The sun., 1910-05-01
.(NOT HIS ACE,
" BUT IN VAIN
Lively DoinSs When Gamblers
Tried to Cheat Minnesota
LogSerS at Poker.

n ''NANAN ~ wv 'AANNN A@HH"Hff
looking man Ia the club smoking room.
Whether j, WAS a thing to enjoy or not
there can he no question about IL having
been interesting
4 didn't So enough II " tnyset 10 know
whether tho current ideas of Il ara corFeot
or not. Ono thing did 500 was the l,fe
IN Minnesota when thst Strte was not
exactly on the frontier hu; was one part
highly civilized End permanently settled
and another part wilderness.
Autumn after autumn an army oi
huskies. split up IN small hands each
undor the comm nd II som. cool headed,
resourccful woodsnlsn Jared forth Jo the
conquest Of nrture's Treasure house
Winter after winter tho army fought With
daunilcss courage and amazing prow"ss
against tho storms and deadly "h'h o!
vigorous climate. hewinE. rolling. drag
ging tho conquered giants awoy from
their fastnas~ss and laying them reedy
TO be borne away on th" mighty spring
fre-hets
Then when winter broke they camo
in triumph 10 tho world again Not
quite 10 the world a. We know II, perhaps,
hut to the threshold of il, Then 4 was
that the town of ST. Anthony they lcd
Il a city and the smaller town of Mime
apolis. Just across the river, became like
frontier settlements.
only nine miles away. n he reached nv
a toy railroad across the open prairie, or
more quickly 70 be reached on horseback,
was the capital Of the State the peer ot
any city in the West as TO it, finished
civilization. its importance or even lts
culture Only few miles back. with no
communication save waterways and
rough. primitive wagon roads. lay the
wilderness Of pine woods where the cam
paign Of the year had been fought
Here midway between the world
and the wilderness was the outpost of
industry. the settlement that had grown
up around tho great waterfall that had
been harnessed 90 drive the sawmills Of
the Northwest. II seemed like tho mar
rowest Of borderlands, yet a borderiand
ia the strictest sense Of the word.
There were not many varieties of
mankind on this borCierland as reFnem-
Der them The great Scandinavian immi-
grafton had hardly begun. though the
pionesrs Of il had appeared. For the
most part the people were plain. ordinary
everyday Americans. only they were of
the hardest sort. and a man who could
pass a. a hardy citizen among them was
indeed a husky Of the first degree.
-For nine months life in the two towns
was peaceful. even monotonous. For the
three other months there was excitement
and plenty of IL Stalwart men unused
70 the restrictions of town life are not
always the quietest citizens when they
have nine months wages In their pockets
aud only three months 10 spend their
money in Yet being American citizens
of more than average ability In their line
they we're ia the main well behaved
There was somr drinking and some
dehauchery. though lees than might he
Thought. and there was poker.
1T was not the poker of to-day. for
the game was still in its primitive form.
but Il was even more savage than " h
now The limit vas not known Jack-
pots w-rr seldom phved. and nobody
had discovered that the straight was a
legitimate hand though IN some games
a hlazs was reCk0ned As better than three !
of a kind You don't hear much u the /.
hhze nowadays u was hand ~ Eve |
court cards
They -aid that IN some u the lumber !
canps Their, wns considerable poker play !
ing through the winter. hut in the most
II them II was f1rl idden. and the fore |
mans word vas Law When Il was
10 we'd. however. the game was small |
even without The limit for the men /
who would face ths hnrishipS " a winter /
In the woods did not care ~ come hack |
without money. though they ST little value I
on Il after they mme back
There werr two ~ them that came to I
know very we'll the first summer spent /
in ~ Anthony. and q game that I watrhrd .
one night In Red Nasteys = gambling hOus..
IN Minneapolis IN which both men we're
playing. gave me INV first understanding
" what manner ~ men they we're when
aroused
Jack Halsey and Hank Ioumis were
the two men. ! was attracted 10 them
by their physique. which was unusual
even among the giant frames which most
Of the logRers had ! sought on intro
duCtiOn and found them to be men uf
some educat ION and more than ordinarily
good manners. but with a streak of rark-
lessness in them which had made them
noted among their fellows
They both drank, though not 20 eN-
cess 30 far ~ ! know, and on. night
when ! was with them, sipping nort !
-s.n gar~e. which was iayCrte tpDle 300
those DAYS, Halsay said suddenly. Hank
think Ill break lO1se tonight
1T was = little surprising 10 me. gor
they had becn IN town two or three weeks
and had he"u ~ quet and orderly ~
any u the ioWnsIeople. but LOomis
only -miled
Same Old thing' he sad inqunngly.
and HalsRy nodded
Z hear here's . RoOd game on up 81
Masters plare hs sad and foomis
said, M right I'm with YOU
MOre from curiosity than anything
else though gambling was always fa--
cinaung 10 me ] went along with them
10 fhe gambling house ! had no int"n-
ton ol PLAYING myself Tor ! had heard
Of the placs ard didn't care ip take
chances IN &C. When I asked them. how
ever II they knew - reputation they 7
laughed lightly and said they rpckonei .
10 vlg abou, tho same ~ any other .
They knew what they we're going tlp B
a ga.nsi 20 / said No more
When w. entered the place Whish was I
run with hardly pr"tehce ~ oou,eal- .
mcut We found the game Vas stud r0k o. F.
and little ~ knew then ~ such matters
felt sure after = few minutes that ~ /
least three of the seven players ~ the table
WrrC glaving for %" hOu-" ~ cours.
a house eu.plOve" was dealing
There we're others lOulginR on and
iOined thair oiT,la when I.nOmiz aud
lialssy hoIght chips and -at ir a. the .
"a no There we're two or three e thuas .
already playiug Sho look ed 70 mo ~ II
thev might be loggcr~. and In the cu'ir-a
~ tho next twenty minutes I saw enough
t0 make me believe thar thev we're al