The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-31

NM@ on under cover and In con
sNHNNS s ssans,a dread Of police inter.
Not so hong ago, however, the cry Of the
roulette man and the click OF the bali couid
be heard In the Hobbies OF many Of the 1
principal hotels. This was particularly true
Of I'll Paso. Cripple Creek, Leadville, Cold,
1eid, Butte, the Occur dAlene, and many |
other sections. The practice prevailed to a
greater or less extent In the larger towns,
Everybody has money In the early days OF ah
a mining camp. w
II was an era OF speculation, The eoun. w
try had not been proven and hence a II
find" In q new section resulted In q great 7
rush to that locality. Property changed
hands at fabulous prices overnight, This
ragged prospector Of today might be roll.
Ing In wealth tomorrow, 1t has happened
so many times.
When there is money to throw at the
birds, the gamblers, like so many ~yultures,
assemble at the point to which 1t Is being cast
by the thoughtless and improyident possessoFs.
Games were played where the stakes ran into
the millions. A man wealthy in the morning
sometimes had 10 borrow money to avoid going
TO bed hungry at night
A stockman In Colorado sat into" a poker
gans In Denver. and by midnight had not only
lost all the cash he had with him. but had ex.
aauste6 q large bank balance.
He owned, ON the range In Colorado, the neu.
tral strip emo Mans Land" now extreme west.
arn Oklahoma), and in Texas ten thousand head
Of cattle. worth twenty dollars . head, or 3 total
Of 100000.
He possessed land In three states and a hand,
some residence In Denver. He made a bet of
a thousand steers-worth twenty thousand dollars
and lost He continued this until the herd of
ten thousand head Of stock belonged to another
man. Day dawned. and he was still playing.
Breakfast was sent in from a restaurant main
tasned at the end OF the gambling hall for just
such people.
Nov" he said to the men who had won his
Mttis, you have the critters. but no place 70
ssep them. I wifi play you my Texas ranch"
He lost that. Then followed the Colorado
ranch. finally the residence in Denver, together
with the furniture, his horses, his watch and
chain. Al eight o'clock at Neutrality-suspicious.
hours later-he was penniless. and started for
the Rio Grande country Of Texas. where he found
employment hauling logs to q sawmiii. He had
lost more than a quarter or a million dollars IN
twenty-four hours!
VIII you oblige me by taking OF your shoes?'
asked q road agent politely. while he held a re-
voiver menacingiy In the face OF a passenger
Who stood up I'm a line with others.
The hoid-up man had stopped the stage going
into Leadville to collect toll" He had just pur
chased the road, he said, and needed the money.
81 ~ ptbSeu upMh liz klIlH hHh. Ny LHDf1LB UE u
passenger whom he forced into service, gathered
up ell the money and jewelry, until he came TO
the last man In the line. Then he asked the man
20 take OF his shoes. He found four thousand
dollars under the inner soleB!
Several nights later the man who had been out
witted by the hoid-up man was sitting In the
dealers chair of a faro game In the CLOUD City"
as Eeadvflle Is called. Before him sat a man
who lost money steadily. The gambler "raked
kuS fhp y1NnAvt raralGaN{y and with the ftfynnsf4 an
concern. The player lost something like Eve
Thousand dollars and then pushed back his chair.
"Aii tnG" aaked the gambler. arching his
br0ws.
''rep-Fou've cleaned me out"
Then we are even for that ltttie incident the
other night. when you collected your road tax
erosn mo-"
sT----"
Yes, you!"
The shold-up man knocked down halt a dozen
loiterefs in his rush to reach the door and escape,
A weiEknown mining man. who was noted for
his fudgmen In knowing a hole IN the ground"
when he looked into IT, had Just made a purchase
IN Cripple Creek, He had money, and he was will
ing to spend II for anything that looked good.
After having tramped over the hills all of one
day, he sat Into" a poker game In the lobby
VI the principal hotel that night, and engaged In
q friendly game with a number Of acquaintances.
They were playing for twenty-five cents d cor
nsr. While the game was In progress a ragged
prospeetor appeared and attempted 10 inject him.
self into the company. The mining man explain
ID that 1t was simply a private game between
fisads-outsiders, and particularly strangers.
were not wanted.
Il haze money that has never been spent"
We don't know you"
Oh. that's ii Then let me introduce my
self"
There was no way to get rid Of him Appar
snay. Then, like an inspiration. and tn an nm.
neyed manner. the operator said:
"How much money have you ="
Eight hundred dollars"
~sis down. and II show you how to play
poker
In less than fifteen minutes the prospector
withdrew.
Shortly after he returned with d thousand dol.
lars more. This was interesting He lost II
Then he lost a diamond pin. following it with a
watch and his ~"cayuse."
Whom he pushed back hs chair the operator
asked:
Are you broke nowg'
RI hare a claim over on the hill"
What do you value II at?"
One hundred thousand dollars"
This staggered the mining man for q moment