A THRILLING SCENE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1248, 30 October 1875, Page 2

A THRILLING SCENE.

An incident occurred on a recent trip (says an American correspondent) which 1 made over the Union Pacific that may be of interest to your readers. We were rolling along between Salt Lake and Omaha when 1 made my way into the smoking car to enjoy a cigar, I noticed a group gathered in the car, and, crowding my way up, found two men gambling ; one was a well dressed man, but bearing the general appearance of a blackleg ; the other was a veritable minor, just as he came from the mountains, with long grizzled beard, rough, coarse, and dirty clothes, but with lots of gold. The play was for quite large stakes, and I heard whispers that the gambler was about to fleece the miner, and much sjmpathy was manifested for him. The game — draw poker — still went on with hardly a word spoken by the players, till finally, when a large sum was on the board, the gambler being called to show hia hand, threw down three aces and two queens, and reached for the money ; the miner Btretched over and held his hand and laid down two aces, showing, of comae, five aces in the pack. He tnen reached back and drew a large navy revolver, cocked ib, placed the muzzle directly between the eyes of the gambler, still holding his hand. Not a word was spoken, but each lodked steadily into the eyes of the other. Soon the hand began quietly to move from the money, the form of the gambler to draw back, and Btill the revolver followed. He stepped into the aisle, aud here the scene became so uninteresting to me. and several others that we dropped under the seats. The gambler slowly backed towards the door, with the revolver following till the door was reached and he passed out. The miner coolly let down the hammer of the revolver, replaced it in his pocket, swept the money from the board mto his pouch, quietly lighted his pipe, and settled back in his seat as if nothing had happened. The strangest part of the whole business was that not a word was spoken from the time the gambler laid his three aces on the board till he passed out of the car door. I took a seat near the miner afterwards, and chatted with him about his experiences in the mountains, and be seemed pleasant and intelligent. We did not refer to his little episode with the blackleg. I bave never witnessed such a thrilling scene, or one in which such extreme coolness was manifested by the miner, and for that matter, by the gambler.

There are now no less than 482 Mormons in Glasgow.