-
tives' wives from the south and west
voted her charming-before the first
game began.
After the first game they found it a
bit difficult to analyze the new mem
Der of their poker party. The new mem
Der had won virtually all of the money
at that first sitting. On three separate
occasions she had had all of the chips
on the table in front of her place, and
the other six members were buying
chips from her all the time.
What the six representatives wives
found it difficult to account for, in con-
sidering the system of play of the new
member, was a little popularity she
had when she was called or called
somebody else.
She never actually showed her cards.
She gave merely the most m~omentary,
not to say instantaneous, fash at them
before she tossed her hand into the dis
card, and hen she raked down the pot.
For example, on that first afternoon
one Of the representatives wives fill
ed a queen high straight, and she bet
the limit on it for quite a long time,
the new member boosting her back
every time. Eventually the representa-
tive's wife concluded that her queen
high straight couldn't be very good,
and she called the new member.
81 have a queen high straight" she
observed, in tossing her quarter chip
to the enter and calling, What have
you?'
Mine is king high" said the new
member, barely spreading the cards
out in her two hands, and almost in
stantly shutting them up again like
a fan and tossing them face down into
the discard. Then she hauled in the
large pot. None of the other women
had actually seen her cards -
But it was all right. The new men,
Der had said that her hand was a king
high straight, and that settled it. It
was impossible TO suppose that she
could be mistaken as TO the makeup
of her own hand and equally impossi-
BILE to imagine that she tossed her
cards, face down, into the discard from
any motive except carelessness Or per-
haps forgetfulness of the rule.
However, that same thing happened
very many times in the progress of the
fist afternoons game. Almost every
time the new member called or was
aaIlp1 chasc cin1niv mama what che had
and it was always a shade higher
than the next best hand out and pull
the chips over to her stack
All the six other women were struck
by this popularity, and they all ex-
hibited a certain amount Of ervou
ness and passing chagrin when their
hands were just topped. Yet while this
was going on they did not even ex-