Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-02-17
n IR0C UT aAW
/. PREMdNfT0E
BY GEORGE v. WILLIAMS.

Hus'Sn tAIAlnE apoOC HE ~ WNot j.
the sixties were called the rlQins.'
when the natural state w,te Struggling
against civilization. wbcu the shvagc
was not yet extinct there and when
tn" buffalo was bucling agaiuN the
locomotive. There was Tom Shcr+s,,p.
Dave Boggs. Tom Durhnlu and my.
self. We had all lived beyond. the
Missouri river i'm those halcyou days
Some OF us hnd been worse tbnn we
should have been. but we made n fair
average sample OF the population. One
or our number had reached the United
states senate, another was a repre-
sentative, while a third was aiLbie
land dealer I'm the region OF which we
were speaking. The fourth. Tom Dur
nam. was n prominent clergymnp, "a
"Du any OF you remember Phoebe
RuskT' asked Sherikle. who kept a
boarding house hrst at Julesburg. then
at Laramie, following the Union PA.
citc aB II made new terminaIsy"
All owned To a remembrance of her
except the Rev Mr.. Durham. who
maintained silence.
'The biggest piece OF blind luck
ever heard Of" Shcrilllc continued.
"she furnished You know how she
used to play poker with the boysY
She made money regularly at tavern
keeping, but she made more by poker
She was jolly. good naturCd. good
hearted woman whom everybody
liked and was considered perfectly
straight in every respect She could
spot a regular gambler and would uev.
er play with any OF them.
well. this IS the story heard about
her great stroke Of luck. and ] got II
from one Of the men AT the table, who
had no interest in lying about Il. a
number OF her boardCTs sat down 20
play one night in her parlor and asked
her 10 join them She said she'd rath-
er not. She didn't want TO win their
money and somehow she fet that
she'd be awfully lucky She could al
ways tell. she said, when she was go
Ing 10 win bic. But the boys pcrsund
ed her, and she took hand
'"Talk as YOU please, there's n lot IN
these feelings that some people have
about something that's going to hap
pen. I've been there myself WI hen
was developing my claim at Deadwood
knew tho day before | stuJuE the
vein that made me rich that was in
for a strike There was no indication
OF IL any more than there hal ,Heen,
when / began t. work with my PICK.
Nevertheless know It. mention
this 20 show you just how Phoebe
Rusk felt. ..'H,
There were h'If a Gozen OF them in
the party a youncstcr Of eighteen,
n tenderfoot Srou the ccst. vented 90
take hand. bui Phoebe voulut 20
"a unless he winged out So Tho banker
wouldn't girc him any chips TIE
cards had been C'alt five or SIX times
when the game was opened N1b g
jackpot " happened g. 30 one of
those occasion W ben every U5dv r
a good hand. TIE pile or q H'e
kept growing t.l ~ I"et Php. ollr1
II hnli She said rbr d.lui .uf l.r
house 10 get tho reputation ~ rg.n.ro
such big game ono mau dr'" two
cards. end thr rest, M except i'itoglyp5
stood pat. Phoebe said:
off i don't dyaw the card 10 Gil ny
hand is worth nothing. II do IN
win the pot. It's nothing more or lcss
than q showdown, 20 ! don't mind lci
ting you SEE my hand
"She laid her cards face up the Ia.
BILE. There were the eight. nine. ten
end jack Of spades and the king OF
diamonds THROWING out tho Eiu2 she
said 20 the dcnIcr. Give mo- either
Ehc seven or queen - spade which