Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-08-03
'asil w. Duke, Brig. Gen. G. S. A.
In Home and FARM

Gyg6 III Home and Farm. |
Four or five young Federal OIL
* GERS were on the Arago, going North
Ion furlough. They were Jolly,
spirited young fellows, were in
funds, having just been paid off, and
were disposed to enjoy their liberty
5Sand money. They passed a good
deal Of time playing vingt un, game
not much in vogue nova days, be-
lteve, but which some of my read
( erS may have heard of.
Col. Theophilus Steele, of our
\ party, ex-commander OF the Seventh
Kentucky Cavalry, c. S.'A., and well
K NsSSYr to all of Morgan's division,
&lEsR indeed, to all of the Kentucky
Confederates, for dashing courage
I and fondness for every kind Of ad-
venture. entertained a strong desire
to get into this game, but was handi-
capped by lack of funds. Our sup
s ply OF money was very limited, and
after paying our passage none Of us
\ had much left. Steele, however, had
fifteen or twenty dollars and ] about
as much. He proposed that we
should pool our greenbacl<s and that
ne, with the joint amount, should
try his luck at the table
IF we lose" he said, "we'll be no
worse off. We haven't money enough
to take us home, far less to keep us
two or three days in New York; as
1t is Well have to call on our friends.
While, If we win, we can make our
selves much more comfortable on
the boat"
agreed, and Steele with the
stake thus provided, asked leave to
enter the game. The Federals, who
had already manifested disposi-
tion to treat us quite ciyilly, readily
tSNsented.
~Any one who understands the
:. game OF Vingt'un knows that the
dealer has a great advantage over
the other players, and that according
to certain rule Of the game, the
deal Is taken in turn. The Federal
/. officers. either because ignorant OF
this fact, or from Indifference, or in
a spirit OF liberality, relmquished
their right to deal, and permitted
steele to deal continuously. Fortune
also aided him. At the expiration of
the first day he reported his success,
and also that he had secured from
the employees OF the steamer two
small rooms with comfort able sleep
ing accommodation for me
and one for himself-by paying
twenty dollars for each of them,
good for two nights. This seemed
homelike, as smacking somewhat of
Confederate prices.
But" | asked, "have you enough
money left to keep on pla wing? or
course, YOU mustn't jump the game"
"Oh, yes" he said; Il still have
the original stake and nearly as
much more, and so long as I'm
dealer I'm not likely to lose
The second day was very nearly a
repetition Of the first On the third
luck changed, and Steele lost at that
sitting. But at the conclusion of the
game we were, in addition to the
cost of the two nights comfortable
rest, still considerably ahead.
The young officers were dead
game sports" and congrat atulatcd
Steele. saying they were glad "there
was one game at which a Confede-
rate could yet win"
We invested our winnings In wine
for our party and the officers, and
fraterniZed very pleasantly.
Col. Lee, however, retaliated for
our gibes about his intimacy with
the Bostonians by expressing regret
ana disgust that an eX-COnfederate
brigadier and eX-Confederate colo
mel should begin their return to civil
Ire by entering into gambling
partnership and robbng men who
had been fighting for the old flag.
Although New York was not then
nearly SO large and populous as It
Is now, 1t seemed incredibly big and
crowded to men accustomed to the
lWle cities of the South. I had for
>@Stten how the great metropolis
looked, and its vast dimen sions and
roaring traffic compared with what
had more recently seen of urban
life, struck me with amazemcnt and
almost consternation. could un-
derstand that the people living there
had only known that a war had been
raging in one part of their own
country by the nuctuation OF the
gold board" We had every reason
TO appreciate the reception given us
T by our Southern friends there, who
did everything for us that was Dossi-
bic, while even the most loyal New
Yorker seemed to care very little
about what the politics of any other
man might be.
fAave said that the trea tment re-
cSNz2d by each Confederate at the
date OF his surrender very largely in
fluenceS his remembrance OF that
event. The character of his cxpe-
rience within brief period after the
close OF the war, doubtless had, in
every individual case, much to do
with the acceptance of the situa-
tion." Those who had been the re-
eipients in greater degree of kind
ness and courtesy were usually the
earliest reconciled; while the "un-
reconstructed" were, as a rule, those
who had felt or witnessed harsher
dealing. Sometimes anna rontIv