The Sunday Oregonian., May 24, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 10, Image 56

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THE SUNDAY OREGO.MA5, POKTLA5U, MAY 24, 190!.
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R. BARNES, of Colorado, if you
please!" laughed a fair-haired.
clear - eyed, immaculately
Kroonied youns man, standing on the
derfc of the misrhty Lusitania at her dock
In New York the other day. And turn
ing to the black-haired, radiant young
Roman who stood beside him, he went
on:
"We are not the Count and Countess
von Hochberjr, heirs to Rohnstock. any
more, are we?"
"Decidedly not," answered the youngr
woman, with just the trace of the Ger
man accent. "We are Just plain Mr. and
Mrs. Hans Ferdinand Barnes, of Cot
tonwood Creek, and wfthave closed up
all our affairs abroad and are back here
to stay. We are going to be Americans
now, to be sure!"
"To be sure!" echoed the youns man.
"No more chumming with the Crown
Frlnoe of Germany and no more "der
orficier" in the First Guard of Foot of
I-J!s Majesty, the Kaiser, and no estates
at Soimstoek fcr us. We like our mine
be-Uev." ,
And why net?
Cr. Barnes really. Count Hans Ferdi
nrrd von Hcchberg, heir to the Castle of
Rchnstock with its vast estates, son of
Count von Hochberg, former Lieutenant
of the Emperor's Foot Guard, chum of
Crown Prince Frederick William, heir to
the German throne, nephew of the Prin
cess Marie von Saxe Welmer, and cous
in of Grand Duke Michael von Saxe
"Weimar, was returning from his old na
tive Fatherland and Berlin upon a very
pleasant errand. He was bringing his
bride with him.
Put the pleasant errand? Just this.
Rich, successful, he had gone home to
meet hfs family and to be reconciled.
The young man was disowned for mar
rying that very bride against the par
ental will. They had picked out a Prin
cess for Ills wife. There was to be a
grand wedding, the Kaiser would send
his felicitations and a superb gift, and
there would be great feasting and re
joicing at splendid Rohnstock, the fam
ily citstle.
"But I don't love her!" Insisted the
young man to his father, when the ad
vantageous marriage was suggested to
him.
"Fiddlesticks!" laughed the father,
what of that the Emperor wishes it."
"I cannot help It," protested the young
man, "there already is a woman I love
and I shall marry her, if for no other
reason than that I have promised her."
"Who Is she?" demanded the old Coun.
Eloko von Hochberg. wild that his will
should be broken by a mere stripling
he. Count von Hochberg.
"Louise Carqw," answered the young
. man.
"Louiso Carow?" echoed ' the father,
"who is she; I do not know her?"
"She works In a little shop on Unter
den Linden. I met her when I went in
to buy a pair of gloves. We love each
other and 1 have promised to make her
the Countess von Hochberg!"
'he s!d man was purple with wrath.
WHY JACKSON STOPPED PLAYING POKER
HSY were talking in the smoking
room about the great American
Kame and the conversation went
far toward proving that all four In the
party had more than an average man's
knowlecje of poker science. In discus
sing, as they did, some of the finer
points of the game, and the reasons for
some of the rules that seem arbitrary
to beginners, it became evident that
they had all studied principles and had
well-defined Ideas of the reasons for
things. The genius of poker was no
idle word to any one of the. four.
It was therefore with a half laugh
and with considerable diffidence that a
fifth man vviio had listened In silence
for a considerable time took advantage
of a lull in the talk to say: "I've been
spoiling for a game myself for some
time, and I came here tonight, hoping
to find one. I'm not much of a player,
and I can see from what you say that
you all understand the game much bet
ter than I do. I'd like to play with you,
though. Even If I lose Til be likely
to learn something that will be valuable
later."
There was a little pause after this
proposition, and the four looked at one
another, smiling In a shamefaced way.
Then Hammond said: "I don't like
poker any more. The fact is. I'm too
fond of it. W'hether I'm lacking in
resolution or not I can't say. I hardly
think I am. because I can stay away
from the card tab!e altogether without
any very great effort, but I find If I
A Von Hochberg marry a shop girl?
Never! The young man was dismissed
from the room. The father went at once
to the Emperor and begged him to stop
it all. The Emperor promised, but he
forgot that love sometimes even fears not
even an Emperor.
The Kaiser sent for the youth. "You
will be cat; out from the court." he
began. "You will be dismissed in 'dis
grace from the army; your father will
disown you. I forbid you to marry this
woman of the shops!"
"I cannot help it. Your Majesty." pro
tested the young man. "I love her and
I shall make her my wife."
. Wilhelm was furious. No man had
ever dared go against his will before.
So the imperial ukase was Issued young
Von Hochberg was cashiered and dis
missed in disgrace as a Lieutenant of
the Guards. Then Berlin turned its back
on the ycung nobleman whom before it
had welcomed" so cordially. And the old
Count cut the boy off without a penny
and turned him adrift to shift lor him
self, a social outcast. He had but one
friend left in the world Louise Carow.
"I have a little money left." he told
her. "It will be enough to get me to
America. There I can find something to
do. When I have saved enough I will
send for you and we can be married, A
Von Hochberg holds honor above every
thing. I love you and I have promised
to marry you, and I will."
His First Job as Chauffeur.
So off to America came the young man
while Louise Carow went back to the
little glove shop and waited. Berlin
turned back to its amusements and for
got the young nobleman who had sacri
ficed his career and his father's favor
for the girl he loved.
But the young Count did not forget.
He reached here almost penniless. He
hunted for a job and at last found one
he got a place as chauffeur In Tarry
town, N. Y. this young nobleman who
had an automobile of his own in his
home in Berlin. He got 115 a week. He
took a room In a little boarding-house
and saved and scraped until he had
enough he could send for his Louise
now.
"Come," he cabled, and Louise Carow
took the first steamer, escaping from
the Berlin police, who were trying to
watch her every move.
Up. in the little Hudson River town
of Ossining, Louise Carow, the shop
girl, became Madame von Hochberg,
the Countess. There were no guests
at the wedding save the witneses and
no music and no flowers. The Rev. Dr.
McWllliams. of the Ossining Presbyte
rian Church, performed the ceremony,
and a von Hochberg had kept his honor.
But all this had not been done with
out a storm of protest from the old
Count, who loved his son. There were
formal letters of warning sent from
abroad before the wedding. One of the
family lawyers even came from Berlin
to seek out the chauffeur Count and
beg him to return home. '
"You will be forgiven," he promised.
play I can't Indulge moderately. When
I sit in at a game I simply can't quit
as long-as there's anybody to play with
me, and If I know of a game going on
I'll give up my business, my sleep, my
meals, and my social obligations to take
a hand.
"I think it was Artemus Ward who
said that when he was drinking he
never allowed business to interfere
with it- That is certainly the case with
me. When I play poker I don't let
anything else interfere. And as I
really believe there are other things
that are more Important to me than
poker. Tve cut out the poker."
When he finished, his confession he
looked from one to another of his three
friends as if half expecting they would
laugh at him. but somewhat to his sur
prise they all looked serious, as if they
were thinking of their own experience
rather than his.
"I noticed that you had quit playing."
said Roberts, "and I rather wondered at
it, knowing how much you liked the
game, but I've quit myself, though not
exactly for the same reason. I did It
because I care more for Mrs. Roberts
than I do for poker. My business takes
me away from home a great deal, and
she makes no kick on that, but she did
say that the demands of business and
poker combined were too great. She
thought some time ought to be reserved
for her, and as I thought so too, I quit."
Terrill spoke next. "The reason I
stopped playing poker." he said frankly,
"Is that I am afraid of It. I don't mean
by that that I'm a loser, for I'm not. In
asm.
$ era
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IK
"Your father will make you his heir
again; his Majesty will restore you to
the Guards. Are you not done with this
mad infatuation?"
After the wedding the couple settled
down In the little boarding-house In
Ossining. They aved and scrimped. A
little daughter was born the mother
named It Johanna Loulson and they
were very, very happy. 1
Found a Rich Mine.
But a Count could not be a chauffeur
always, and so they decided to take
a trip out West. Now, at the military
school the young man had ,been ex
tremely fond of science, especially ge
ology and metallurgyv He thought he
would like to put his knowledge to
practical U3e, and he hunted around
until he got a Job out In Barnes City,
Colo., on the Cottonwood Creek mine.
A mine that yields copper paying 8
at ton- will make money. Anything over
that means more money. And that is
just What happened to young von Hoch
berg. He discovered a new vein; a 64
vein: a vein that turned out copper yield
ing $54 to the ton. Two new claims were
staked out called the "Rouss" and the
Caesar" claims.
The late N. a Barnes, president of the
mining company, tells about that as he
fact, .I'm a good bit ahead of the game.
I'm almost always lucky when I play, and
I suppose I understand the game as well
as the next man, so it isn't any fear of
losing that keeps me away.
"What I'm afraid of is the gambling
fever. As long as I could keep on play
ing for the sake of the game it was all
right. I look on poker as the most sci
entific game there is. and almost the best
possible mental exercise for a man who
plays it understandingly, but there is no
denying that It's a gambling game, and
when a man gets to playing it for the
sake of the stakes he's in a fair way to
become a thorough-paced gambler not
necessarily a professional, but a habitual
gambler. I'm afraid, of the deterioration
that seems always to come from that,
so I quit."
Jackson, the fourth one In the quartet,
listened intently to his friends, and when
they had finished he said very thought
fully: "Those all sound like good rea
sons. I don't know but what I might
quit playing poker myself for any one of
them if they applied to me, but, as it
happens, they don't. There isn't any Mrs.
Jackson, and as far as I know there
won't be any at least for a long time.
I'm not so overfond of the game that I
can't leave It when it's time to go to bed,
and I never have neglected business for
it- And I haven't the slightest fear of
becoming a slave to the habit of gam
bling. So none of the things that have
led you to give up poker would Induce
me to do It. Nevertheless. I don't im
agine that 1 shall ever play it again:
I'm very sure I won't as long as the
SIECBNTIY GER
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DISOWNED
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best knows. He came to New York with
the Count and Countess to see them off. I
The young people regard him as their 1
benefactor because It was Mr. Barnes
that gave the struggling young husband
his chance to support his wife and baby;
it was Mr. Barnes who gave them the
chance to get rich, and they will never
forget It.
"I saw at once that the ivoung man
was above the ordinary fellows around a
mining camp," said Mr. Barnes. "He
knew a lot about mining and the metals
and he busied himself prospecting until
at last he hit the vein, the real thing,
and now we're taking the richest kind
of copper from It. The Count got ahead
fast. I made him secretary of the com
pany and now he is general manager.
He is going back now to show his folks
at home that he can be a man even If
he Is a Count. He's made good out West
and he's going to stay there. No titles
for him.
"And his wife Is the happiest little wo
man in the world with her husband and
her baby. They enjoy our Western life,
no Berlin for them, ain't that so, Hans?"
And the breezy Westerner looked admir
ingly at the Count for his answer.
"Quite so," answered Von Hochberg,
and then he went to tell some more about
him sell.
"You see," he said. "In renouncing my
memory of the last game I sat tn remains
as fresh as it is now In my mind.
"There were five of us who played at
one another's rooms every Saturday night
for something over a year, and the game
was a thoroughly enjoyable one, though
It was considerably larger than I ever
played anywhere else. We thought little
of It. though, for we were all fairly
prosperous in business, so that a few hun
dred dollars was no killing matter to any
one of ns. and we had a theory that if we
played together regularly the winnings
and losings would balance up pretty near
ly even at the end of the year.
"It's curious how many people believe
In that theory. If you stop to think
about it. as I have a good many times
since then, you'll see that it makes 'no
allowance for the difference in skill be
tween one player and another, and none
for the runs of good or bad luck which
any player is liable to have, and which
sometimes continue for months even for
a year at a time.
"At our little game, however, I'm bound
to acknowledge that the theory was Jus
tified the first year. Somebody kept tabs,
as a matter of curiosity, and when he
footed up for 12 months nobody was
more than about J20Oahead of the game
or behind. It was practically an even
game, for we played table stakes and
usually bought J00 apiece at the start.
Of course, buying in again, five or six
times it might be. a man might lose sev
eral hundred dollars of an evening, but
we always settled by check at the end of
the sitting." and each man's check was
always good. If anybody was hurt at
Eft;
71 n r; if
W
XT " I
titles I had to have a name, so I took that
of Barnes, my dear, good friend. He has
done everything for me. So now I am
Hans Frederick Barnes, of Barnes City,
Tremont County, Colo. I legally re
nounced my titles. You will find my re
nunciation is in the Almanach de Gotha
for 1908, just published, and authenticated
by the Berlin police on July 18, 1907.
"I have had the name of Barnes for
mally conferred upon me by the Legisla
ture of Colorado, and I have taken out
my first citizenship papers; I Intend to be
come an American citizen just as fast as
the law will allow me. And my dear little
wife Is with me In everything. She would
rather be just plain Mrs. Barnes than the
Countess von Hochberg, wouldn't you,
dear?" "
"Indeed I would," smilingly answered
the one-time shop girl.
"So we are happy out in the golden
West," continued Mr. Barnes. "We have
a pretty home, we are well, and why
shall I not say it? we have made money.
What more do we want?"
Let it be said right here that the
Count beg pardon, "Mr. Barnes.'' has
$100,000 of his own now and doesn't care
a straw whether he ever gets a cent of
his father's great fortune or not.
"I went to Berlin," he added, "on two
errands. One was to see my father and
my mother, and show my wife and baby.
any time there was no indication given.
"After the end of the year, though,
there was aeurious change. Luck ran
for or against four of us as it had done
before, what we might lose for one or
two sittings coming back to us in the
next two or three. But for one in the
party I'll call him Perkins, because that
wasn't his name there was no change.
He lost at every sitting for over two
months, and lost rather heavily every ,
time, so that when we gathered for what
proved to be the final game he must
have been $SO00 or $4000 behind.
"We didn't any of us like it', and we
said so, as delicately as we could, saying
to him jokingly that he must certainly
be in for a long run of good luck if that
theory was to be upheld: but he was a
cheerful loser, and turned over his
checks as gaily as If they had been
waste paper instead of being as good as
gold, which they were all but the last
one. 5
4That last game certainly was a cork
er. When wc took chips Perkins called
for $100 worth. 'I'm going to make a play
for even tonight.' he said laughingly, and
two or three of us said we hoped he'd
make it. We meant it, too.
"Well, we took $100 apiece and the
game began. It was a fierce one from
the start. The cards never had run as
high In a game as they did that night.
It was a case of good hands beaten al
moet every deal, and by the time we had
played half an hour it took unusual
nerve to see a raise with three of a kind.
Nothing so very wonderful In that, you
think? Well, perhaps not, but what
3IX?I SUVD ZTZErXTuA. COUNTIES 3
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I had other things also, to keep me busy
there business chiefly, and seeing some
of my old friends who have written me
that if I should come ever again to Ber
lin to let them know.
"My old friend, the Crown Prince,
sent me a photograph of himself and his
wife, who was the Duchess Cecilie von
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, with His Royal
Highnesfeautograph upon it. You know,
we went to the Military School at Bloen
together and when he was married, by
permission of the Kaiser I was usher at
his wedding.
"I had much to busy me in Berlin. Part
of the time my wife visited her parents.
There was much to attend to in business
for me, I can assure you, as I am in
charge of the German branch of the com
pany. Much of our stock is held by Ger
man Investors. It Is quite different be
ing an American business man with work
to do and being a German nobleman with
nothing to but to to amuse one's self.
But I like the change."
The young man looked fondly at the
wife who had been the Innocent cause
of it all.
Mrs. Barnes of Colorado,
"Yes," she interposed, "what a strange
thing Fate is. A little while ago I was
Louise Carow, the Berlin shop girl; next
day a German Countess. And now I am
plain Mrs. Barnes, of Colorado.
"I was born 25 years ago in the little
town of Schneidehuhl. where my father
kept a tavern. I had three sisters and
we all grew up together. We left school
when we were very young I think I
must have been 8 years old for my
father had met with reverses, and my
THERE WERE THREE OTHERS IN THE SAME
BOAT AND SO THE GAME WAS CALLED OFF
seemed remarkable to us was that Per
kins got the worst of It every time. It
was really phenomenal, his bad luck.
"Any one of us would have "played
sympathy' with him at any stage of
the game, but we really wanted him to
win, and we'd call his bets time and
again, only to take the pot when we'd
rather have seen him take it. It went
on till he was a thousand behind, anf
then he took $200 more, and the next
deal was on my right.
"It was a Jackpot, and I opened it
for the size of it. which was $25, I hav
ing a pair of kings. The next two
men stayed out. Perkins raised it $50.
The dealer dropped, and I made it $50
more. I swear to you that my only
thought was to swell the pot for Per
kins, for I was sure he had one pair
beaten when he raised.
"I called for three cards, as a matter
of course, and he stood pat. o I threw
In a white chip without looking at my
draw. He said nothing, but pushed
his stack forward, and I had' to look at
my cards. If I had thrown down with
out looking at my hand I would have
had to show my cards, being the open
er, and If I had bettered it would show
for a sympathy play, which I knew
would offend him deeply.
"So I looked, and to my utter amaze
ment I found I had a king full. Then,
as a matter of course, I had to call.. If
I could have coifbealed my hand in any
way I would have dropped, but under
our rules the opener had to show hie
whole hand. I called, and he showed
down a ten full.
mother, in trying to save the situation,
lost what little she' had, too. So we all
went to Beilin to sink or swim. We
Just managed to keep above water
"They put me to work in a glove fac
tory, and there I toiled many hours a
day for years. Finally I couldn't stand
It any longer, and when I was 17 I got
a position in a glove store, and there I
met the Count von Hochberg.
"He came to buy a pair of gloves and
I served him. - When he came a second
time I served him again. We became
acquainted in that way, and so my love
stosy began, for f "had loved him from the
first time. And when the Count told me
he loved me I was the happiest girl In
Berlin. His marriage had all been ar
ranged with another, but he would not
have It.
"His family tried every conceivable
way to embitter him. But he remained
true, always saying that he would marry
me. And I knew in my heart of hearts
that he would, though sometimes I was
so despondent I would have gladly died.
"And then, by degrees. I came to un
derstand what he was giving up splen
did Rohnstock, his army commission, the
Princess he could have married. So when,
they asked me if I would accept J300 a i
month for three years and $12,000 after'
that I said 'Yes.' But the Count would
have none of that. Instead he came to
America and now we are happy at last!"
And such is the story of the Count and
Countess von Hochberg, no longer exiles.
Soon Barnes City will welcome them
back again, proud in the grit and pluck
and brains of the young German and his
bride for whom he sacrificed so much.
"He was a gallant fellow, and though
' 1 . .. .1 Hht. ha t m,- , n .n.hb hu.-
fully when h said: 'I've reached the
limit, boys. I can't lose any more to
night. I'll make the check good hifore it
reaches my bank, but I'll have to leave
off p4ker for a while.' And he wrote out
his check and said good-night. We didn't
want to take it, but he took that as an
Insult, so we took the paper, and when he
went out we talked for half an hour, try
ing to decide how we could best make it
up to him, for we all liked him and
hadn't thought before that he was so
badly hurt by his losses.
"Well, we never had the chance to
make It up to him In any way. We
learned afterward that he tried to raise
the money to -meet the check, but was
unable te do it. And he was badly In
debt otherwise, so he went home that
night and wrote a few letters and went to
sleep forever.
"I said a few minutes ago that I wasn't
afraid of what poker could do to me, but
that was hardly true. When a pastime
can make me one of the instruments In
ruining one of my best friends it is no
amusement of mine. So I, too, have cut
out poker."
The outsider had listened to the four
stories attentively, and when Jackson
finished he said: "I can understand how
you have all turned against the game,
but none of your reasons appeals to me.
I eat Welsh rarebits: I drink whisky: I
play poker. If, these things hurt othef
people they shouldn't Indulge in them. I
can see. though, that must go else
where for a game." And he went. New
York Times.