| Show WHEN THE GAME WAS BIG times lack a lot of being what wh at they used to be said ed findley the once olnee famous gambler bosa booss findley find ley was reflective he had just putt put a small bet on meddlesome an am even money momey favorite at ait ingleside through the clouds of emoke rose up in the crowded pool room the blackboard showed that meddlesome had been heavily backed there were other either horses in the race pace but the wise ones figured that meddlesome Medd leeome ought to win on form 1 I the telegraph instrument clicked the fhe telegraph operator loper albor anao that rare perfume was off in the lead tarani Tyra to is second ae cond dony bony boy Is third M meddlesome eddle some a length behind no one paid much atte attenson nUon to this tor for the horse ithac has the lead at the start doe dreamt snit always win the race As I 1 was slaying saying findley resumed in a rem stra in 1 I rem enaber when there were two faro blinks on main street sad anid around missouri avenue here the of the ope broke I 1 10 qi a and nd for do r a in lan te everybody elsan else in the pool room kept bulet ini the stretch the caller shouted tyran Is ahead meddlesome la is second tyran tynan wins hyraw was VMS an 8 to I 1 shot pi nd I 1 ley tore up the ticket on meddlesome and sat down to resume the money mo ney clinked but the bookmakers book makers paid out H atle for very few had bet on an tyran tyr an chwe e waa plenty le 19 t ar of 0 f money in 0 ney to in th ow e days he went on oin there any limit afo some of the games it was ap al most all faro there was some same roulette chuck aad the like but birt the gems gains in the oid days wanted fiaro faro or poker that was the time when there were real sports too what do you think of a man with 2000 no shoes on his feet and a deep aw on the ground well one ome time there was a gambler ambler g named cotton broke he was irv ini fhe hardest kl kind nd of lot luck and raise radee a stake he loafed around the ithe gambling house till his clothes got giot gio t sleek and fringy and his shoes were full of holes he was in the old senate down clown near the police eta elation tion A friend came along ead lent leat him 10 cotton bought a stack of chips and aind went at the faro layout in dead earnest luck was with him and he stacked up the chips higher than ithan a oats cats back he played fast and furious all night at one ome time he had nearly 2000 in fraint of him on the bable there was snow sm ow on oar the ground groi Mid it was cold dl dint own an overcoat and there were holes in his shoes that you could throw a cat tho though augh his luck but he never stopped he lost that 2000 aad bet the last dollar of it on a turn just juat as game as it if he had a in his pockets then he got up and dawned yawned yaw raed borrowed fifty cents to got get a breakfast and walked out into the snow this was a sport spent for you great times oh eh said a man who had bought a ticket on the next race pace and sat down near findley 1 I should guess yes police never bothered u F then they have eighteen policemen on the orce and ive seen half of 4 them in ia a gambling house eit ait ome e and that reminds me one time I 1 ws turning a roulette wheel in fourth street near main eight big coppers were sitting around table battling be bett Ling like a house afire all of a the door deor opened and tom speers stepped in those coppers raised like a flock dock of if blackbirds and began to balk about me the chief spat several times very ver vapidly lap idly took a good look QC at the policemen and walked out the door then there was a great rustle among the pollo policemen emen they ran nan out every door next morning m when K chief speers went to his office he found half of the boas politicians in town waiting there to make e a tk tik for the poll beemen these coppers got a lecture that i nevi r forgot forgat but that w was as all some bige big altys pi avs oame came up in those times I 1 sur suppose pose suggested the man wh ha haa 1 edged in to bo listen yes the heaviest player who oame came al around aund was texas thompson the kill e arhe used to bet every everybody boody to a standstill once thompson came into the sc senate baite and pulled a chair up tip to the faro lia youit he sit down in the chair he got gait up on the back of lit it and planted hi his s high heeled boots on uhe ibe seat of the chair and began t to 0 act apt the chips chiles a ouva he sat on the back of chair fourteen hours and when he got down he was winner A i nan man banded hi findley a cigarette but he pave it back 1 I dont smoke he paid and he went on we have got nothing but bu t pool rooms n oms and craps why do you ak know a pool room pays every to the telegraph company and it all goes boet to new york that dont de dc a town ony eny good I 1 gum guess well never se sc ony ny more of the good old days 11 ill among the cluster of af men who sat listening to findley bindley Pin dley was william H christie the veteran bookmaker and sp averting erting man billy biilly Chris christie Itle knows more about the history of men land and gamblers thian athlon nearly any anar man in town ile he was in partnership in a pool room frederick remington Remi ington the ardiet before remington camp famous he worked in the old marble hall on main street as tar far back as 72 ana those days he knew every giam biler of p nii ence in the west 1 I remember when big games were plentiful here said christie chris tie such fellows as canada bill van triplett triplet who we called old 01 d trip charley rose dutch charlie and alex porter used to make the marble hall their hang out canada bill was the mast unique character I 1 ever knew he was a great hand at three card monte he could handle three cards I 1 guess when he was born because I 1 donic think any man could have learned anything to the point of perfection that he handled monte bill was an english gypsy he had little beady eyes and always dressed like a farmer he won fortunes and gave his money away ile he knew or cared nothing abouel the value of money and his favorite game was old fashioned casino ive seen bill and dutch charlie play casino for 1000 a game bill always slept in a chair he never had a room one time he took a notion that he would dress up and stun all the flashy sports in town he appeared at the marble hall dressed in a short abort black bombazine bom basine coat a broad brimmed plush hat hart plush vest and blue jean trousers he looked like a rube made up for the stage these gamblers used to have some great fun around the marble hall spence rogers the westport sport used to be bragging all theotime the time about the fox chase that he took part in one time just to show that he was a fox hunter he brought in a fine silver fox and had it stuffed and put it over the bar canada bill had acquired a breech loading shotgun shot gun somewhere it was the first one of the kind any of us has ever seen he was showing how it was loaded and handled and old trip took it up it aint loaded loade d said and ahe pointed it at rogers stuffed fox billy carroll the variety man was standing near with a high hat on trip let both barrels go and scattered rogers fox all over the house carroll thought he was shot and feli fell over on the floor another race was on the callers shouts and the jingle of money drowned the voices of the gamblers but they talked on about the old days when there was plenty of big games |
