The story of a cursed card table with 17 lives and broken destinies
Stories about cursed objects frighten and fascinate with their inexplicability. If you believe them, then death is brought by paintings, mirrors and even furniture. One such item is an antique table kept at The Delta Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. It is believed that he killed 17 people and brought grief to the many people who sat behind him.
The cursed table is fenced and covered with museum glass. These precautions are not taken out of owners' fear that the antiques might be damaged. It is believed that even touching its tabletop awakens a curse that can kill a person.
The exact date of manufacture of this table is unknown, but experts date it to around 1850–1855. Initially, this piece of furniture stood in the Faro casino, where gamblers gathered for it. The table was considered unlucky from the very beginning. Almost everyone who dared to bet on him lost. Many visitors to the casino lowered their last after him and remained beggars.
It is not surprising that soon the unpleasant feature of the table was noticed and it was avoided. Therefore, the owners of the gambling establishment were forced to sell it. In 1860 it was bought by a man who called himself "Black Jack". He brought the table to his home and began to arrange card battles with his friends behind it. The plan was very cunning, because the new owner thought that an unlucky table would make the guests lose and enrich him.
But it turned out that the cursed table does not recognize the hosts. About a year later, "Black Jack" lost to one of the guests behind him to the bone. In the morning, a man was found dead at the table - he committed suicide. Ironically, the owner lost at poker, including the table. Soon the winner, whose name was David Liebs, came for him and moved the furniture to his mansion.
Soon, inexplicable things began to happen to Liebs and his family. Quarrels began in the house, and the financial situation of the head of the family was greatly shaken. It all ended with the fact that one day in 1863, the entire Libs family of five was found dead. They sat on chairs around the hellish table and, apparently, death caught them at dinner. Experts found that cyanide killed them all, but how the poison got into their food remained a mystery.
The table's next owner purchased it at a furniture sale. He, as well as "Black Jack", used it as a poker. Not surprisingly, he soon went bankrupt and then died. Unfortunately, history has not preserved the cause of his death. The table came to the next owner in 1871. It was the owner of The Delta Saloon, where it stands to this day. The innkeeper placed him in the corner of the main hall and allowed him to play cards and dice behind him.
The first misfortune was not long in coming. A visitor named Charlie Stockton lost 70 thousand dollars in one evening, after which he took out a revolver and shot himself in the heart. The bullet did not kill the poor fellow and he was taken to the hospital. But the doctors could not help the wounded and, after suffering for several days, Stockton still died. For some reason, no one attached any importance to this, and over the next few years, the table took the lives of several more people.
When the owner of the establishment finally noticed a bad pattern, he took the cursed table to the basement. He covered him with burlap and strictly forbade the household and saloon staff from approaching him. The table stood in the basement for about 70 years. It was brought to light only in 1989. The descendants of the original owner of the establishment sold The Delta Saloon to a certain George Grice, forgetting to warn about the danger lurking in the basement.
On one of those far from wonderful days, Grice found a beautiful antique table and returned it to the saloon hall. For a whole year, troubles bypassed the visitors of the institution, but then trouble came again. One of the visitors, Scot Johnson, invited George Grice to play cards for the golden ring.
The players dispersed and sat at the table all night placing bets. In the morning it turned out that Grice lost not only the saloon, but also his house and even the stable with horses. Seeing no point in later life, the former businessman and newly minted tramp went out onto the porch and shot himself. After this incident, the furniture was no longer used and protected from contact with visitors.
In just a century and a half, the table killed 17 people. Most of them killed themselves in desperation, only the deaths of the Libs remained a mystery. The cursed table like a magnet attracts fans of the paranormal and journalists. In the course of several investigations, it turned out that his mystical power does not destroy everyone. It is quite obvious that if someone at the table lost, then someone left with a win. So, in the history of this subject, not everything is so simple.
The table represented the greatest danger to its owner. Everyone who ever sat down to play him claimed to have experienced an unpleasant sensation. It seemed to them that some invisible player was in charge of the table, helping some and hindering others. Now the cursed table is an important item for the owners of The Delta Saloon. To see it, people come from different parts of the United States. Foreigners greedy for mysticism also look into the saloon.
Perhaps someday the owners of the table will guess to buy also the famous Busby chair. Then they will have at their disposal the most deadly furniture set in the world.