Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-03
STRANGE FRANKS OF FATE
Champion Hard Luck Stories Of
Mining and Gambling.
PERSISTENCE WORKS TWO WAYS
ing to the Job-Remarkable
Turns In the Tide of
Luck.


ing TO the Joe-Remarkabie
Turn. I'm the Tide of
Luck.
There have been many instances In
which the advantage OF being born under
a lucky star has been demonstrated In
signal manner. This has been proved
true in mining more than in any other
calling. Out OF the many true instances
that have come to the surface the fol-
lowing are the most remarkable;
The Keystone mine, in Amador eoun-
~. California, belonged long ago to a
man named A. II. Rose. This was in
the early days of mining and no one
had then heard Of mother lode or a
diamond drill. Rose was capable
miner. and II occurred to him that his
ore body was gradually pinching out.
He satisfied himself that the end was
not far away and he proceeded TO look
around for a way out About this time
a Scotchman named Mcdonald came
into the country looking for bargains.
and Rose unloaded on him for 5000.
When he had the money In hand he was
the most delighted citizen in California
Day by day as the work went on the
vein grew smaller and smaller until 1;
was lost completely. All the old miners
counseled the new owner to take his
medicine and to abandon the property.
Had he been a miner probably he would
have done SO, but he was hard-headed
scotehman. who had a very small
knowledge Of mining, so he decided to
peg away at his mountain Of granite.
Week after week the weary work went
on. and the balance at the bank grew
beautifully less until the hard-headed
owner began TO think that his mine was
Of no value. and that he had bought a
worthless property.
One night when prudence was about tc
prevail and a complete shutdown was In
contemplation the outgoing shift boss
reported change In the >charaeter OF
the rock. This impaired a new courage
and fresh hope, and in few days came
tidings Of the finding OF the true ore
Mother Lode" From that day to this
the mine has never ceased TO pay and
has yielded up more than one princely
fortune.
On the Turn of a Card.
In the fall Of 1850 two young men
whom we will call Bill and Jack. located
claim not far from Placerville. in Cali
fornla, then known as Hsngtown. wher
they had their living quarters built winter
was at hand. so they decided to 90 70
Hangtown to buy supplies enough to last
them until they could begin work In the
spring. When they had bought all they
thought necessary they had a balance Of
some 800 In dust A big poker game was
going on In one of the many saloons, and
Jack suggested that as he was q good
poker player he would try his luck. Bill
assented and Jack sat In.
From the start he won steadily and In
an hour or two he had won more thar
5000. At this stage Bill whispered 70
him that this was good time to quit
to which Jack assented. and promised
that as soon as he had dealt the cards
he would retire.
The next deal was his. When he picked
up his hand II contained three aces and
opened the pot for 500. the next man
stayed in and when IT came to Jack he
boosted 1t 800 more. The opener stayed
out and Jack raised again to the extern,
OF his pile The other studied a moment
and then called. Jack had all his money
in the center; the other man had very
little left.
Cards. said Jack His opponent
threw two cards from his hand into the
discard and turned three mines face up
on the table. you are all in" he said
to Jack. so it's showdown. How many
does the dealer want?"
Jack thought for a second. His frs,
impulse was to throw away his pair and
play the Three aces. as they must be
good unless the other man helped. then
he thought OF the chance Of the other
man drawing a pair and making a nine
full. Il will play these" said Jack, as
he turned his ace full face up IN front
Of him.
Turn 'em over" said his opponent
Jack dealt him the trey of diamonds,
then he deliberately turned over the nine
spot OF clubs. giving his opponent -four
mines and the money. He Tipped over
the next two cards to see what would
have happened had he followed his first
impulse 10 draw two. They were the
fourth ace and a face card.
Experts CoRfounded.
A cowboy following his herds in So
nora. Mexico, came upon what he thought
was a good thing in the way Of copper.
He paid the uscual announcement fees
and proceeded to develop his property.
This called for money and plenty Of 1t, so
he went to New York to procure It. Wall
street was shy, but always open TO a
good proposition on its own terms. 50 1t
sent an expert TO look over the property.
He concluded that IL was no good. so did
many more until thirteen high-prieed and
haA aa.f,3..l thss