Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-02-17
"SYSTEM."
How Three Sharps Beat a Fifth
street Faro Bank In LOuIsvilIes


LOUISVILLE CoATGer-J01GTTlGt.
A system" which will ''beat fare
has not been exactly discovered in Louis
vile, but system" which beat "104"
out of several hundred dollars was per.
fected and operated, it is said, Tuesday
night, by three young men named Ches-
ter, Ullman and Brill, not entirely un-
known to the green baize table frater-
nifty. The scheme is said to have been
incubating several weeks, and worked to
charm. Chester was employed at the
place as lookout" while the others
were outsiders. Getting Chester into
the scheme against the bank was, of
course, half the battle. Tuesday night
Ullman and Brill entered and began to
play, Chester watching the game After
the first box had been dealt a note was
brought into the dealer, saying a girl
wanted to see him outside. He was gone
some time, and in the meantime a pre-
pared deck of cards had been placed in
an extra box. The dealer, returning,
shufied his cards and put them in his
box, ready to deal. One of the players
at this moment changed in" $50 bill
for chips, and Chester, looking over the
dealers shoulder, said: fThat bill looks
bad" The dealer held it up close to
him for Scratiny, and IN twinkling
Chester had slipped the ''doctored" box
in place of the regular one, which he
put in his pocket. The bill was decided
to be good, and the game proceeded.
Chester concluded to play also
at this juncture. The players
at once began to copper and
bet straight in winning. They
were eager and hungry, and won so
regularly and doubled" with such per-
sistency, that on the fifth turn the dealer
suspected something and opened the box.
He discovered that the cards had been
changed, and at once closed the game,
though he cashed the losings. The keen
ones had gathered in several hundred,
and might have won the house and lot
if they had ''nursed" and not been so
wolfish to win. 1t was said they had
been laying the wires for the play for a
long time.
Last night the dealer met Brill in a
well known billiard saloon, and although
he had made no ''kick" when the scheme
was worked. said something about it.
Brill replied and fight ensued, in which
Brill was badly used up. The dealer
was taken to the lookup.
In sporting circles yesterday nothing
was talked of save the scheme put up
by the three geraniums- Brill, Ullman
and Chester-against faro bank No. 104
Fifth street. Though the game is an
old one, it has been many years since it
was last successfully put through in
Louisville. The gamblers to man are
bitter in their denunciation of the
worthless engaged in it, and structures
are especially pronounced upon Lee Ull-
man, for the reason that he has hereto
fore had the confidence of the fraternity,
and is himself one of the proprietoTs of
bank No. "a. The other two have al
ways belonged to the curb-stone brigade.
Chester is q Kansas City production, and
has been winning against faro, it is said,
almost daily, for three weeks. He is the
worthy who, some time last spring,
stormed the Gibraltar of Madame Catlet's
affections, and subsequently walked away
with a neat slice Of her belongings.
Brill is the son of a respectable
clothing merchant on Fourth avenue
he is mere boy in years, but one of
the most dangerous manipulators of
short cards in the city. 1t was he who
occupied the lookout chair during the
robbery, instead of Chester, as stated in
the paper yesterday morning, and only
for the reason that he possessed the con
f1dence of the house was he let into the
scheme. 1t is said that two or three
more of the short card fraternity were
into the racket, but for some reason
they failed to come to time. ''104" has
only been established about two months,
and is looked upon as a green house.
The game is called square, and the pro-
prietors far men. The young man who
was dealing when the tricksters put in
their appearance is new in the business,
and they looked upon him as "chunk." "
He turned out to be smarter than them
after all, for had they played cool and
moderately, instead of going the limit
on every turn, they might have broke
the bank. It is SAID that, in the "whack
up" Brill, who played valet for the
others, only received fifty-fve dollars
out of the winning, three hundred and
sixty-five dollars.
'"The trio had fixed their box so they
knew every turn in it" said an old roos
ter on deck yesterday. "They had the
through; the four, five and six to lose
through; the tray. deuce and ace to go
three on a side, and the remaining
cards to double out. In this way they
bet the limit on every card and whip
sawed the turn nearly every time.
The sharpest man connected with the
house, Bob Rosenthal, was in Lexington
when the game was put up, or the scheme
would never have been carried through
successfully.