The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-11-04
THE GAMING PASSION
Incidents In Actual Life That
0utstrip Fiction.
A COLD FLOODED MONARCH.


Louis XIV. and the Dead Man at the
Card Table-A Woman Who Gam.
bied on Her Deathbed-Lord Deni.
sons Play While His Bride Waited
at the Altar.
II the full story Of the card table
could be written it would surely be
the most startling revelation of human
cupidity ever published, and almost
every page Of it would be marked by
some incident which would outstrip
fiction.
When Louis XIV. was at the card
table the fascination of the game made
him absolutely dead to all externals
and even to decency and humanity.
On one occasion when he was playing
for heavy stakes one of his opponents,
overcome by excitement, collapsed in
his chair In a at of apoplexy. His
majesty affected to ignore the incident
until some one exclaimed, IN. de Chau-
velin is illv' "IlI?" retorted the king,
casting a careless glance at the strick
en- man; che is dead. Take him away.
Spades are trumps, gentlemen!
Equally weird Is story Goldsmith
tells. When the clergyman arrived to
prepare a lady parishioner who had
passion for gambling for her approach
ing death the lady after listening for
short time to his exhortation exclaim-
ed: That's enough! Now let us have
a game of cards" To humor her the
parson consented to play. The dying
woman won all his money and had
just suggested playing for her funeral
fee when she fell back and expired.
In the early years of last century a
whist club composed largely Of clergy
men used to meet in the back room of
a BARRIERS shop In a SOmersetshire
town. On one occasion, so the story
runs. when four Of the club members
were acting as pal1bearers at the fu-
neral Of a reverend brother, some delay
occurred. and the coffin was set down
in the chancel. One Of them produced
a pack Of cards and suggested rub
Der The coffin served the purpose Of
a table. and the players were deeply
immersed in the game when the sex
ton arrived to announce that every
thing was at last ready.
Mazarin's passion for gambling was
so strong even in death that he played
cards to the very end, when he was so
weak that they had to be held for
him, and the "merry monarch" spent
his last Sunday on earth playing at
basset round a large table with his
great courtiers and other dissolute
persons and with a bank Of at least
$1,000 before him.
The curious fascination cards possess
for their devotees Is illustrated by the
following story of Lord Granville, at
the time ambassador to France. One
afternoon when he was about to re-
turn to Paris he repaired to Graham's
to have a farewell game Of whist. or
dering his carriage to be at the door at
4. When it arrived he was much too
deep in the game to be disturbed. At
10 o'clock he sent out to say that he
was not ready and that the horses had
better be changed. Six hours later the
same message was sent out, and twice
more the waiting horses were changed
before he consented to leave the table
after losing 10000.
An equally remarkable story is told
of George Payne, the great turf plum
ger Of seventy years ago. On one occa-
sion he sat down at Limmer's hotel to
play cards with Lord Albert Denison,
later the first Lord Londesborough.
Hour after hour passed. The game
proceeded all through the night and
long after day dawned. and 1t was not
until an urgent message came to tell
Lord Albert that his bride was waiting
for him at the altar of st. Georges,
Hanover square, that the cards were
at last flung down. It was Lord Al
bert's wedding day. and he met his
bride 10000 poorer than when he left
her on the previous day.
One Of the most romantic of gam
bling stories is told by Mr.. Thiselton-
Dyer of plainly dressed stranger who
once took his seat at faro table and
after an extraordinary run of luck
succeeded in breaking the bank
Heavens" exclaimed an old, infirm
Austrian officer who had sat next to
the stranger, "the twentieth part Of
your gains would make me the happi-
est man In the worldr' you shall
have 1t. them" answered the stranger
as he left the room.
A servant speedily returned and pre-
scented the officer with the twentieth
part Of the bank, adding, my master.
sir. requires no answer" The success
full stranger was soon discovered to be
the king Of Prussia in disguise
The most costly game of cards on
record was probably that in which the
late George McCulloch, chairman of
the Broken Hill Proprietary company,
once took part. A syndicate of seven
had been formed to finance the IA
nous Broken Hill silver mine. and Mr..
McCulloch was one.of the seven> One