The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-11-06
LOST 100000 GAMBLING
REMARKABLE CAREER OF COLONEL ROBERT {. PALE. THE
KING OF pLUNGERS. .' 't'..'

cow country. was beginning 10 open
up down in the southwest"
so II came to pass hat the nanae
of Rob Pate became known from
coast to coast a. a suuareiy and an
on-the-levei gambling man. The play
rolling in. Then the mutterings of
reform we're heard in tho distance.
Fate and his fraternity were doomed
to humiliation.
ut ia u strange thing" said Pate
as he sat In the hotel lobby and talked
OF old times. that one Of my friends
should be the man who drove me out
Of the gambling game In st. Louis.
made me IA felon and outlawed my
business. sent tho telegram myself
that made 1t Possible.
THAT telegram cost me at lenst
8 $4,000. 900. was at Saratoga with a
string Of horses then. had some
little power in politics at that time.
and a mar wired ME asking what ]
thought ~ another man for a certain
state office. I heartily endorsed him.
and I would do II again. I guess. That
man made 1t possible for the law t O
pass which mad me IL criminal. &C.
cording to the statutes Of Missouri"
The bill which forever banished
legalizcd gambling from the state was
known ms the Johnson law. 1t pre-
cipitated a long struggle between Pate
and the state officers.
II kept my games running for two
years." says Pate. I'm spite Of all that
could he done to stop me. Why. they
used to come down and raid the place.
carry on all the tables and furniture.
and in two hours I would have every.
thing going again. I had a force OF
carpenters right there to make rough
tables. and by the time l would get
gamekeepers hailed out the house
Put they finally wore me out.
There Was something like sixty indict-
ments against me when ! finally quit.
Most Of these. were against me per.
sonally. but every man in my employ
was also indicted. That grand jury
worked overtime. Then / walked In
to the prosecuting attorneys Office
and arranged to plead guilty for my
self and the boys under me went free.
The least / could get was six months
in Jail. hut Governor Tom. that was
spite Of the yawping reformers.
"They called him Bob Pate's gov.
ernor.' but Tom didn't care what they
said. He knew his WI mind and he
did as he pleased In such matters"
Pate went back to his race horses
when his green-covered tables were
finally put away forever. He wanted
excitement. and the horses furnish.
cd it. Thereafter he wandered like
an uneasy spirit up and down the rae
ing circuits. lighting the Dryer broth
ers for supremacy and making track
history in other historic battles fol
the honors Of the track.
Bob Pate is the man who tried tt
put Mexico on the worlds racing mar
and paid $500. 900 to try that expert
ment. Down in the country Of revo'
~lutions. %dictators. rurales. three-cart
monte and mescal. he will be known
to generations Of saddle-colored foil
as the Americana who tried to MAKE
the bull fight the lion. This latte'
episode cost him a good many thou
sand. but it was only a drop in tn
sea Of coin that he turned loose for
ever in the city Of the Aztecs.
He grits his teeth and shakes hi
grizzled head when he talks Of Mexi
.lco. Odd as 1t may seem this old va