The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-25
Prom the New York Sun.

bTom the New fork sun
 The railroad had not yet reached La Crosse. Wis, but the great steam packets that navigated the upper Mississippi river stopped there regularly and the traffic Of the country roundabout had already made it thriving place. With its thrift and growing prosperity there was also much of the lawless activity of a frontier town.
 On the river boats poker playing was at the height of its popularity. In La Crosse, as in all the large river towns, there were gambling houses run as openely as the barrooms. Faro and poker were the only two favorite games, but the poker was not what is played today. The draw and the limit had not yet been intro duced, and the straight though 1t was known and talked about, was looked upon with contempt.
 Of the several temples of chance in La Crosse the place owned and persor/lly conducted by Dick Farrel and George Parks was perhaps the most popular. It was generally understood that faro. as it was dealt then. was unqualifedly and absolutely square game.
 "A banker that ain't satisfied with the split Is a hawg," was the way Farrel ex pressed 1t, and Parks conveyed the same idea when he said as he did frequently, ''No gentleman t plays faro in this house has any call for to shoot the dealer if he deals crooked, f'r. by Gawd. I'll do it my ownsef."
 When 1t came to poker, however, 1t could not be said that the house had the same reputation. Both Parks and Farrel were professional poker players the river before they established themselves in La Crosse, and in those days the man who believed in such thing as a strictly hon ! Nla rnlr ralp vol p0 have been laughed at. Among the men who made a business of playing the game anything was held to be permissible pro- vided it was not detected.
 This being understood and there being men a-plenty who did not hesitate to play with professionals despite 1t the Farrel- Parks house became a favorite resort not only for local sports but for those from up and down the river who visited La Crosse often enough to become acquainted; wherefore the two partners accumulated much wealth.
 Toward the end of the season, or in other words when the floating ice on the liver was getting thick, there came gala night. number of heavy players had gone broke at the faro table and an ex oeptionally stiff game of poker had re- suited in the cleaning out of all corners, Farrel and Parks having relieved each other two or three times, though they did not play together at any time in the course of the game.
 It was the most prosperous night they had had, and what singular about 1t was. that the last group of customers pasesd out from the house before o'clock in the morning. With them went Parks. who had small house in the neighbor- hood where he lived alone with a single man servant. He was noticed by several persons to go directly to his own door after the game and enter.
 Meanwhile Farrel who had sleeping room in the rear of his place of business, had said good night to the last or his GUS toners and dismissed the darlxey who aot- ed as factotum In the establishment. For many years this was al lthat was known of the happenings in the Farrel- P~<ks establishment on that particular night. When the darky came back at noon to clean up the place for another nights business he discovered a horror that re- mained mystery in the hands of La Crosse till 1t was forgotten.
 Indeed, the memory of the early days of that city is retained by so few that 1t was matter of some difficulty to estab- fish even the probability of the truth of a story that was told few days ago to a newspaper man out there by tramp who pretended to have known La Crosse well more than half a century ago. What he told was that he had left there soon after the discovery by the darky factotum of the gambling house and had wandered for years in the west.
 Being In Denver at the time of the ex- citement that followed the discovery of oarbonates he fell in with Parks, whom he had not seen before since he left La Crosse. Both of them being smitten with the prospecting fever they agreed to work together, and getting grub stake they started out over the mountains
 Parks, so the tramp said fell i'll when they were too far from any settlement for him to get help, and he nursed the sick man as best he could till toward the last Park seemed delirous and called for a priest, saying that he must make con- fession before dying. As the only way to comfort him the tramp declared that he himself was a priest and to him Parks told his story before he died. In sub stance 1t was as follows:
 "Dick Farrel and I had been partners" Parks said, Hong enough for us to learn to doubt each other. We had done well together, but I thought he was getting the best of me right along, and I'm sat isfled that he thought the same of me.
 That night I left the joint with the last customers, and I was sore at some- thing had seen, and after l reached my house suddenly determined to go back and have 1t out with him. I had been seen to go into my house, but my nigger was asleep, and neither he nor anybody else saw me go back.
 'Dlck knew my knock and opened the