Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-01-16
LUCKY BILL.
By r. N. DAGGETT.

vi iill tilc lIdiNl'lualS VINO nouTct
in California in early times as des.
perate and successful gamblers, ol
rather as "thiI. Bile e-riggers'' anj
French monte dealers, none we're bet.
Cer known than the subject of this
sketch, Lucky Bill. Many who were
in the State as early as 80 or 81
will doubtless remember him. Dur
ing the greater portion Of these two
years he was a resident of Sacramen-
to City, and almost any day might
have been seen squatted in front Of
some gambling house, or near a cor
ner, with pile of doubloons beside
him, offering to bet 1.-TWO, four Oh
six ounces" that no one could find
the "little JOKER" which he was ar
tistrcally moving about under the
| three soups" placed In a row upon
his knee, or which was ingeniously
hidden under his thumb-nail. In the
spring of 81, when "thimble- rig
eing" and French monte we're Carl.
ed on to their greatest extent, and
with such success, too, that the fra
ternity practicing them were enabled
to rent the largest gambling houses
in Sacramento, Lee's Exchange)
for no other purpose than that Of Sc.
curing to themselves the right OF ex
hibiting their games in front Of it
Lucky Bill occupied stool at the
extreme west end OF the porch Of the
building. and in two months
time made s24, ,06O. I his sum seems
immense for gambler to make il,
the short space of sixty days, yet i,
i3 hardly a title Of the amount to
which Lucky Bill victimized the un.
wary during the three years preceding
the passage Of a law by our Lcgisla.
ture, in 1852, prohibiting "French
monte" ''thimble game" "pick-i'-
The loop" and Similar thieving games
then practiced too an alarming ex-
tent throughout almost every portion
of the State. Bill understood his
business as well as any one that un-
dertook to mislead the eye of the
verdant min2r; and although his
great success may doubtless be at
tributed to the dexterous and well
organized gang of hired "cappcrs, -
who, disguised as miners, laborers
! traders, ETC., ETC., went from table tC
table and from game to game, max,
ing shan bets (Which tley generally
won) and inviting the lookers-on tc
! EEinH-nzt - n Cvnnn nI,
owing to his shrewd management.
Sometimes he would assume such al
air OF verdancy, and handle his
''cups" so clumslly, that persons
well acquainted with the nature oI
this game (better, | need not say
than with the man dealing it), i'm
agi3ng that they had found some one
| ignorant OF his business. were Undue
ed to lay down a few ounces, rcligi,
ously believing that an opportunity
/ had at last presented itself for them
to get even with their previous loss
Z es and others were oIIsrarctl and re-
/ licved of many an ounce by his cOun.
terfe.tin@ INVESTIGATION. and recklessly
tossing his money around, and ex
hibi;ing "dead-wood' (certaintics oi
winning) to their temptation. One
let generally operated as an eye,
opener, however, and relieved the I'M
fortunate loser of any erroneous idc:
/ that appearances may have warranted
/ him in entertaining respecting Bill's
vcrdancy or intoXicatiOn, for the bet
always lost.
| BiIl's usual method of attracting
custom was the cry of-"IIcrc, zen
tlemen, is nice, quiet little game.
conducted Oh the square, and espc-
cially recommended by the clergy
for its honesty and wholesome moral
tendencies. win only from blind
men; all that have two good eyes
can win fortune. You see, gentle
men, here are three little wooden
cups, and here is little ball, which.
for the sake of starting the game,
shall place under this one, as you
can plainly see and now l shall place
it under this, the middle one, merely
to show how much quicker the hand
is than the eye, and. removing it from
the middle, quickly cover it with the
other, thus-and thus-and thus
and now l will bet two, four, or six
ounces that no gentleman can the
first time trying raise the cup that the
ball is under; if he can, he can viii
all the money that Bill, by patient
toll and industry, has scraped to.
gether.
What Lucky Bill's name was, OF
what state he was from, | do not
know, for as scarcely expected tc
become his hiographer never took
the trouble to ascertain either. The
first time l ever saw him was in tho
spring of 1851, although L had otter
heard Of him before that time.
had been mining some three or foul
miles north Of Placerville, and taking
a notion into my head to visit Sacra-
mento, had arrived In town just il
time for the stage. We had Travelled
probably six miles, when a couple oi
men presented themselves by the
side of the road and asked passage
into the city. As there was but one
vacant seat, the driver told them thai
he could not accommodate both Of
them, unless the passengers were
willing, which was found not to be
the case. Noticing that the travellers
looked wearied, and recognizing one
of them, although he did not remem.
Der me, L protested against the deci.
sion OF the passengers SO strongly
and appealed to their humanity sc
earnestly, that L at length secured
them seats, although 1 could plainly
see at the expense of the iIl-wilI o.
the remainder of the passengers
However, / cared but little about
that, as the journey would last but 6
few hours. The new comers tooh
their seats beside me, when, after
making myself known to one of then
-"Sidney Charley" aFrench monte
dealer, who more than year prevl
GUS had earned my gratitude, not.
withstandlng his profession, by pay.
ing my stage (or rather wagon) fare
into the mountains-I inquired who