The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-10-02
lire PANIC STOPPED
l A POKER FIGHT.
River Incident That Showed the
Danger Of Irritating
a Texan.

What with b'ilers a-bllstin', an boats
bunin' oncet in a while. an poker playin'
goin' On most o. the time. with pistol play
an the pullin' o. knives on the side
'Casionally. there shO was consid able
excitement up an down tn oil Mississip'
when was a heap younger n | be now, :
observed Caleb Nix. the veteran bar
tender on the Mississippi River packet
City " Natchez.
One thing Z want 30 common N tia
now. he continued was gettin' drunk.
amt a-sayin what men didn't drink
them days. TO they sho' did. hut there
want 50 much whiskey them DAYS. an
what liquor there was reared tn lie less
heady N whizkey is. Mought a been
how men cd stand IL better.
There was one night on the old Creole
Belle. while We was runnin' I'm Nicks-
burg 90 New Orleans. when a zap I'm
TeNas got CAV over nothin' = fur = any
body cd tell. an started a string o. fire
works what come nigh putin the cap'n
In a BOBBY house an stirred up everybody
else on the boat so - yo' couldn't hardly
tell whether yo' was Ia camp meetin'
r a lynchn'
This Teller he called hisself Buck
Hustled he were a man nigh seven foot
high. judgin I'm the way he looked. an
consid'able broad in p'potion 'croSt the
shoulders. Feared like he was tolable
nigh about the same = any other Southern
gent leman, on'y consid' able moro so.
Pleasant enough he were too. long =
nothin went wrong. hut some wlss n a
rattlesnake II he was jostled.
! First anybody seen was AZ the supper
I -. % la1taa
there II there hadn't "a been I reckon
there d been a outbreak right then.
There was = feller set next To him
a, the table what they said later on was
No'therner | reckon he must "a
been else he wouldn't a made no such
break as he done made Pears he saws
d 20 Hustled sort ~ CareleSslike an not
usin no ceremony Please pass he butter
/ Now there's different ways O. sayin'
things. an I reckon maybe II he'd a
spoke some diF'ren' Hustled mought
| a passed It an said nothin' hut he
! 'peared 90 he some rled. an lookin at The
Teller some naughty he says. There's
niggers waltin' on this table. sab
/ We'll, o. co-e 1t was up To the Teller
20 'polo9ize an say he didn't mean nuthin'
/ hut pears like he was some touchy his
ownself an he answered imp dent like
What the difr'rence, he says Can't
20 pass a plate o. butter when tn amt
no niger handy
Then Hustled he says mighty cere-
moniouslike ~ yo all n step out On deck
with mo 70 a minute III cyarve vo' black
heart outen yo body An the Teller
/ havin' mo spunk n he had sense he
laughs an he SAYS. I'm finish my supper
] hrst h~ saws. an then mebb. IN see
| 20 outside An he goes on catln' like
IL was a good Joke.
But Hustled he gets up I'm the table
an he goes outside an waits 10 the Teller.
an some - the other passengers seein'
there's Liable TO to he a KILN they
tells IN old man an he tackles Hustled.
tellin' him h" won't have no fRhtin'
! onto the hOat
Then Hustled hs ripred an tore like a
crazy man. an ~ swo' he'd kill the
Nutherner when he seen him cap'n or
no cap'n an IN" 81 man s~cin h" couldn't
do nothin with him. had the Notherner
locked up in his room. an Hustled he
GUESSED everything a foot high I'LL he
cussad hiss.lf out % breath an just
nachally come 10 me To- n drink
som" % the passengers took sides
with Hustled. an some said h~ was too
hasty an fust anybody knowed there
I was two parties On the boat both 81 em
dom mo talkin n there was any call
10 Then somebody Dassed the lie and
there was mo n dozen guns pulled
There was thre" men wounded an one
Teller killed afo' the cap'n cd get there
with the mate an get things quiet.
-Thsrp was some on em wanted the
capn Ia lock Hustled up. bein' = h. was
the csusa % the hull row but Hustled
h. lowed he didn D.; cav - be- locked up an
there want nothin did just then
j reckon 10 must "A been nigh bout
leven o'clock afo' things got some CO IN
IN the boat an then bein' - there was
10 r five p'fessionals on bod there was
two games % poker started. Sam Foster
an Hank Wilson was sittin' into the
game with Hustled. an I'm what knowecl
~ 'sm ] reckoned IL q he As big a game
as they cd make ~
Hustled p-ared tn not got over his
mad, not entirely. but he drinked con
sid able long through the evenin' an
'p@ar'Ad like the liquor stsadisd him g, n
sid abla stead a maxim him drunk
Anyways ] seen I'm watchn the game
a spell that h- was a player ali right
Didn't look like he was gpin TO have
mo- Rp.'t trouble holdin his own "ven
ag'in Foster an Wilson. thouten they
was To- plav crooked. an I'm Husted's
looks It dldn. p~ar To be none too safe
10 10 try that
They was playin' stln gene To- sho'
II was no limit like they al'ays PLAYED
them days an they started IN with siOO
apiece IA chips but there was three men
drove 10 the bon"yard afo they finished
the first round. One IN EN- was Rapelyea,
a planter I'm some res round Ration
Rouge. an t'other was Wilson They
was playin five handed. an the other
Teller was a cotton factor I'm New Or
leans what was al'ays "A hard player He
was the one win the first hiR pot
u seen the next big play " was
Posters deal an Hustled put up the dollar
ant" what they was playin' right along
The cotton factor s~'t next an he come in
Then Wilson h. trailed an RApelyea :
he rU~a IL 81
Foster looked like he was kind o !
doubtful but he seen the rRise an then
Hustled made IL ~ mo- To plav 'Pearrd
like the cotton factor must "A had "A fair p
hand. hut he want stayin' az In a double 4
raise AN he dropped. hut Wilson he put .
his money in an Rapelyea rose II again 7
so this time
Then seen Posters eyes. an I knowed q
s0mspin was up He trEiled along an
Hustled he didn Z say nothin' but h. ,
throwed in $50
Wilson studied a long time. hut seen
him look az Foster an then he dropped
an Rapelyea showed his hull stack in the |
pot.
Poster 'peared like he was gon' 10
raise. hut alter he'd looked NJ Hustled
AN seen h. was goin' to ruis~ again. he