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Show 'HJBattle Creek :. " ( J Las Vegas, Nevada The click of the dice and the whirr of the roulette were stilled for a brief interlude last Saturday. The deft fingers of the poker dealers were quietly folded on the green felt, and the boys at the faro bank layouts sat silent and respectful. Throughout the down town "Clubs" and the glamorous Casinos Cas-inos of the notorious "Strip," croupiers crou-piers and gamblers alike paused to pay tribute to "Pete the Finn," whose mortal remains were at the moment, being laid to rest in the desert soil of his adopted state. Pete the Finn's real name, unknown un-known to most of his friends, was Peter Rudolph Mannikko. He died Wednesday at 60 years of age; culminating a forty-year stint as a faro dealer within the "halls" and casinos of Nevada. At the time of his death he was employed at the famous Golden Nugget on Fremont Fre-mont Street. Old timers assert that not much was known about this tall, slim Finn, other than of his great charm, character, and dignity. "Pete," so the desert rats assert, "was never known to welsh on a bet, nor to cry when lady luck turned her leering face toward his wily opponents at the gaming tables." Gamblers and bankers a-like, a-like, never refused to "stake" him anew, without personal note or collateral. Tete's word was as good as his bond. If Pete the Finn ever had a love life, it was never known. Reports Re-ports claimed that he loved everyone; every-one; and the devotion tendered at his demise, indicates that everyone ev-eryone loved him. There is no evidence that he left any worldly treasurers, except ex-cept enough to insure a respectable burial; but he left a multitude of friends, and a reputation for honesty hon-esty and lair-dealing. The moral, if there is to be one, in the life of Pete the Finn, might be that there is honor even among the dishonorable; and occasional oc-casional honesty among those who live by misrepresentation and chicanery. ( So long 'til Friday. |