402 
tMAT 23, 1897. 
A HOT SPRINGS ADVENTURE. 
I RESIDE in that part of northern Ohio which was formerly 
the Wyandotte Indian Eeservation. The General Gov- 
ernment made a treaty with the Indians in 1843 under 
which the red men were removed beyond the Mississippi 
Eiver, and the lands were put into the market. 
The result is that this portion of Ohio is much behind 
the other portions of the State in the way of settlement 
and improvements, though developing rapidly of later 
years. 
Until a comparatively recent date game was very 
abundant. Deer and turkeys afforded splendid sport, in 
which, your humble servant took a hand. 
I have spent the greater part of my life here, but as 
game became scarce I have made numerous excursions to 
the West and South, where the woods, prairies and 
streams afforded ample sport with rod and line, dog and 
gun. 
Having heard of the Ozark Mountains and Hot Springs 
of Arkansas, I made that country a visit last fall. I found 
good sport in the valley of Washita Eiver. I and some 
genial friends were treated one beautiful moonlight night 
to a possum hunt by some hospitable native darkeys. Our 
game was roasted in good shape and served up by the col- 
ored hostess in artistic style, after whicli we were treated 
to plantation "music and dancing. 
The fishing in Washita Eiver and the tributary moun- 
tain 8tream§ was quite exhilarating. 
While in that region I spent some time in the pretty 
little city of Hot Springs, nestled in a beautiful glen, where 
numberless springs come boiling hot from the mountain 
sides. 
I have been healthy, and stood backwoods life very well 
until age came upon me and with it an attack of rheu- 
matism. I had read a Government report from the pen of 
an official scientist, describing the curative properties of 
the springs, I therefore went prepared to spend some time 
at that famous health resort. 
I took up quarters at a first-class hotel and stood the 
fancy rates, because I had confidence in the magic of the 
baths and anticipated that my stay would be brief. 
I consulted a physician of high standing, who thor- 
oughly investigated my corporal system and pronounced 
my malady to be gout, but otherwise I had a remarkable 
physique tor a man past three score and ten; and the gout, 
he said, would readily yield to treatment together with the 
efficacy of the baths. 
I obeyed his orders implicitly and soon experienced 
palpable relief, but was called home before my course was 
completed and before the muscles of my thighs resumed 
their former tension and elasticity. 
I enjoyed hotel life very well, and the beautiful natural 
scenery, the streams; the rocks and hills, so different from 
the level plains and woods of western Ohio, were new and 
delightful to me. I soon made some pleasant acquaintances 
with invalids and tourists, who treated me politely and 
made due allowance for my rural manners. They fre- 
quently laughed at my rustic jokes, and gave me liberal 
applause for homely anecdotes and yarns. 
It was perhaps lucky for the social position which I 
speedily obtained that I had the forethought before leav- 
ing home to put myself in the hands of a fashionable tailor 
and proprietor of a gent's fiirnishing store, out of which I 
came equipped in good style, and so far as dress was con- 
cerned I stood high among the fashionable guests at the 
hotel. I was perhaps deficient in another respect — I never 
had been placed under the tuition of a French dancing 
master, nor did I ever have any formal instructions in per- 
sonal deportment, the etiquette of the drawing room, or 
fashionable carriage of my person. I suppose, therefore, 
that I was over-dressed for one of my station in life, and 
my rustic movements showed the more plainly in contrast 
with my fine suit of clothes. 
To this, on reflection, I suppose I may also attribute the 
adventure which I will endeavor to describe. 
One evening after a stroll up Happy Hollow, where I 
had feasted on a violin concert by a native, with orgaa 
accompaniment, and where I reveled in the delight 
of the beautiful surrounding scenery, when leisurely- 
sauntering to my hotel, I was met by a polite gentleman,, 
who cordially grasped my hand, exclaiming: 
"How do you do, Mr. Hanes? I am very glad to meet youi 
again. Don't remember me? Why, don't you mind whem 
I met you in , Ohio, and was introduced to you by 
Henry Eobinson, the banker? By the way, I then lived im 
Cleveland, and still make that my headquarters, though 
not there much of the time. Mr. Eobinson is my cousin."' 
The circumstance of the former introduction by Mr. 
Eobinson had faded in my mind, but I politely concealed! 
it. He said he could introduce me to some genial friends 
in Hot Springs who would contribute to the pleasure of 
my visit, and made an appointment to meet me the next 
morning at 9 o'clock on the veranda of my hotel. 
I pretty nearly forgot my engagement the next morning,, 
but my mind recurred to it and consulting my watch I 
found I was half an hour late. I went to the veranda, 
however, and there sure enough was my friend, who had 
the patience to wait for me — I learned "from him that it 
was a pleasure to wait for a friend of his cousin, and he^ 
invited me to accompany him. He took me upstairs to a. 
room in a corner building across the street immediately 
opposite the hotel. 
I was surprised to find myself ushered into a gaudily 
equipped gambling room. There sat behind a faro table a. 
well-dressed man reading a morning paper. My friend in- 
troduced me and asked for another gentleman who he had 
said was fond of playing whist for amusement. 
The proprietor of the room said it was earlier than he^ 
usually came, but to make ourselves at home; lie would, 
doubtless soon be in. 
In the meantime my friend, the cousin of Henry Eobin- 
son, began to inquire of the proprietor in regard to the 
game of faroj saying he had never seen it played. The' 
genial proprietor carefully explained the game, saying it. 
was purely a game of chance, and chances were supposed 
to be even; that the only margin by which the proprietor 
could live, pay hie light, fuel and rents, was the splits. He 
explained to us what the splits were. He showed a small 
nickel box which was open at the top, except a narrow rim 
that kept the cards to their place; the deck of cards that 
were pasted in rows on the table were those on which the' 
player bet his money. The dealer drew his cards out of 
the nickel box one by one, face upwards, laid the first card 
next to the box, which was the dealer's side, and the next 
card was laid in a separate pile, which was the player's side. 
If the card on which the player bet fell on his pile, he won; 
and if it fell on the dealer's side the player lost. If two 
cards of the same denomination came from the box to- 
gether, it was a split, and the dealer got half the stake. 
According to mathematical investigation, the odds were 
17 per cent, in favor of the dealer, which is the pittance on 
which he is doomed to live; although he didn't complain 
in that respect. 
My friend's curiosity was not yet satisfied. He stepped 
to the next table and- asked for an explanation of that 
device. _ The gentlemanly proprietor said it was roulette, 
and politely explained its operation. There was a con- 
cave wheel revolving horizontally, a marble ball was 
thrown in the wheel with an impulse in the opposite 
direction. The centrifugal force for some time kept the 
marble in the outer rim of the wheel. As it slowed down 
the marble approached nearer a center circle perforated 
with holes and the marble fell into a cell, which deter- 
mined whether the outsider won or lost. There were 
certain chances and combinations to encourage laets 
against odds, with big results to the player if he took the 
chances; but I cannot retain it all in my memory. He 
next gratified my unsophisticated friend" by explaining 
another device; but here I became confused and cannot 
now clearly describe its workings. 
Itconsisted of a funnel, shaped not unlike thehour-glass 
carried by Father Time, with tortuous and rugous interior, 
and parti-colored cells below, into which a marble fell 
after wending its winding way from the top of the funnel. 
The outsider's bet was decided by the color of the cell into 
which the marble settled. I can't remember the name, but 
he said it was a Mexican game, and the chances were ab- 
solutely even. 
My friend, the relative of Mr. Eobinson, thereupon said 
he would try his hand on that game, and started by the 
purchase of $5 worth of ivory checks. He won. He bet 
on another color and won again. He continued to win. 
When he had several $5 stacks of chips in front of him 
he generously passed one of the stacks to me and told me 
to try my luck. I bet, and much to my surprise made mar- 
velous winnings. Large stacks of checks were piled before 
both my friend and myself The proprietor, to make sure 
that he had sufl3cient currency to avert a failure of his 
bank, took from his pocket several packages of National 
Bank notes of large denominations, each package indicat- 
ing from $100, $500 to $1,000. 
■ At this time our winnings were over $1,000 each. We 
bet again and our luck was amazing. We won again. 
At this point the proprietor became agitated, and said 
the bank had a rule that they must be satisfied 
they were playing with persons of responsibility, who, 
if they should lose, could stand it. He asked my friend 
regarding his financial condition. The latter answered 
that he had plenty of means, but had not much money in 
his pocket. 
"Have you money elsewhere, or a bank account?" asked 
the proprietor. 
He answered that he had $30,000 on deposit— $20,000 in 
a Cleveland bank and $10,000 in Toledo. 
The proprietor said he would require of us a deposit of 
$1,000 each as a guarantee that he was not playing against 
irresponsible parties. He didn't doubt our solvency, but 
it was a rule they had. He inquired of me in regard to my 
.financial ability, I told him what was true— that I had 
but $10 in my pocket. He asked if I had money else- 
where, I told him I had $200 deposited at the hotel. He 
asked if I had a bank account. I told him I had an 
ample bank account in Ohio. He said it was against 
their rule to take bank checks of strangers, but he would 
waive it in our favor, as I was virtually vouched for by the 
friend who introduced me. Therefore, as a favor to us, he 
would take our checks. 
Here another trouble arose. My friend had none of his 
blank checks with him, and I told him I was in the same 
fix. The proiM'ietor appeared to be a man of versatility. 
He said he had blank checks that could be readily filled 
out for any bank, and he passed a book of blank checks to 
my friend, who filled out and signed his check on his 
Cleveland bank for $1,000. While this was going on the 
proprietor blandly repeated that it was a mere matter of 
form for the temporary show of compliance with their rules, 
and continued in that strain during the process of the writ- 
ing. Then my unsophisticated friend passed the book of 
blank checks to me, saying that he was satisfied it was a 
:mere form to go through before the banker cashed in our 
ivory checks or continued the play, and advised me, with 
a tone of friendly confidence, to put in my check with his 
for the temporary purpose of drawing our big winnings. 
By this time it dawned on my mind that my friend 
would hardly conduct me to a benevolent institution in 
order to have a sudden fortune burst upon me. I hastily 
reasoned with myself, also, thatiif the proprietor got pos- 
isession of my check he might attach more importance to it 
than a mere temporary matter of form, and change his 
mind about returning it. I further hastily reflected that 
my big winnings, stacked _ on the table before me in the 
ishape of ivory chips, needing only the form of the banker 
dealing out the cash for them, ought to be a guaranty that 
1 was temporarily, as a matter of form, good for $1,000, and 
I promptly and without hesitation declined to give my 
check. He raked in our chips and said it was lucky for 
him, because the banl^saved that much loss. 
I noticed, however, that the big veins swelled on his 
neck, his facial expression at once assumed a tone of dis- 
appointment, and his manly brow displayed all the hues 
of the rainbow. 
I turned to see what comments my friend the cousin of 
Mr. Eobinson had to make, but he had vanished. I 
walked out of the room with becoming dignity, reflecting 
on my first experience with a bunco steerer and his con- 
federate, who most likely obtained my name and address 
on the hotel register, and the name of Mr. Eobinson by 
reference to a banker's directory, S. E. Hanes. 
A St, Petbrsbdrg paper says that in consequence of a 
silly rumor that the Turks had poisoned aU the herring in 
the ocean, the peasants in some parts of Poland refuse to eat 
any more of them. 
By inadvertence Mr, Amery's paper last week, describing 
■<«port in British Guiana, was assigned to British Honduras, 
THE WALTON CLUB. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In these days of private preserves in the Adirondack 
region, when more than one- fourth of the wilderness is 
owned or controlled by clubs, associations or individuals, 
and printed notices, conspicuously posted, everywhere 
warn the public that no trespassing is allowed, it is re- 
freshing to recall the time in the not very remote past 
when the hunter, angler and tourist were privileged to 
roam the woods with perfect freedom. Although there 
are now more than fifty of these preserves and over one 
million acres of land on which people are prohibited from 
setting foot without permission from the owners or lessees, 
most of them have been established within a decade. 
The first organization formed, or one of the first, for the 
purpose of maintaining a private preserve in the Adiron- 
dacks, was incorporated in 1877; so that it is only a score 
of years, not a quarter of a century at- the most, since 
there were no restrictions as to where a person could hunt 
and fish. 
Long before any preserve was established, however, 
there were sportsmen's clubs whose members annually 
visited the wilderness. The initial organization of this 
kind, the famous Walton Club, was founded forty years 
ago, and doubtless the readers of Fouest and Stream will 
be interested to learn some facts about its early history 
which are not generally known. 
The club's membership roll contained the names of 
many gentlemen who were prominent in political, pro- 
fessional and business life, including Hon. John A. King, 
Governor of New York State, 1857-59; Thomas G. Alvord, 
Lieut.-Governor, 1865-67; Gen, E. U. Sherman, for years 
prominently identified with the State Commission of Fish- 
eries; William B. Taylor, Major J. P. Goodsell and Silas 
Seymour, all of whom at different times held the office of 
State Engineer and Surveyor; Hon. Eansom Balcom, Justice 
of the Supreme Court; ex-Mayor Alrick Hubbell of Utica, 
then State Senator from the Oneida district; Hon. Thomas 
Jones, Jr., Hon. Ornon Archer and Major Charles M. 
Scholefield, Members of Assembly; George Dawson, editor 
of the Albany Journal; Lewis Gaylord Clark, for many 
years editor of the Knickerbocker Magazine, and Alfred B. 
Street, the poet. The club motto was "0; for a lodge in 
some vast wilderness." 
In the winter of 1857 several gentlemen, who had been 
often attracted to the wilderness of northern New York by 
the beauty of its primitive scenery, its exhilarating and 
health-giving air, and the broad and fruitful field which it 
furnished for the exercise of the arts of the hunter and 
angler, for which they had congenial tastes, met in Utica 
and formed a society with the design of making annual 
trips to that inviting region, and by organization and sys- 
tematic preparation and arrangement, of rendering as 
perfect as possible their comfort and enjoyment in the 
wilderness. 
They gave their organization the name of the Brown's 
Tract Association, to denote particularly the field which 
was to form the center and principal circuit of their opera- 
tions, which was the territory then known, geographically, 
as Brown's Tract, a region embracing some 200,000 acres, 
lying in the heart of the wilderness, studded with majestic 
mountains, and gemmed throughout by crystal lakes. 
They made their first visit to the woods in an organized 
body in June, 1S57. 
The second annual meeting of the society took place at 
Albany, Feb. 10, 1858. For the reason that the name was 
deemed as not sufficiently indicating the purpose of the 
organization, it was changed to the North Woods Walton 
Club, and articles of association were adopted, members 
and officers elected, and a plan of a trip for the next sport- 
ing season agreed upon. It was not the policy of the club 
to seek accessions to its membership. It elected no honor- 
ary members and had no "deadheads." Yet the members 
were glad to welcome within their circle true spirits who 
could share in their enthusiasm for nature's enjoyments, 
who could find in the breathing of God's pure air and in 
the contemplation of the beauties of primitive creation a 
sufficient recompense for the toil and privation from lux- 
ury which these enjoyments cost. In short, they desired 
to have associates of such confirmed faith that they could 
find in a bed of boughs a couch softer than down, and in 
a bark shanty a palace grander than any celebrated in 
Eastern fable. For such their arms as well as their shan- 
ties were always open, "But to the pampered son of lux- 
ury, who prizes nothing except as it ministers to his 
animal enjoyment; to the conceited cockney, who recog- 
nizes not God save in city fanes, who knows his fellow-man 
only as the tailor has made him, and to whom all else in 
the animal creation is but as beef in the shambles," their 
doors were forever closed. 
"The officers of the Walton Club for 1858 were: President, 
Gen. Eichard U. Sherman, Utica; Vice-President, George 
Dawson, Albany; Eecording Secretary, William B. Smith, 
Eome; Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, Major 
Charles M. Scholefield, Whitesboro; Commissary, Eichard 
U. Owens, Utica; Good Samaritan, Col. Onias P. Nellis, 
Whitesboro. 
The articles of association adopted by the club stated its 
object to be "the diffusion of trout, deer, health and enjoy- 
ment among its members." The qualifications for mem- 
bership were: First — A unanimous election thereto at any 
regular meeting. Second — An initiatory payment of $5, 
and the annual payment thereafter of a like sum, on or 
before March 1 . The failure to pay a ratable assessment 
of expenses forfeited membership, and rendered the de- 
linquent incapable of renewing his connection. 
The fund arising from the iniatory and annual payments 
was devoted to the purchase of camp furniture and other 
articles of permanent outfit and the payment of necessary 
contingent expenses. Additional expenses were defrayed 
by assessment. 
The plans of the club for 1858 provided for a trip by 
several detached parties to Moose Eiver and Eacquette 
Lake between May 20 and June 20. The region desig- 
nated was then reached the most conveniently by the way 
of Boonville. Frorii that place the most direct route was 
via the old Brown's Tract Eoad, then a mere bridle path 
through the woods, to the old Forge on Moose Eiver; 
thence by alternate boating and carrying to the various 
points to be visited. Transportation by wagon and by 
pack horses was procurable in Boonville, but in order to 
msm-e the most certainty and economy it was recom- 
mended to the members of the several detached parties 
that proper arrangements for transportation and for boats 
