Staggering Tab

Henry Matson, 62, recalls the night he strolled into a bar called the Great Alaskan Bush Co. with a $12,579.64 paycheck in his pocket. At least he remembers the beginning of the night. Matson, who had been fishing for salmon in Alaska's Bristol Bay, was looking for a good time in the rowdy Anchorage saloon. And he got exactly what he wanted, according to Owner Edna Cox, who agreed to cash Matson's check. He spent the night, she said, "buying all the patrons in the club drinks, paying numerous girls for table dances, handing out $100 bills to girls." When Matson asked next morning for his money, Cox said he had spent it all. Matson was not convinced. Said he: "It didn't seem reasonable."

An Anchorage Superior Court judge agreed. The judge ordered Cox, who failed to appear at a November hearing, to repay Matson. But last week Superior Court Judge Mark Rowland overturned that decision, giving Cox ten more days to respond. Matson and his attorney were not commenting on the decision. Cox was. Said she: "I am not in any way liable for the decision of a mature gentleman to party with vast amounts of money." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.