The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, July 25, 1912, Page 3, Image 3
THE BIGGEST PC
GAM
Memorable Session Betv
Over $200,000 S?
t in the Po
John W. Gates is no more; Davy C.
Johnson, plunger and owner of Roseben,
has also gone the way of all fiesh,
but New York will not soon forget
v either the genial financier, whose
4 motto was; "Life itself is nothing
but a gamble," or the former owner
of the matchless thoroughbred which
raced seven furlongs in 1:22 and
, helped Davy win a half dozen fortunes.
i .
In the circles of chance, where the
, rattle of the little sphere of ivory and
the click of the buttons on the casekeeper
is still heard in spite of police
activity, "Bet-you-a-million" Gates
. and "Plunger" Johnson will long be
>
remembered. The reason is not buried
deeply. They both were men of a
ready courage, willing to flip pennies
for $1,000 a flip, or to wager a small
fortune on what some third person
had eaten for lunch. Their tford was
as good as gold certificates fresh
! from the bureau of engraving and
printing; they were never seen to
shed tears over a lost bet.
% John Gates was a natural born
gamester. With equal readiness he
would tackle a slot machine or "goshort"
on 5$,000 shares of Union Pacific.
To him everything was a gam*
ble. He admitted of no fine distinc*
? v tion?so long as the game was fair
and square.
Sporting men say of Davy Johnson
that he could win faster than any
man who ever staked a dollar. "Bet
" -- - ? a - VI.
high, hit em nara ana aouoie uy
stakes," he was often heard to say.
? As a, matter of course, he could lose
just as quickly, and when Roseben
was not running well he was more
than once forced to borrow money
for his stable expenses.
Naturally, when Davy Johnson and
John Gates got together over a poker
table, it gave sportsmen something to
talk about. Eventually the evening
came. They got together. A game
I. ' < > ensued.
. ? N And New York and all the sporting
, world is still talking about it.
One evening in the late fall during
the progress of the Sheepshead Bay
meeting Gates came up from the.
track. He had had a very successful
day, had picked a number of winners
*
at decent odds and had ''pyramided"
his winnings until the bookmakers
y 4 waved his commissioner away. Altogether
he was said to have cleared
up the respectable sum of a little over
~ $224,000.
. >? - Roseben had been running that day
and Davy Johnson was a heavy winner.
At that time Davy was interested
in an establishment of chance in For
V. - ty-third street, and when Gates was
in town, he was in |he habit of dropnine
in on Daw for a little whirl at
tv: *" ? ~ '
roulette or a boxful or two of faro.
"' * ; Large sums of money changed hands
on such occasions, but as yet neither
' of them had ever been properly
"hooked up" over a poker table with
good cards in their hands.
,v.. .> . ?
Gates, after a modest supper and a
peep at the last two acts of a musical
comedy, made his way to Johnson's,
i The upper floor was pretty well
t crowded, but he found a seat at the
faro table, where Davy himself was
perched upon the lookout stool.
"What's the limit, Davy?" asked
Gates, as the dealer slid him a stack
of chocolate-colored chips representing
12,000.
Davy smiled, wiped his glasses and
then waved toward the ceiling. John
i got busy with the game, but the fates
seemed against him.
If he liked the queen open it invariably
lost. If he coppered it to
lose, it won. *His first stack of chips
was lost before the turn of the first
boxful. With more chips he tried all
- j? sorts of bets. He had heeled his bets
" - * x TT? +V.O, Vtie/h
2.U over cue ictjuuu xic mcu mc u^u
card. He tried calling each turn, but
could not even "dope out a cat-hop."
* In fact, he was whipsawed from the
soda card to the hock.
Daylight filtered into the room. All
the other players had long since quit
to watch the financier's heavy play.
Gates counted up the markers against
him and learned that he was a little
over $200,000 to the bad.
"You're taking away about all I
* won at the track," he laughed up at
Davy.
Johson was tired. He looked at
the clock, yawned and made some trivial,
good-natured reply. But Gates
had noted the yawn.
"I'll tell you what I'll do Davy,"
s . proposed Gates. "The dealer's tired,
him turn im thp hov and ?to home.
You're tired, too, but what do you
say to a little two-handed game of
draw for just thirty minutes? Then
we'll stop, win or lose."
Davy nodded, and while Gates
wrote a check for his indebtedness at
the faro table the attendants produced
a box of fresh cards and turni
?
)KER
[E EVER KNOWN F
reen Gates and Johnson, >>;
aid to Have Been v
ei
t of Pots. B
? " hi
ed on the lights over a poker table, jj
For possibly fifteen; or twenty min*
utes the game ran or. The hands sj
were small and the players wary, as w
the words "no limit" had been pro- e?
nounced. It was an even break up Vj
to this juncture. ^
It was Davy's deal and Gates had ai
made it $500 to play. One by one the w
financier picked up his cards without oi
looking at their faces. He bunched
them, with his eyes on Johnson to see
whether or not he intended to play. ^
The latter, having finished dealing
Hmo hoinp' nirkori nn his
L\Jl LU^ V.*UiV r.v..wv. -r ,JJ
hand. After a brief glance at the in- _
dicators he tossed four blue chips into ~
the pot. Each chip represented $500, tt]
therefore his action meant that Gates at
would have to pay $1,500 to play.
The crowd surrounding the table sc
edged in closer. It began to look as if pi
there might be a little high play after n<
all.
''Holding pretty good cards, Davy, 01
ain't you?" said Gates. He skinned w
his own hand and then counted out p(
13 of the blue chips into the pot. g(
"It'll cost you $5,000 more to draw e8
to that good hand of yours," he commented.
cr
Already the pot held $9,000 and Ca
the end was not in sight. w
The onleokers drew closer. They w
all knew the temper of the two play- h<
ers and realized that a battle royal th
was imminent.
Davy peered oVer his glasses at ie
Gates for an instant and then he turn- pc
ed to his chips. Coolly, without say- fa
ing a word, he counted out 25 of the m
blue chips and pushed the stack into ti
the middle of the table. He had seen as
the $5,000 raise and had hoisted it ex
$7,500 himself. ex
Gates never moved an eyebrow. W;
With a murmured "I know you had
'em, Davy," the financier pushed 15 w
of the blue chips toward the center af
of the table. Gi
Twenty-nine thousand dollars was
in the pot and neither of the men had as
drawn cards as yet. The observers
held their breaths. * Truly, this was th
poker with a vengeance. w;
"Two cards'll do me," called Gates
as Davy picked up the deckhand. XJ.
, With nimble fingers the owner of
Roseben slid off the twro top cards and ar
passed them to his friend and oppo- hs
nent. He then helped himself to two
cards. So far as the onlookers could sa
see each man must have three of a re
kind, for they both knew poker too be
well to hold "kickers" or to draw to w;
a three-card flush. Furthermore, bluffing
would not work, for neither of the w
players would lay down his hand be
without at least calling the other. th
In attempting to get a look at the $5
game one of the attendants inadver- i0
tently tipped over a stool. Alarmed er
by the noise, their nerves on edge, the br
rrn^d of observers fairlv iumDed ud: r>r
~ - --- - - - -- - - V
but the two players never moved a kX
muscle. They were intent upon the hi
game.
Gates had no chips left. He rarely Ca
carried money in large amounts. He
felt for his card case and pencil. (jc
Scribbling some figures on a card, he qi
fhen tossed it into the pot, smiling c],
meanwhile at Davy. The latter lean- d;
ed over and read the penciled inscrip- qtion.
It ran according to bystanders
close enough to observe, "I. 0. U. he
$25,000., J. W. G."
The financier had seen Davy's $5,- ed
000 bet and had gone back at him gC
with a $20,000 raise.
" Davy sized up the pot. It was a tb
rare one, representing the tidy little ca
fortune of $59,000. Slowly and care- th
fully Davy skinned his cards and then pS
laid them down. He alone knew what
he held, so carefully did he spread ra
the pasteboards until the indicators o(
were barely exposed. In a low tone
?almost a whisper, in fact?he ai
spoke to one of his faro dealers who a<
stood near by, requesting a slip of go
paper and a pencil. His own supply it
of chips was exhausted. he
Accounts differ as to what Davy c0
wrote on the slip of paper, but the he
consensus of opinion is that it was co
an I. O. U. for the staggering sum of be
$.91.000.
Roseben's owner had not only seen th
the Steel and Wire man's $20^000 ac
raise, but had "come back" with a
$71,000 raise, probably the greatest aj
sum of money ever wagered at one ^
"raise" in the history of poker. tt,
John Gates, usually a rapid thinker
and player, hesitated. There was as
an even $150,000 in the pot at this
juncture. No one has ever ventured w]
to explain why he paused, for he was sp
accustomed to deal in large sums of
money, frequently carrying from $25,- f0
000,000 to $35,000,000 worth of
stocks on a margin and often clean- gj
ing up a million or two in the course
of a short business day. Sl]
Leisurely h.6^ produced his card t0
case once more and then felt for his pc
POSSE AFTER MOOXSHIXERS.
ugitives Accused of Attempting \
Lives of Virgina Farmers.
Danville, Va., July 21.?An armed
Dsse, in automobiles and on horse- kn
ick, is searching the mountains for h.
vo unknown moonshiners, who tra
irly to-day attempted to kill J. C. nig
ass and German Pace, farmers, of
ount Carmel, who were believed to Ms
ave informed revenue officers of an mc
legal still. gir
Bass and Pace were aroused from am
eep early, and when they opened a pic
indowtwo shots were fired at them, La
ich being hit in the right eye. The me
ctims were brought to a Danville am
ospital. The still, whose owners wh
*e supposed to have fired the shots, of
as found by Walter Bass, brother hai
: one of the victims. the
$4.o0 rain coats, guaranteed water wa
*oof and durable for heavy wear,
ritP F a MERTINS. Ausrusta. Ga. ne
Highest prices paid for beef cattle.
. G. DELK, Bamberg, S. C. kn
= =========== cai
mcil. A milk wagon rattled by in ter
ie street below. One of the negro *ar
.tendants, absorbed in the game,
ipped the arm of another onlooker sm
? hard that the latter turned and ha<
iished him away. Neither Gates onl
>r Davy paid any attention. *
Then a silence ensued, disturbed s^(
lly by the labored breathing of the A
atchers. Verily this . was draw
)ker for fair. "What, was Gates l?v
)ing to do?" That was the question
ich man asked himself. Pei
Slowly the pencil of' the financier vi^
ept over the face of the visiting
,rd, his left hand shielding the an<
riting. All present knew that he tra
ould call Davy, but all wondered if on
} would raise, and, if he did, what "w
ie amount would be. ha'
The writing finished, John Gates im.
isurely replaced the pencil in his th
)cket. He turned toward the card thi
ce down upon the green cloth, but P*a
ade no move to put it in the pot. Sal
he smile left his face for an instant 00i
i he shot a glance at Davy, but if he da:pected
to learn anything from the
:pression upon the plunger's face he
as- disappointed. Pul
Davy's expression resembled somehat
that of the Sphinx on a rainy ma
ternoon. He glanced carelessly at an(
ates and then at the card. am
"What are you doin', John?" he hei
ked finally. se*
Without reply the financier turned t0
e card face up and pushed it to- of 1
ard the middle of the table. so
The inscription upon it ran, ''I. O. unl
$71,000." cid
John Gates had simply "called," tw<
Ld it was up to Davy to show his a 13
ind. s*s1
For some minutes Davy Johnson
t like a statue. He seemed not to the
alize the fact that his hand had- 16
sen called, and Gates grew some- *ec
hat imnatient. Th
It was Davy Johnson's time to bet. car
ithout looking at the two cards he 0UJ
id drawn he threw 10 chips into f?r
e pot, now representing the sum of fru
121,000. Gates smiled. He then on^
oked at his hand, and the bystand- we
s noticed that the smile neither evt
oadened nor faded. Gates was a
>ker player. No one but he himself Pei
lew whether the draw had bettered Pai
s hand. we
"Play cards, Davy," he said. "I've 1
lied you. What've you got?" fas
One by one Davy laid his cards
>wn face upon the table. Three att
leens and a pair of kings were dis c?l
osed?a full house of great merit . cor
avy peered over his glasses at Th<
ates. sm
"Does it look good to you, John?" sm
?asked. ?u
"It's no good, Davy!" Gates shout- an(
I, the nervous tension over. "I've ^n5
>t an ace5 full here!"
Banging his left fist down upon tte
e table, Gates then slapped the five kil
rds upon the cloth. He had spoken
le truth. Three ''bullets" and a *ns
i_ - a 1.: V. r, ^ T COl
ur ui mugs apyeaicu. xjlc uau yy uu .
The big game was over and Gates En
ked in the staggering pot of $221,- cor
)0, nearly a quarter of a million. en*
Accounts differ as to the exact th
nount contained in the huge pot. Ch;
ccounts differ as to Davy's hand,
me of the bystanders asserting that
was a king full which the latter
ild. In the latter event John Gates 3
uld not have held a pair of kings to for
dster up his three aces, as decks cer
ntaining five kings were never to fou
s seen around Davy's establishment, wit
At any rate, all the onlookers agree by
at John Gates won the pot with an me
:e full, and that his full was a little the
rger than Davy's. And they are he
so agreed that there was more than but
100,000 in the pot of pots, and that wa:
e game lasted a brief half hour. goi
Davy, with sublime nerve, as cool roc
an iced cucumber in spite of the led
" tVion til Aft AAA nil
Ul 111V1 c l>uau yiu vj v v v
hich his losing hand had cost him. bui
ioke: hoc
"Better have a cup of coffee be- unl
re you go home, John," he said. wo
"Thanks, Davy, I will," replied the cus
lancier. at 1
Five minutes later a taxicab was got
immoned, John Gates, ^wjjs polling Tb<
ward his apartment, and the biggest the
>ker game in history was over. the
%
IX CANNIBAL LAND.
lazing Adventures of A. H. Savage
Landor.
Some perilous adventures in unown
Brazil were described by A,
Savage Landor, the well known
.veler, at the Royal institution last
jht.
The journey was entered upon in
irch last year, and occupied 14
nths, and practically from the beining
difficulties were encountered
d surmounted with the true ex>rer's
zeal and inventiveness. Mr.
ndor related how he secured two
*i, who remained faithful servants,
d four others of a criminal type,
0 openly professed their intention
killing him, in the belief that he
1 money; and with these attacked
i problems of unknown Brazil.
From the starting point the course
s steered bv comDass and sextant.
armed his confessedly treacherous
lowers with rifles, revolvers and
Ives. "Myself," he explained, "I
Tied no weapons except when afgame,
and I went the entire dfsLce
from the Atlantic ocean to the
cific without having even the
allest penknife on my person. 1
i no special clothes either?I wore
[y my London clothes."
Once he narrowly escaped being
>t in his sleep by one of his men.
region was entered reputed to be
ested with cannibals, and his folders
became dissatisfied, asserting
it Mr. Landor was taking them "to
dition." They mutinied, and at a
lage they reached the four doubtfollowers
left him, only to return,
i trfey recommenced their journey,
veling for a considerable distance
a river "which," said the lecturer,
as one of the most diabolical I
re ever met."- The progress was
peded by the circumstances that
jy had frequently to force a path
ough the woods for their canoe at
,ces where the river was not navi3le.
And the canoe weighed 2,D
pounds! "For one period of 60
rs," said Mr. Landor, "we were
rer dry for one moment. We spent
i time in the water, either pulling,
3hing or leading the canoe."
Eventually they left the river to
ke their way through the forest to
)ther, the Madeira. The party had
pie provisions for this journey, but
*e again the malcontent four uppreconceived
plans. They objected
the loads. They threw away most
the foodstuffs and made themselves
ill by eating sugar that they were
able to continue. Mr. Landor deed
to leave them, and,- with his
d faithful followers?a negro and
aulatto?to push on and obtain astance
for those left behind.
Without provisions the three of
;m, ill and unfit, struggled on for
days until they met a rubber coltor,
who relieved their necessities,
ey had a rifle, it is true, and 200
tridges, and their fate was humorfly
detailed by Mr. Landor. "The
est gave nothing," he said, "no
it- no birds, no animals, no fish,
y swarms of ants, until one day
saw a big bird. We fired at it
jry cartridqge we possessed but
sy were damp. And the bird sat
ched on the tree singing and ap ently
very interested in what we
re doing. (Loud laughter.)
kfter six or seven days of absolute
ting severe illness descended upon
i three. If they fell millions of ants
acked them. "My men lost their
irage," Mr. Landor impressively
itirmed "TVipv wanted to die. . . .
e negro smoked all the time, and
okers have told me that had I
oked I should have suffered less,
t the negro suddenly became mad
1 was about to stab himself with a
ife." The knife was wrested from
a and closely guarded, and next
f mulatto implored Mr. Landor to
1 him.
SVhen their sufferings were almost
upportable \hey met the rubber
lector. After his first meal the
glishman collapsed and lay untscious
eventually reviving suffici;ly
to retrace his steps and pick up
i men left in the forest.?London
ronicle.
Florence Merchant Wounded.
Florence, July 19.?Caldwell Ald,
a merchant having a small groy
on the edge of the city, was
;nd in his room yesterday morning
h a bad wound in his head, made
a blow with some heavy instrunt.
There was a lot of blood about
room and the bed. He said that
did not know how he got the blow,
; finds that $80 which he claims
s in a receptacle on his mantel is
le. The lamp that he had in the
>m had been overturned on a
ger on his table and had burned
of its oil, burned the chimney and
-ner and a great hole in the big
>k and gone out. The door was
locked when he was found in the
unded condition described by a
itomer who had bought something
the store the night before and for.
it, returning next morning for it.
b police are investigating, but
>re seems to be little to guide
m.
RECORD BREAKING ENGINES.
i Virginia Railway Gets Four Mosi
Powerful Locomotives.
A locomotive with 115,000 pounds
tractive power breaks all previous
t records. A unit as powerful as this
. is astounding. This tractive powei
is provided in the four Mallet locomotives
which have just been buili
L
for the Virginia Railway and is ob[
tained with less than 50,000 pounds
^ average weight per driving axle. Considered
from that point of view, thes<
locomotives have an added signifl
' cance.
In all parts of the country railroac
officials are considering how to se
cure the power required to most ef
| flciently meet a particularly difflculi
service without exceeding the exist
ing limitations on axle loads. This
says the Manufacturers Record, waj
exactly the problem on the Virginiai
, Railway, and these locomotives wen
' developed to meet it.
They will each he able to hau
155 loaded fifty ton capacity freighi
cars at ten miles per hour; each has
sixteen driving wheels; locomotiv<
( and tender weigh 752,000 pounds
and the firebox is large enough tc
hold a dinkey switching locomotive
With these locomotives in helper ser.
vice the officials expect to increase
the maximum train load over a four.
teen miles 2.07 per cent, grade to 4,230
tons.
The crucial point on the entire
line over which all the tonnage pass
es is that portion between Elmore
and Clark's Gap on the Deepwatei
division, a distance of about fourteen
miles. The last eleven and i
\ half miles of this on a 2.07 pei
cent, grade, with maximum compen
sated curves at 12 degrees. For the
, first two and a half miles the grade
is 5 per cent. At present trains are
usually operated over this grade witl
one Mallet of the lightest class
' the head and two of the heavier lo
comotive as helpers.
4--U ?
, W Illl III 13 pu w CI kuc manmuu
, train over the mountain is 3,340 tons
. This is approximately 500 tons less
than the Mallet road engine can tak<
through over the remainder of th(
, division. As the road is single traci
, and the volume of traffic constants
increasing, it is essential to increas<
the maximum through tonnage.
The enormous locomotives wer<
developed in order to accomplisl
this result without increasing th<
( number of locomotives which th<
, present maximum train requires ovei
the ruling grade. They will take th<
, place of the Mallets now used as
helpers, which will be put into roac
service. With two of the Mallets
as helpers and one of the class havt
ing 92,000 pounds tractive power as
, a road engine, making a combined
tractive force of 332,000 pounds, il
is expected as previously stated, tc
take a maximum train of 4,230 tons
over the Clark's Gap grade. The
road engine, unaided, will take this
train through to Princeton, the terminal
of the division.
Apart from the enormous weight
and power of the locomotives as a
whole, the dimensions of some ol
the principal parts are impressive
as showing the extent with which all
limits were exceeded in its design and
construction. The following warrant
special attention: Outside diameter ol
boiler at largest ring, 112 inches;
tubes, 344, 2^ inches diameter;
flues, 48, 5*6 inches diameter; heat,
ing surface, 6,760 square feet; superheating
surface, 1,310 square feet;
firebox ring 184 %xll9 inches;
length of boiler, 50 feet 1 1-8 inches;
low pressure cylinders, 44x32 inches;
high pressure cylinders, 28x32 inches;
tender capacity, 12,000 gallons o1
water and 15 tons of coal?
Following the builder's latest approved
practice for this type of locomotive,
the engine are equipped witl
superheaters. The superheater is ol
, the fire tube, double loop type. Th?
superheater tubes are contained ir
40 flues 5% inches in diameter
Vanadium steel was extensively used
for those parts which are subjected
to the greatest strain. The parts constructed
of this material include engine
frames, crossheads, driving
wheel tires, driving, engine trailing
and tender truck springs, main driving
axles, main crankpins and pistor
spiders. Likewise, the cylinders and
valve chamber bushings were con,
?
structed of cast iron with vanadium
content.?N. Y. Sun.
ROBBER'S BODY IDENTIFIED.
Young Atlanta Man who Escaped
from Georgia Prison.
Montgomery, Ala., July 21.?Posi
tive identification of the Auburn postoffice
robber as Fred Suttles, a young
man of Atlanta, was made to-day by
Bose Suttles, his brother, who came
from Atlanta to see the body at
Dadeville. Fred Suttles escaped
from a Georgia State prison some
time ago, it is known.
The body probably will be buried
in Dadeville and will not be taken to
the Atlanta home.
5 or 6 doses 600 will break any
case of Chills & Fever; and if taken
then as a tonic the Fever will not
return. Price 25c.
-v -
'V 5 ' '<'& V r' ' ' * - -
- " -* ?~r^'
3 rVJig
- MATCH THAT FINE TEAM
with a handsome carriage. Come
I here and select it and then you will
" hare a rig you may well be proud
" of. We don't ask you to pay for n**.re
t attractiveness in our carriages either.
" In fact we don't ask you to pay for
it at all. We charge only for quality v^,
3 in our carriage selling. You pay only
1 for the best materials and workman3
ship. The good looks we throw in
for good measure.
1 HORSES AND MULES,
j G. FRANK BAMBERG,
a Bamberg, S. C.
; DR. J. G. BOOZER -If
DENTIST,
i DENMARK. ' |S
" Graduate Baltimore College of Dental
Surgery, Class 1907.
Member South Carolina Dental Association.
3 Office Rooms 1-2 Citizens Exchange
Bank Building.
3 Hours: 9-12 and 2-5 every day.
J. F. Carter B. D. Carter
' CARTER & CARTER
j -aiiurney a-<t b-uct w ^
BAMBERG, S. C.
3 Special attention given to seti
tlement of estates and invest!-4 t ill
t gation of land titles.
G. MOYE DICKINSON
INSURANCE AGENT
3 WILL WRITE ANYTHING
Fire, Tornado, Accident, Lia- 4.
3 bility, Casualty, in the . .
t strongest and most reT
liable companies.
? 'Phone No. 10-B. Bamberg, S. C.
] H| PORTABLE AND STATIONARY
Engines
i AND BOILERS .
3 Saw, Lath and Shingle Mills, Injectors,
Pumps and Fittings, Wood
3n Saws, Splitters, Shafts, Pulleys,
I Belting,- Gasoline Engines
! LARGE STOCK LOMBARD
j Foundry, Machine, Boiler Works, |||1
y Supply Store. \
5 AUGUSTA, GA.
. W. P. RILEY ?' ' jH|
t j; Fire, Life ;>
\ Accident
! |f ' INSURANCE f ijia
? O BAMBERG, S. C. o
; Delays Are Dangerous 1
I represent the Mutual Life Insurance
Co., of New York, one of the
strongest old line companies in ex;
istence. Let me show yon our many
attractive policy contracts. I also
represent the Standard Live Stock
1 Insurance Co., of Indianapolis. This
is a strong company. Insure your
horses and cattle.
i W.MAX WALKER i
f EHRHARDT, S. C.
TO THE PUBLIC f?
[ When in need of
Farming Imple,
ments such as Jj
Corn Drills, Stalk f 11
Cutters, Disc Har'
rows, Grain Binders,
Mowers and
Rakes, Gasoline
Engines, J. I. Case
Road Machinery |
and a
General Repair Shop ;||
D.J.UEJLJv M
BAMBERG, S. 0.
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