The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-04-22

He left-a gamblers legacy.
On the afternoon of Monday, No
vember "a, last year, professional
gambler of Kansas City sat down at
a poker table and broke the seal of
a new deck of cards. He played all
that afternoon and night and all the
next day, pausing only to take sand
wiches, coffee and whiskey from a
Japanese servants tray.
At o'clock Tuesday night, after
80 hours of continuous play, he count
ed his money, pushed back his chair,
bade the other men around the table
good night and went out. He walked
across the street to hotel, where he
lived, got his key at the desk, went
to his room on the third floor, un-
dressed and went to bed. Three hours
later he was dead of heart disease.
What does professional gambler
leave behind him when he dies?
Floyd Jacobs, county administra-
tor, who took charge of the gamblers
property the morning after he died,
found the gambler had 800 in cash
and s1,s00 in Liberty bonds in
safety deposit box in his hotel. Bank
books showed he had $1,000 on de-
post at downtown bank. There was
IL carat diamond ring, worth
about 81 900 on the dead mans fing-
er.
A man who had known the gam
bier in Omaha, told the administra-
tor the gambler had large amount
of estimated at 0,0O0-in
currency in safe deposit box in an
Omaha bank several months ago. In
i vestigation revealed that the gambler
had made a trip to Omaha early in
the fall, emptying his deposit box
there and returning with, the curren-
cy to Kansas City. Like all big gam
blers he liked to handle money, and
he preferred to keep his "bank rolf
where he could have ready access to
it, instead of investing it or deposit
ing it in a bank. So he rented a safe
deposit box.
When the public administrator
opened the box at the bank the day
after the gambler died there was no
currency or paper of value. The ad-
ministrator learned that a man said
to be the gamblers partner had visit
ed the box earlier in the day, but the
partner insisted he took out only a
few papers, concerning the partner
ship that belonged to him.
Where is the 100000 which the
gambler brought from Omaha? The
mystery of it's disappearance is one
of the interesting things he left be-
hind him.
There are three claimants to the
estate; the relatives of the mans
dead wife, who live in Denver; a
Kansas City woman who says she was
his common law wife, and the partner,
who seeks half share on the basis
Of business partnership. If the gam
bier had made will it is probable
he would have left his property to
none of them, but to fourth person
"a manicure girl in a downtown
hotel. AS yet she has brought no
claim aginst the estate and it is prob
able she never will bring one. The
gambler had said they would be mar
ried in December. That was one of
the tragedies he left behind.
What else did he leave?
When the coroner had finished his
work in the gamblers bedroom the
morning after he died, the admins
traitor began his examination of per-
sonal effects of the dead man. In a
bureau drawer he found more than
fifty envelopes containg weekly bills
for room rent from a large hotel. Re-
ceipt stamps on them showed that al
most all had been paid on the date
rendered. He was punctual, methodi-
cal.
There were letters, correspondence
with business associates in Denver
and Omaha, postcards from a woman
who was spending a vaca IN on
farm. One letter was from lieuten-
ant in the army stationed at Camp
Taylor, near Louisville, KY, telling
of a big stud poker game in which
two young millionaires from the east
were "easy picking"
The lieutenant told how easy it
would be to trim the millionaires
with marked cards, and asked the
gambler to be ready to take the train
Continued on page 3, column 1.)