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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1899)
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE : WEDNESDAY , ATJCitTST 2 , 18J)9. ) y A Returnin Beginning with the issue of August 6th will be published a series of the best pictures of the gallant First Nebraska Regiment. It will be a worthy souvenir of the celebration of their return. In order to obtain this pictorial history complete subscribe at once for The IT WILL INCLUDE The Farewells at Leaving Home On the Field and in Camp * * -j Camp Life at Lincoln Fighting the Insurgents Life in Camp at San Francisco The return fo San Francisco The Trip Across the Pacific Nebraska's Reception to Her Sons Nebraska Boys in the Philippines Portraits of Nebraska s Heroes Pictures of the Companies- from Five Cents Per With the Sunday Bee , by mail , $2.00 per year. Subscribe at once. UNCANNY HANDS AT POKER I Hemarkable Freaks of the Cards tbat Put a Stop to the Game. NEW DECKS FAIL TO CHANGE LUCK All the rinrcm Hml Cllnimlvc HaiiitH ToKt'tlior or Klio Xotliliiflr to SpenU Of extraordinary SctineiiocB and Flimhes. "I read In a newspaper the other day the story about four whist players In this cnso "British army officers In India each of whom , In the progress of a game , caught the thirteen trumps of a suit on ono deal , " wild an Oregon man to o Now York Sun cor respondent. "Tho four olllcera duly eat down nnd made their .Individual affidavits as to this occurrence , and a mathematician to whom the thing was submitted figured It out that such a thin ? could only happen once In over so many hundreds of billions of times. I would Hko to have that uaino math ematician's calculations on the probable re currence of some poker bands that I got mixed up with ono night In Baker City , my state , back In ' 91. I've aeon lota of instances of one roan's having phenomenal luok for protracted periods at the game of draw ; I've had my own share of that kind of luck. But on this occasion that I'm speaking of all four of us had mosslvo hands , not on , any ono round of cards , nor on any ono man's deal , tout right along fern n solid six-hour sitting. It wasn't a case of bewitched cards that Eomo of the old-time tin horns talk about , for wo changed the decks repeatedly , and almost shuffled nnd rlfllctl the spots off them nt that In our efforts to force- them to como out In the ordinary , conventional way. They wouldn't < lo It. During that whole night's play wo found that hands which wouUljjcnorally bo counted pretty good nnd worth any man's juoney up to their proper poker value did not actually pan out ono , two , threes It was llkq playing poker with a euchre or a pinochle deck , If you can figure- out how puzzling that sort of draw would bo. "It was an Improratu sort of gamo. All four of us 'wore residents of Portland , friends of long standing , and our personal checka were as good to each other ns pieces of eight. Wo just happened to bo In Baker CUy at the same tlmo and at the same hoUl , nnd , ns the after-dark amusements of Baker City are not particularly alluring except from the purest reJeyo point of view , wo Marled this queer poker game a-golng along about fourth-drink tlmo after supper. The top-noteher among us from the financial point of view wns awell known Oregon man who had a good deal to do with the building of the Columbia river Jetty. Then there was n tulmon canner , a meat contrac tor nnd myself , The meat contractor didn't particularly want to piny , for ho had teen welted pretty hard couple of weeks before in a Portland game , and ho bald that ho felt Hko catching up before ho did any more amstoboard handling , Ho didn't have to be pressed very liard , however , nnd ho was measurably glad ' when the cession was over that ho had eat In , "The Oregon game IB quarter nnto and dollar limit , and the California game of no straights and no pat Hushes never worked Its Insldloua way up among the Wobfcet. AVe played straight eastern poker then , na we do now. I dealt the first hand myself , and I treated myself pretty kindly. I picked up three aces , will oh had always been re garded by rae as a pretty fair sort of draw fistful ) . It noa the salmon man's first eay , end ho played for a dollar's worlh of It , the limit. The Jetty ( nan came back at him for the limit , and I raised the iboth of them the limit. lie Stayed In. " ' 1 suppose you fellows think you've squeezed mo out of It , eh ? " said the meat contractor , whoso ante had been pulled up this way , and then ho raised us all the limit. I dished myself a pair of deuces , each of the other three taking a card each , Then wo T > egan to bet dollars. My ace full was as big as a house ? , and I stayed until there was close onto a hundred dollars lars In the center of the table. Then the settled , confident countenances of all three o the other players sort of worried mo , and I suggested that a call would < bo about in order. "You'll have to do it , then , " they told rae in chorus , nnd I did. My ace full wasn't In it. The saloon man had four fours , the jetty man had four fives , and the meat man took down the pot with a straight flush. It took us ten minutes to get ever talking arnazodly about this proposition for a first hand around , and tbon we went at It again , the meat man serving them out. I caught a Inllapoloosa the worst hand known in poker ; that is to say , a putrid full haad three cards of ono suit and two of another. I throw the hand down in disgust just at the moment all the rest of them did the same thing and then I saw that all three of the others had lallapoosas , too. Wo rldl- culod the meat man for a while , and then . the salmon man riffled them to deal the Jack- I pot. The Jetty man had the first stay , and ho gave a snort , throwing down , face up , a two , four , six , eight , ton of clubs. I hcavod the same cards In spades , face up , on the table , the moat man showed up his ace , three , five , seven nnd nlno of diamonds mends , and the salmon man revealed his nco , throe , five , seven anS nlno of hearts. Wo had to look at each other for a while when wo saw this extraordinary manifesta tion of valueless sequence. All oil the HlulT. "Tho Jetty man declined to have anything further to do with such a deck as that and BO ho dealt the Jack with my deck. I got the first mesa of five. I have the habit of , I picking up my cards in poker ono by ono In i order , I nuppose , to prolong the enjoyment In case they nro coming my way , or , vise I versa , to spread the misery out thin when ! the cards served out to mo are rank , The I first card I picked up was a deuce and so vins the second. " 'Enough to etny on , ' I thought , nnd then I picked up my third deuce. " 'I can 'bluff ' on tbeso and still have enough to fall .back . upon , ' I thought , and then I gathered In my fourth dcuco. "The other three had meantime gathered their hands up in bunches of flvo and they wcro looking at me expectantly. I put on the most bored expression possible , said some thing about hating to open a pot on a pair of knaves and skated a dollar chip Into the middle , They all raised mo without putting on any bored looks and I took a card Just to nmko them think I was either four-flushing or trying to fill a straight or two pairs. They all stood pat. " 'I don't know who the bluffer Is In the outfit , ' enUl the minion man , 'but I don't mind conveying the solemn assurance to all hands hereabouts that I'm not. ' "I played them all for pat full bands or flushes , but I didn't think any of them was bluffing. They all gazed nt mo as If they exported me to wither. We all bet until there was more than a hundred In the cen ter and then the meat man penetrated my labored air of Insouciance- and called me. I won. The meat man had a pat flush and the salmon man nnd Jetty each had pat fulls. " 'There'd bo a shooting If anything like this happened In a game between sheep herd ers , ' mid the meat wan and then we went on. on."Tho "Tho salmon man dished then out this time , with a new deck , and we bid to make It a Jack , for the hands were something ter rible. Then something remarkable hap pened. It went around , the pot being sweet ened for a dollar all around each time , eight een times without a man of the four of us getting so much as a pair not one pair for eighteen times. Then the meat man served thorn out. The salmon man decided to stay and to draw three cards. " 'What's the color of your Jacks ? ' In- j I quired the Jetty man , and he , too , stayed and took three. I had a pair of kings , which I thought were good enough to draw to , In view of the abominable way the cards had been running , and the meat man stayed and took three himself. " 'Let's make this for flvo a throw , ' said the salmon man , who had opened the pot. Uusally such suggestions are received with vituperation and scorn by the other players , but this time wo were singularly unanimous In agreeing to raising the limit to $5. I was agreeable myself , because I had caught another king In the draw. Konr of a. ICInd. "When there was close to $400 In the pot the salmon man , a bit scared by our determi nation , called , showing his three Jacks. The jetty man said something about getting money in a letter , and placed his three queens BO we could all see them. I had a remark or two to make then about an El Dorado , where folks pick money up In the streets , and I carefully spread my three | , klngs out , ono by one. " 'SVhon you see a good thing , ' remarked the meat man , 'hit It with an ax , ' and ho tantallzlngly laid down his thrco aces also , ono by one , and hauled down the pot. "Wo nil agreed that four simultaneous deaths had often resultc'd from less cause than this , and I think It really tapped the nerve of all of us more or less. I know that the way the cards were going had mo on the run. We summoned the proprietor of the hotel a man wo nil know well and put him through a severe inquisitorial process as to how the cards purveyed nt his newsstand had got Into his hotel , and In sundry and divers ways endeavored to talk away the spell which seemed to hover over the cards. Wo declined to play any further with cards bought In the hotel , and sent a boy down the street to get a dozen packs at another hotel. Then , after wo had all walked around our chairs backward each disclaiming any superstitious beliefs , by the way , In so doIng - Ing wo resumed the gamo. "I had the deal. I shuffled and riffled the cards until there wasn't any more newness to them than there Is to a last year's hat , * " and "then handed them out in sets of five. I caught a deuce full and , of course , stood pat when It camemy turn. The other three ) also stood pat. Wo had , by the way , In creased t'bo ' ante to $1 , and the limit had been raised permanently to $5. We laid our hands face down on the table and looked each Bother over. " rThere's something devilish and uncanny about this , ' said the salmon man , finally. 'Now _ , I don't say It because I'm bluffing or because I'm not well fixed , but what do you all say to having a show-down right now , just for curiosity , tbat we may all see what these weird hands contain and have some thing to go by for future play ? ' "Tho Jetty man and the meat contractor kicked over this , and so did I. I was sorry that I had , later. So was the jetty mun. We bet on those four pat hands up to (600 for the whole pot , and the meat man took It down with a nine full , The jetty man had a flush and the salmon man bad a six full. full."This "This was n bit too much , and we unani mously decided to pass the game up. " There's something wrong about this , ' said the salmon man , 'It's a 'hoodoo. I'll bet my Astoria canneries are burning up , or something. ' " 'Let's liave one more hack ut this thlnlf , ' said the jetty man , rumlnantly , 'and If any thing like what's been going on happens again we'll have something to swear off on for the rest of the year. ' "It didn't look exactly right for the three of us to leave so much of our money In the meat man's hands and so wo decided to try the game once more. Wo.concluded to cut for deal again , so that In case anything re markable happened we'd each know just where we stood , nnd we took a new pack of cards. I took the first cut. It was a seven of spades. The meat man tut the eight of spades , the salmon man cut the nine of spades and the Jetty man Just turned what remained of the deck over and wo looked at the bottom card. It was the ten of spades. We all looked around to see blue fire and sulphur fumes coming out of the floor , the thing looked so dovlllsh In view of what had been happening from the beginning of the sitting. We were a bit too flustered to comment on the thing , however , nnd the Jetty man dealt the car da out titter shuffling them and giving each ono of us a cut at them. It was my ante and eo the meat man had the first say. He said ho'd play , but not for any $1. The limit was about the value of his hand. The salmon man remarked that ho couldn't waste his valuable tlmo playing for any $ G all around and so ho raised it the limit himself. The jetty man did likewise. So did I. Who wouldn't htyewith a straight flush of clubs , from ace to five , as I had ? The jetty man asked mo how many I wanted and I told him to help the others and him self ; that I had all I needed just then. The meat man told him llkewlsq. So did the salmon man. ' 'I don't know how I could Improve on these , ' said the Jetty man e.nd ho stood pat himself. There wo wcro again , the four of us standing pat. " 'I think you're all talr.Ing advantage of what's been happening hijre this evening , ' said the jetty builder , 'and you've simul taneously decided to bluff on the strength of it. ' 'Wo told him together that wo didn't have nny hawsers on his thinking apparatus , and the meat man started It going with a limit bet. Wo went on totting the limit for half an hour , with occasional long pauses , during which wo regarded each other studiously. Then I called a halt. " 'There are some hands In poker , ' I told them , 'which , I believe , a gentleman Is not supposed to bet on because of their sure- thing character. Now , I feel rather guilty for having gone thus far on this deal , for I bellovo I have ono of those sure-thing hands myself , ' " 'Why don't you call , then ? ' they nsked mo together. " 'That's what I'm going to do , ' nnd I did. There was close on to J2,000 represented ' In the pot /by / this time. I put down my ace to five straight flush of clubs with a considerable feeling of confidence , which was Immediately punctured by the jetty man's laying down a straight fliiiih of diamonds , from deuce to six. There was a heap of quiet around that table when the salmon man Impressively laid down a straight flush of hearts , from three to seven. " 'The man that beats that , ' said the meat man scrutinizing the salmon man's npread- out cards , 'takes the pot , don't ho ? ' and then he suddenly spread a royal flush of spades down on the tablo. j j "We didn't count on the thing at all. We touched the button and got a drink and then | I wo repaired to our respective rooms nnd went to bed. Wo didn't afterward make out nny affidavits as to the way those cards went , Hko the four British army offlters I | mentioned , but I know one man of that four who didn't mlnglo with poker any for three solid years after that sitting , " At the Detroit Journal : Prom his seat on high Olympus the god Mars contemplated The Hague long and earnestly. "Can you see your finish ? " asked Jupiter , who as the putative father of gods and men. took a passing Interest In affairs. "No , " replied Mars. "At this distance I can see nothing but Mr. W T. Stead. " Sometimes It happens that personalities become so large as to get in the way of tendencies. i ntTT i r 'PTM nn ni n nnoi\Tr or\ LOVE LETTERSHER BUSINESS Fun a Chicago Girl Got Out of Being a Professional Matchmaker. MADE A GOOD LIVING OUT OF IT i She "Wrote Tender Illllct Donx for LovcHlcIc iMuldciia Who , In Turn , Sent Them to Their UUMUH- Admirer * . In tbo city of Chicago dwells a woman , Miss Rose Norman , who , tnrough her cogent billet doux , has brought to a happy climax , via the altar , not merely ono , tout scores of pairs of hearts made happy as a consequence I of the epistolary effusions of this mystic , j , cryptic "silent partner. " No record has j 1 been kept , unfortunately , of how many un- suspectlnc men have been Influenced by this clever medium to bestow themselves upon feminine worshipers , who , like poor Cyrano's rival , could keenly enough feel all the excruciating delights , hopes and fears of love , yet had not the gift of trans- latins into rhythms and jingles of winning words the "dead language of hearts. " "Yes. " said sly-looking Rose Norman tea a Chlcaco Chronicle reporter , "tho last match I made ruined my reputation and killed my business. And I rather think It will Incidentally bo the cause of fewer wed dings and moro old maids hereafter. " "Tell mo , please , " was urged , "about your far-reaching Insight ; whatever prompted you to adopt as a means of livelihood this psychological pursuit ? " 'Why , It all came about in a simple way the outcome of a favor granted years ago tea a dear schoolmate of mine. Ono day this girl confided to me that she had received a letter from a young man for whom she felt the deepest recard. Poor Elslel I shall cover forget how troubled she looked. Beauty , wealth , social position all these were hers ; she had everything In the world but brains. 'Oh , Rose , ' she pleaded , 'won't you answer It for me ? You can think of more nice things In a mlnuto than I could In all ray life. ' What could I do ? My letter brought n second and moro fervent effusion. Then , In order to prevent detection of fraud , I was forced to repeat the favor , and from tlmo to tlmo wo continued our game of du plicity. From the first that man's heart was mine ; soon ho proposed and In less than a year I married him off to Elsie. Happy girl ! Three months later the doting husband went away on a business trip and , as I re fused to renew my outbursts on paper , Elsie wrote nothing but the briefest notes , ex cusing herself In various ways for not writ ing more. Afterward she told mo bow much 'the dear fellow' regretted that she had lost her 'knack of spinning love letters. ' Later she confessed tho'whole affair to some girl friends , advising them to seek my assistance as she had done. But I failed to forseo any personal advantage In devoting so much time and brain tissues to matters which In no way concerned myself. Then offers of re muneration were timidly broached and I yielded to that temptation. Those girls , in turn , confided their experiences to their 'best friends' and In that way was created a demand for ray guidance In like cases and by degrees I 'became ' not alone a matchmaker , but a veritable perambulating private his tory of countless lives. " Problem of Srcrcti. "How did you over convince the ladles with whom you dealt tbat one of their own sex could prove herself on exception to the rule and 'keep secrets ? ' " "Bless your Innocence , woman. You don't suppose they vero silly enough to trust their true loves to me body and soul ? Though , of course , I could easily have proved traitor bad I not constantly exer cised over myself a mentally avowed rule of complete self-forgetfulness. With ono exception , no patron ever risked introduc ing mo to her admirer. Several times wo men were rash enough to tell mo the name * of my correspondents , nnd they happened to bo friends of mine , but usually I carried on courtships with men whoso names were never divulged , and I much preferred these circumstances. I found I could do more consclentloUH work when I had no Idea whether I woe writing to n man named Per- clval or < Pete , and whether ho lived In Chl- cagd or China. There was no need of my knowing , for all my letters were copied and sent by the other woman nnd all replies re ceived by her. The latter were usually submitted to me. however , for In order to successfully carry on a deception It was Im perative that I bo Informed of all particu lars. Prom the very first conversation with a prospective patron I would Insist upon a clean breast of everything up to date , I emphatically forbade the concealment of fu ture Incidents also. " "Aside from the remunerative point of view , did you enjoy your unusual enter prise ? " 'ttlost certainly. The study of different characters and their vagaries was Interest ing and often educational. I derived Infinite satisfaction In scientifically planning how I to control various natures and I Invariably I felt the keenest responsibility over the destinies of people. Then there were all sorts of diversions. Frequently I have been employed to Inscribe tender trib utes in honor of birthdays , festal cerebra tions , anniversaries and other occasions un- forgotten. And I have rhymed together many , many stanzas for St. Valentino's day and Easter tokens wore always popu lar. Oh , " here Miss Norman rolled her cyos celllngward , "I could write books- books that would sell , too , " she exslalmcd. "I could tell things about some of the most prominent men and women In this city , " and she rocked her pretty head In avuy that implied volumes of secrets and ro- ' mances. "Tho clandestine love affairs of whlct I have been made tno Innocent man ager , a few Wlghted fives maybe , and the schemers for whom I have handled many strings to many bows would surprise the arch destroyer himself. " Kuniiy Experience. The tragic express'on of Miss Norman's face suddenly vanished In a burst of morrl- ment. "I must tell you ono of the funniest experiences I over had , " she broke forth , "fiucii a sweet young girl brought ne : her firs' Jove afalr and begged mo In write iet- I tors for her. I aeXed her to give mo come < ilA of how many lints to a missive she would bo willing to pay for , and ttatcd my price per typewritten line. " 'Spare no expense , ' she adjured me , 'this fellow Is trying his level best not to care for mo , and I Intend to make him. ' "Some of my most tcUIng etrokcs were dally brought to bear upon that particular chap's Bluggleh organ of affection , nightly my fair coadjutor omphaxlzcd my foregone aEsurances with blushes and porouaslvo glances , and between us wo accomplished his surrender. The next thing I heard from the victorious rales was that she had tired of that slave , ' and a new Idol was already being worshiped. As nho referred in no way to tbo re-engagement of my services I wrote Inquiringly about It. What do you think she replied ? That she had saved nil my typewritten letters and , as she doubted If this second 'venture' would amount to anything more than 'a little flirtation' she would Just use those oM letters over again and not waste money on 'an uncertainty. ' That struck me na sublime , " and Miss Nor man twinkled her eyes as If the joke would never grow stale to her. "She never came , back to me , and I've often wondered how many lovelorn youths have since found balm In those same magic doses of soothIng - Ing promises , written long before they o much thought of yearning for the owner of them. "Did I ever wrlto for a man ? " was tha query she repeated. "Yes , once , " she an swered sobering. "A ctrango and very Bad commission it proved to be. A perfect stranger came to mo ono day on a peculiar errand. Ho gave mo his name and address nnd stated that for certain reasons , which ho preferred not to mention , bo desired mo to wrlto nn Impassioned letter ifull of en dearing terms and Intense Jealousy. I fol lowed his instructions without the slightest curiosity , aside from thinking that ho meant to pique nn Indifferent wveotbenrt by flaunting ray letter. Having fulfilled my part of the 'bargain ' I dismissed it from iny mind. Several months later In walked a patron of former dajs , a woman from whom I had carried on a most delightful courtship which ended with merry wedding bells and1 bride's cake. She Informed mo that she had Just received the papero which made null her marriage cortiflcato. Her husband had proved faithless , oho sobbed , and the con- vlcnlng evidence was a letter from nn un known woman , found on the staircase whcro it had been dropped by accident. The cn- volopo Iboro his name and address , ! ho ad mitted his guilt nnd the divorce wai granted. 'You married us , ' she wept , 'so I wanted you to know the end. ' I stared at the parchment before mo and as I read the nnmo of her ox-husband I know that I had uho parted ! Iticm. " "But why did you give It up ? " I asked , too curiously , perhaps , for she laughed In a most exasperating way , nnd Bald ; "Some other tlmo I will tell you not , today. " TO I3.VI10W 1IOII W03IACIC. Cripple Creek' * DUcovrrcr AV1II Ho Cured l.'or by I'lonccrH' Sorletj' . iA Denver. Colo. , dispatch says that Bob Womack. the discoverer of Cripple Creek camp , which brought fortunes to scores of people , but failed to do anything for him , is not to bo forgotten. ( A pioneers' society has been organized , with the express pur pose of arranging for the endowment of the old prospector with a fortune of $80.000. Bob AVomack was a cowboy In 1877. IIli father owned a ranch at Crlpplo Creek. Bob worked for hl father. Ono day ho was wondering over the fields In a spot ( that afterward camu to bo known nn Pov erty Gulch , and ho saw what ho supposed to bo free gold on some float or drift rock on the bank of Crlpplo Creek , When hu got to his father's cabin ho wrote to two friends at Clear Creek who wore experi enced prospectors nnd nsked them to come up and examine the country. They came looked about for a tlmo and then pronounced the country worthless. Bob Womack wan disappointed. Ho VIBB no miner , but ho woa sure that ho had discovered a gold Hold and ho stuck to it. About a year later ho ran across a bin rock sticking out of ono side of Poverty Gulch , nnd It looked to him as If it contained free told. HO knocked off n piece of u and when ho went to Denver next tlmo ho took It to an us- uaycr. wno told him It returned J200 gold to the ton. He sent for his two Clear Creek friends again and told them what he hud learned. They make another investigation and concluded that the rock wa a "pud ding , " which means that It was put thora by somebody who wanted to "salt" a claim und sell It. Wowack was not satisfied. Ho told his friends tbat If they would prospuct nil about the ranch ho would board them free all summer , but they told him tbat It would bo a waste of tlmo and refused to stay. Womack wouldn't clvo up the Idea that ho hud found free old. HU father sold the ranch and the family moved , Bob told everybody that gold was there. Finally ho made a number of prospectors bcllevo him and they made a thorough examination of the property und the great gold fields of Crlpplo Creek were opened. This WHS al most fifteen years after Bob Womack's first discovery. Womack got practically nothing out of his find , but If It hadn't been for liU persistency the gold fields might btlll I * Dimply grazing ground for cattle.
