The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-15
lair PLAY WAS
CAPT. FOSS'S RULE
A Notable Skipper Of the Days When
They Did Play Poker on the
MiSSiSSippi.

'Ive knowed a heap o. cap'ns o. the
different river boats Z I've worked onto,
boy an man, said Caleb Mix, the veteran
bartender on the Mississippi River packet
City Of Natohez. 'The oap'n Of aboat alAys
useter be the old man. on'y when you
wa talkin' 10 him. Then most gently
you want 90 familiar like. They was a
good many on 'em what you'd call on
usual, but l reckon Cap'n Foss was the
most ~reparkablest Of any on 'em, took BY
an large.
"A man had TO be sort Of unusual for to BIO
q boat oap'n them days, l never knowed
one on EN- Z want some Of q dandy but
o. course some was more'n others.
well, he wouldn't pear to have nothin'
TO do. The pilot done the steenn' an the
old man d never interfere 'thouten there
was Somepin outen the usual run. An
the mate he bosSed the deokhands an tho
rousters. an th' old man never 'peared 10
mix In with him neither. An what else
there was TO do on tho boat you wouldn't
never realize 'thouten somepin sh'd happen
10 go wrong.
Then you'd most likely take notice o.
the cap'n first thing, on'y you wouldn't
know where he come from r how come no
knowed he was needed. They was a kind
Of q king between landin's, bein' as they
was the hull law fr everything on board
while the boats vas'under way.
'Cap'n Foss was someways the most re-
markablest man l over seen, like l was
Just ssytn'. l was workin' under him on
the old Belle O. tn Bayous, the second O.
that name, Z was burnt near Baton Rouge
after tn old man had quit the business
an was Twin quiet an Cap'n Peters was
%G-runnin' Of her.
There was themt said ei Foss d been
cap'n she wouldn't "a burned. but that's
wrong. Peters was a good mao Z he DID
drink some more'n was wise
This p'ticlar Belle O. tn Bayous-there's
been several o. that name since-she were
the crack boat Of her time.
THAT was how come the Belle carried the
best an tn most o. til travel. an count o
that there was things a-diddln' most O.
tn time on board Of her.
SIR one thing, there was gamblin'. l
don't mean no two dollar limit, what you'll
see played sometimes even now. Poker
playin' was tolable nigh as regular as meals
on the boats then. but want no such
game as the tin horn spots plays now.
The planters was rich, an most every
mothers son Of 'em was ready TO stake
anythin' he had, or everything he had
II he was het up. onto a hand Z 'peared to
be strong enough TO play, or even onto q
blufi ef he had the other Teller sized up
as anyways weak. Feared like gambhn'
was in the air, an a reel Southern gentle
man them days want no ways skeered O.
takin' a chancet on anything Z come along,
I'm a cockight TO a hossrace.
AN the stakes d scare you stin I you
Gh'd see EN- played for now. Feared like
money want no great account with none
Of EN-, an they carried wads I nobody has
now outside Of his bank account.
Then when one on 'em d lose what he
had in his kick he'd play his / o U II he
was well enough known, or II he want
he'd like enough play in two or three dia-
monds Z he'd have on fr a thousand apiece
or more. Sometimes they'd bet their mig
gers, f'r a gentleman al'ays had one niger
with him anyhow when he travelled fr
q body servant, but mostly them body ser
wants was sort o. foster brothers an was
too much thought OF TO gamble away
'thouten q man was red hot,
well, that was all right enough an no.
body ever thought OF interfenn'; They
was gentlemen, an they knowed how 70
win an lose like gentlemen. There want
never no trouble come outen a game on the
boats when the reel blue blood was playin'
amongst themselves.
sThere'd be things a-diddin'. all right
enough, but not never no violence. II
there was any shootin' called for wouldn't
be did acroet the table, but regular an
polite like, with seconds, some place else
when the boat d done made a landin'.
There want no reason fr nobody TO 'bject
when the quality was playin' amongst their
own selves.
when there was liable for to be trouble
was when the p'fessionals d set in an
'peared like there want no good way o
keepin' 'em outen the game thouten the
quality wouldn't play with 'em. an mostly
they would. They was ell cravin' excite
ment, an 'peared like there was c~onsid'able
more to be had when one o them outlaws d
take a hand nor there was when they was
all Rentlemen. anyway Ilhb Wbo tho vi
way | cd ever understand II,
s'Them p'fessionals was devils. l didn't
never have no personal reason TO complain,
fr they was liberal too. They throwed
their money round as reckless as me
planters when they had II, an consid able
OF II sure did come my way, but somehow
| couldn't stomach 'em.
Il seen too much o. their tricks, n l
knowed q almighty sight too well how hell
roartn' quick they was on the trigger when
they thought they was liable for to be
caught. But up TO the time they was
caught or they'd made trouble O. some sort
they couldn't very well be KEEP ofien the
boats, an when they was there there didn't
pear to be no way to keep 'em I'm playin'
I the quality d play with EN-.
"But right there was where Cap'n Foss
useter show hisself up some consid'a able
diff rent I'm any o the other old men | ever
worked for.
sHe didn't never Interfere with nothin'
I was did onto his boat, not until there was
trouble or he seen there was goin' TO be
trouble, but he cd see quicker'n q hawk,
an ne was chain iightnih' when he seen.
There want a pfessional on the river
didn't know Z he was to throw a crooked
cyard on 70 the Belle, Cap'nPoss was more'n
lkelV 10 know II right then, an II he knowed
II that p'tessional wouldn't never get to
the next landin'-not on the Belle o tn
Bayous he wouldn't. That was how come
the Belle had the name o. never hayin'
nothin' but q straight game.
90 COURSE she didn't get no such reppy-
tation 'thouten a few Happenings. The
pfessionals had TO be teached afore they
knowed what they cd do an what they
couldn't do, but they want nowayS slow
O. leanin', an'Cap'n Foss learned EN-.
Il was there some o. tn time while he