Nation: Frontier Justice

Or, playing for high stakes

The code of the West lives. Bill Berry, an electrician, and James Schwebach, a farmer, ran for the same city council seat in Moriarty, N. Mex. (pop. 1,300), last month. They tied, with 99 votes each. Rather than stage an expensive runoff, the pair agreed to settle the matter last week with a hand of five-card stud poker. State District Judge Edmund Kase Ill shuffled and dealt. Schwebach's hand was king high. Berry drew a pair of nines. City Councilman Berry it was.

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