The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-22
The Soap Prize.bOx Business.

Quite recently the ''fnest police in the
world'' have made New York entirely
too sultry for swarm of petty swindlers
who were practicing the species of
legerdemain known as the soap rack
et." This, for its proper success, re-
quires "fakir'' with a brazen coun-
tenance, electro-plated by experience in
the train of some travelling show, a
small sachel and stock in trade, COM
posed of about 100 little gilt boxes an
inch or so in length. In these are de-
posted diminutive morsels of yellow
soap of the commonest kind. The
fakir," stationing himself upon street
corner, with the yawning mouth of his
sachel before him, rolls up his coat
sleeves, and, producing five-dollar
bill, or something which at least resem-
bles one, takes up one of the little boxes
from his sachel, pushes out the sliding
drawer, folds up the bill carefully, and
apparently deposits it within the box,
which he closes. The diminutive re-
ceptacle of the five-dollar bill, or 81, as
it may happen to be, is then returned
to the sachel, mixed up yigor-
ously among the others, and the
process is continued until several of
the boxes contain money, as it would
appear-only they don't. The operator
by dexterious sleight-of-hand had sub
stituted bits of colored paper for the
bills, and leaves green end protruding
here and there among the mass. When
he has finished his task he resumes the
mixing-up operation, and having by
this time succeeded in drawing crowd
around him by dint of vigorous talk or
"patter," as the slang of the profession
goes, he is ready for business. He an
nounces that for fifty cents or zone dol
lar he will dispose of three of the d.
minutive prize caskets, with chance
among the lot of getting the five-dollar
bill. There is always some one in the
crowd whe thinks he has seen the money
deposited and believes he can hit the
right boxes. He is first cousin to the
man who always knows what card is the
A." little joker in the game of three
card monte. Well, this sagacious per-
son, or "Cute Aleck,'' as the
fakirs dub them, pulls out dol
lar and invest it in the three boxes.
He goes off quietly to the edge of the
crowd. His heart is in a flutter, be-
cause he has seen green thing sticking
out of one of his prizes and feels sure it
must be the five-dollar bill. In fact he
is certain. He wanders away and is
accompanied by some of the others,
who want to be eye-witnesses of his good
fortune. The three boxes are opened,
one after another, but not cent is there
to reward the investor-nothing but a
scrap of green paper in one of
them, perhaps. The victim, if he has
few ounces of brains left, sneaks sheep
ishly off. If his bump of avarice is too
strong he busters around resentfully,
and after threatening the hardened
"fakir" with all sorts of dire things,
without, however, succeeding in getting
the return of his cash, he posts off and
hunts up policeman, who arrests the
" fakir.'' Then there is hearing be-
fore magistrate, the "fakir" enters
bail in the person of some obliging tav-
ern-keeper, who doesn't want to lose a
good customer at his bar, and Mr.. Fa-
kir goes out and resumes business again.
Philadelphia Times.