American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-07-11


the conductor came along and broke up
the game. The professional was highly
inccnSed, ordered the conductor out of
the car, and told him if he interfercd
again he would get his brains blown out
This drunken fool" he said, is going
to lose his money to some one, and l may
rs well have it as somebody else" Five
minutes atterward the gambler had lost
every dollar he possessed, and the
drunken fool was wearing his gold
watch and diamond ring.
Old Californians seem to be the most
| gulliblc. Their experience, instead of
protecting them, is positive in ury. The
rules that apply in draw poker, or in
. fighting the tiger have nothing to do
| with three-card monte. In those games
| there seems to be about equal chances in
favor of the two sides; but in this one all
| the chances are apparently against the
poor simplcton who deals. The railway
officials do all in their power to prevent
| passengers from being f1eeced. The con-
ductors invariable go through the cars and
| warn everybody against the danger of
betting. Frequently their kind admoni-
| tiOns are met with scOrn and insult. . Do
you think we have lived in California
| twenty-five wears for nothing." asked one
| man with sncer. The conductor passed
| through the car half an hour later and
| the old forty miner was minus his watch
and sixty dollars.
| One of the Saddest cases in the history
| of the business is that of young clergy
| man who was sent from one of the
| Western States to attend to the affairs of
a deceased man. He came to California,
| collected the accounts, disposed of the
property, and was carrying back the pro-
| cceds to the bereaved wife and children.
| Slim Jim entered the car and commenced
| to spell out the words of the i" warning :"
| which is posted up on all the cars of the
| Central Pacific Company. In loud
| drawing tone of voice. and with much
hesitation, he read: Beware. Beware
| of th-r-e-e-c-a-r-d-. Thcm's the very
| fellows that robbed me-" he exclaimed
With well-feigncd indignation he told the
story of his woes to the preacher, taking
particular pains to showEthat he had
plenty of money left Before he arose
from the seat he had explained so fully
that the preacher concluded to take care
of Slim Jim's surplus cash in order to
prevent the mOnte-men from robDlnG him
again, lie SO far failed, however as to
part with every cent of the poor widows
money, and to be compelled to pursue
his journey dead broke.
These monte sharps base their chances
of success wholly upon the doctrine of
total depravity. They act so stupidity,
SO ignorantly, so utterly unacquainted
with their business, that people feel GER
tain of winning their money. No man
was ever yet beaten of cent who did
not deliberately attempt to rob the
dealer. They look at the card on the
sly, put marks on its back and
sometimes even tear off a corner in
order to swindlc the foolish country
clown out of his gold. How the dealer
manages to substitute another card for
the marked one, and how he completely
eludes detection, and deties the closest
scrutiny, is past finding out. He lnvarl
ably succeeds, but further depOnent
knOwcth not
Into the smoking car, near Winnemuc
ca, one time stumbled drunken miner
Any one who has ever seen the blue
shirt, slouched hat, muddy boots, I'M
kempt hair and unshorn beard of the
honest miner" would at once recognize
the man as coming direct from the gold
region. He makes Il staggering attempt
at walking, but, catching his foot against
something, stumbles heavily against
German passenger. AS he falls. his purse
slides from his pocket, and the man is
fairly delugcd with a shower of gold
The Teuton makes no attempt at resent
ing the insult, but helps pick up the
coins and assists the miner to Il seat be-
side him. He pays the utmost attention
to his ncw-found friend. The miner sew
cral times attempted to go out on the
platform. but the man quickly restrained
him. Mine Colt. mine friendr' he
would say, you goes out dere you falls
right away off" and, casting IA longing
glance at the pocket containing the purse,
he would put his arms around the miner
and carry him back to his seat. AT the
Humboldt House they took dinner, the
German inducing the drunken man to
agree to settle therefor. Prior to eating
they walked up to the bar to take Il drink
The miner placed tive-dOllar gold piece
on the counter in payment The other
watched his opportunity, slipped the
gold piece into his pocket, and placed il
half dollar in its stead. The drunken man
took no notice of the transaction. In
deed, he was so far gone that he could
not sit down without assistance from
the accommodating Bavarian. After
supper on the another rontar from was Which lal ii
soon disappeared into the same pocket,
and a silver half dollar took its place.
The drunken fellow seemed blisstully OBJ
livious of the audacious robbery of
which he was being made the victim In
the car he went to sleep. The German
made three several attempts to take
away the plethoric purse which projected
provokingly from the miners inner coat
pocket = he pressure of the mans folded
joying good nap the fellow took out
three cards, and in a slow, bungling man
ner shuffed them about in his lap. \
finely dressed stranger, passing by, IN
uuired the name of the game and the
rule by which it was governed. Three
card ante" was the reply ANTE (hlc)
all the time; this card (hic) wins, these
two chaps lose" Dealing away to an
imaginary opponent he turned up "A card
and fairly shouted with glce to find that
it was the right one. The stranger of
fered to take Il hand and try it $50
worth. "Well, no (hic); got plenty OF
money (hic); don't want no more" After
considerable parley, however, he relent-
ed, and $500 was put up on Il side The
stranger won and pockctcd the cash.
The Teuton was frantic. Evidently the
miner was going to lose all his treasures.
- Mein Got, mcin friend" he whispered,
You playsh nit desc bad fellars, and
dey shust robs you like anydinks,' and
putting his finger alongside his nose and
winking knowingly he added: Bimeby
we has Won lectle game all by ourselves
thus urged, the miner declined further
bets.
Twenty minutes later he and the Ger
man were sitting flat on the floor at the
end of the car, having " Won lectlc game.
The cards were spread, and the latter, to
make assurance double sure, picked up
the card while the miners head was
turned saw that it was the ri Tht one, and
then went down into his pocket for all
the money he could raise. The miner
gave the cards one more clumsy shuttle.
The man watched the winning one and